EightShapes
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2006
- HeadquartersFairfax, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
EightShapes firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- EightShapes
- Legal name
- EightShapes LLC
- Website
- https://eightshapes.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2006
- Operating status
- Closed
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where EightShapes is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Fairfax
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
EightShapes business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- UX and Design Systems Consulting: Professional consulting services providing user experience, information architecture, product design and discovery, front-end development, user research, and design systems consulting to enterprise clients across multiple industries including finance, high tech, non-profit, professional services, pharmaceutical, real estate, and associations
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
EightShapes product offering
Product offeringCore offering
EightShapes was a professional UX and design systems consulting agency delivering user experience, information architecture, product design and discovery, front-end development, user research, and design systems leadership services to enterprise clients across finance, high tech, non-profit, pharmaceutical, real estate, and association sectors. The firm also developed and distributed complementary design tools, including the EightShapes Specs and Visual Difference Figma plugins, and the Contrast Grid WCAG accessibility tool.
Product overview
EightShapes was a UX and Design Systems Agency that offered a suite of design tools alongside consulting services. The product portfolio centered on three Figma plugins: EightShapes Specs (for automating design specifications), Visual Difference (for comparing design snapshots), and Contrast Grid (for accessibility color contrast checking). These tools were designed to support user experience professionals and design system teams. The company closed on June 30, 2024, with founders Nathan Curtis and Dan Brown moving on to new ventures (Directed Edges and Curious Squid respectively).
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- EightShapes Specs: Figma plugin to automate design spec production
- Visual Difference
- Contrast Grid
Products and services
- EightShapes Specs Figma plugin that automates design spec production, enabling designers to generate detailed specifications automatically from their Figma designs. Targeted at UX and product designers using Figma.
- Visual Difference Figma plugin that compares snapshots of Figma objects as they change over time, supporting design iteration tracking. Targeted at UX and product designers.
- Contrast Grid Web-based accessibility tool for testing color combinations for WCAG 2.0 minimum contrast compliance across many foreground and background pairs simultaneously. Targeted at designers, developers, and accessibility practitioners.
- UX and Information Architecture Consulting Professional consulting engagements delivering user experience, information architecture, product design and discovery, front-end development, and user research services to enterprise clients across finance, high tech, non-profit, professional services, pharmaceutical, real estate, and association sectors in the US and Europe.
- Design Systems Consulting and Advisory Professional consulting and advisory engagements leading or supporting over 100 design system teams with strategy, governance, team leadership, and implementation of design systems within enterprise organizations.
Quantifiable outcome
- Led or advised over 100 design system teams
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use EightShapes
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments2 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
EightShapes technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
EightShapes partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- Curious SquidcoreSuccessor company to EightShapes for user experience and information architecture services. Owned by Dan Brown, one of the original EightShapes founders. Established after EightShapes wind-down to continue serving clients requiring UX and IA consulting.
- Directed EdgescoreSuccessor company to EightShapes for design system services. Owned by Nathan Curtis, one of the original EightShapes founders. Continuing the design systems consulting work previously done by EightShapes.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights3 records
EightShapes competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Nielsen Norman Group: UX research and consulting firm providing evidence-based user experience advisory, training, and reports to enterprise clients. Closely comparable to EightShapes in offering UX-focused consulting with strong thought leadership content and a similar small-firm, founder-driven character.
- Cooper: Interaction design consultancy focused on product design and UX strategy. Highly comparable to EightShapes as a boutique UX consulting firm serving enterprise product teams with a founder-led model and thought leadership orientation.
- Ustwo: Product design and digital studio delivering product design, UX, and digital product development. Comparable to EightShapes in offering boutique UX consulting and product design services to enterprise clients with comparable scale and approach.
- Work & Co: Digital product design and engineering consultancy building digital products for enterprise clients. Comparable to EightShapes in providing end-to-end design and front-end development services, including design systems work, to enterprise organizations.
- Punchcut: Design strategy and systems consultancy specializing in connected product and experience design. Comparable to EightShapes in design systems and UX strategy services, with similar boutique positioning and enterprise client base.
- Method (GlobalLogic): Design-led digital experience consultancy (now part of GlobalLogic) focused on customer experience and product design. Comparable to EightShapes in delivering experience design and design systems consulting to enterprise clients.
Broad incumbents
- IDEO: Pioneering global design and innovation consultancy serving enterprises across industries. Comparable to EightShapes as a design strategy firm, though significantly larger in scale and broader in scope, including brand and physical product design.
- Frog Design: Global design and innovation firm (now part of Capgemini Engineering) specializing in product, brand, and experience design. Comparable to EightShapes in delivering design consulting to enterprise clients across industries, but at much larger scale.
- Huge: Digital experience design agency (part of dentsu) delivering strategy, design, and technology for enterprise brands. Comparable to EightShapes in providing design systems and UX consulting, though at significantly larger scale and broader scope.
- R/GA: Global digital agency (part of IPG) with deep design systems and product design practices. Comparable to EightShapes as an enterprise-facing design consultancy, though broader in service scope (including advertising) and larger in scale.
Market position
Strengths3 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
EightShapes social profiles
Digital presenceEightShapes financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
EightShapes leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
EightShapes funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
EightShapes M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about EightShapes
What does EightShapes do?
EightShapes was a professional UX and design systems consulting agency delivering user experience, information architecture, product design and discovery, front-end development, user research, and design systems leadership services to enterprise clients across finance, high tech, non-profit, pharmaceutical, real estate, and association sectors. The firm also developed and distributed complementary design tools, including the EightShapes Specs and Visual Difference Figma plugins, and the Contrast Grid WCAG accessibility tool.
Is EightShapes a public or private company?
EightShapes is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently closed.
When was EightShapes founded?
EightShapes was founded in 2006. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is EightShapes based?
EightShapes is headquartered in Fairfax, United States, in the North America region.
How does EightShapes make money?
One revenue line is on record: UX and Design Systems Consulting.
Who are EightShapes's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Nielsen Norman Group, Cooper, Ustwo, Work & Co, Punchcut and Method (GlobalLogic). Broad incumbents are IDEO, Frog Design, Huge and R/GA.
Does EightShapes have an API?
No public API is recorded for EightShapes.