Handsome
Handsome, now operating as Raw Materials, is an Austin-based design agency founded around 2012 that provides product design services for enterprise clients across technology, media, and financial services, including Meta, Peacock, and JPMorgan Chase.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2012
- HeadquartersAustin, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Handsome does
Handsome, now operating as Raw Materials, is a privately held design agency founded approximately 12 years ago (around 2012) by CEO John Roescher and a small group of friends in Austin, Texas. The firm provides product design services — designing the tools and touchpoints that drive how people experience the world — for enterprise clients across technology, media, financial services, and other sectors. Its publicly named client roster includes Meta, Peacock (NBCUniversal's streaming platform), Saronic, Peddle, and JPMorgan Chase. In 2024 the company executed a rebrand from Handsome to Raw Materials, repositioning the firm as a 'whole new design company purpose-built to champion creativity in product design,' while retaining the same founder, leadership team, and client base.
The business model follows conventional design-agency mechanics — billable project and retainer engagements rather than productized SaaS or licensed IP — with no disclosed pricing model, contract structure, or revenue figures in the public record. The team consists of 11-50 employees, with leadership spanning CEO, Associate Director of Project Management, Product Management Director, Director of Technology Implementation, and Senior Technologist. There is no evidence of proprietary technology platforms, APIs, patents, third-party integrations, or AI/ML capabilities developed in-house. The company is founder-owned with no disclosed funding rounds, institutional investors, or M&A activity, indicating the firm has been self-funded throughout its operating history.
Handsome firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Handsome
- Website
- https://handsome.is
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2012
- Operating status
- Acquired
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Handsome, now operating as Raw Materials, is an Austin-based design agency founded around 2012 that provides product design services for enterprise clients across technology, media, and financial services, including Meta, Peacock, and JPMorgan Chase.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Handsome industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Product Design Services
- NAICS
- Industrial Design Services (54142), Graphic Design Services (541430)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Packaging & Product Brand Design (BPAFAEAG)
Keywords
Where Handsome is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Austin
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Handsome business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Handsome product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Handsome (now operating as Raw Materials) is a product design agency that provides creative strategy, UX/product design, and technology implementation services for web and mobile applications. The firm works with enterprise clients to design the tools and touchpoints that shape how people experience products and brands, assembling cross-disciplinary teams of strategists, designers, technologists, and creatives around each engagement.
Product overview
Handsome has rebranded and transitioned to Raw Materials, a single unified design company offering. Raw Materials is a whole new design company purpose-built to champion creativity in product design — the design of tools and touchpoints that drive how we experience the world.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Raw Materials Product Design Services An end-to-end product design service offering for enterprise clients, covering creative strategy, UX/UI and product design, and technology implementation for the web and mobile tools and touchpoints that shape how customers experience a brand. Delivered by a multi-disciplinary team of strategists, designers, technologists, and creatives, and used by large organizations seeking differentiated, high-craft digital product work.
Companies that use Handsome
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Handsome technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Handsome partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators1 record
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights3 records
Handsome competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Frog Design: Long-standing product design and innovation firm, now part of Capgemini Engineering. Comparable on cross-disciplinary product design services and on serving enterprise clients across hardware and digital experiences.
- Manual: Boutique design and technology agency offering strategy, branding, and product design services. Comparable on the cross-disciplinary studio model and on enterprise digital product engagements.
- Work & Co: Independent digital product design agency known for building flagship digital products for enterprise clients (Google, Apple, Uber, Facebook). Closely comparable to Raw Materials in focus on strategy-plus-execution product design for large brands.
- Huge: Digital experience design and engineering agency serving large enterprise clients across verticals (financial services, media, retail). Overlaps with Raw Materials on multi-disciplinary product design at enterprise scale.
- IDEO: Pioneer design consultancy with a global brand and practice spanning digital and physical product design. Comparable to Raw Materials on the strategy-and-design-for-product claim and on serving marquee enterprise customers.
- Metalab: Independent digital product design studio working with major tech and enterprise brands on strategy, UX, and UI. Comparable on boutique scale and enterprise digital product focus.
- Ueno: Independent digital design agency building brand, web, and product experiences for tech-forward companies. Comparable on size, creative positioning, and enterprise-adjacent client mix.
- Pentagram: Independent, partner-led design firm covering brand, digital, and product design. Comparable to Raw Materials on independent creative positioning and on serving large, name-brand clients across industries.
- Fantasy: Independent digital design and engineering studio with a strong brand-design and product-design practice for tech and consumer clients. Closely comparable on boutique positioning and emphasis on creative differentiation.
Broad incumbents
- Accenture Song (formerly Fjord): Global design and experience unit of Accenture, encompassing former Fjord. Competes for the same enterprise digital product design mandates as Raw Materials but as part of a much larger portfolio with delivery scale advantages.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat2 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Handsome social profiles
Digital presenceHandsome financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Handsome leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Handsome funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Handsome 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 Handsome
What does Handsome do?
Handsome (now operating as Raw Materials) is a product design agency that provides creative strategy, UX/product design, and technology implementation services for web and mobile applications. The firm works with enterprise clients to design the tools and touchpoints that shape how people experience products and brands, assembling cross-disciplinary teams of strategists, designers, technologists, and creatives around each engagement.
Is Handsome a public or private company?
Handsome is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently acquired.
When was Handsome founded?
Handsome was founded in 2012. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Handsome based?
Handsome is headquartered in Austin, United States, in the North America region.
Who are Handsome's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Frog Design, Manual, Work & Co, Huge, IDEO, Metalab, Ueno, Pentagram and Fantasy. Accenture Song (formerly Fjord) is listed as a broad incumbent.
Does Handsome have an API?
No public API is recorded for Handsome.
What industry is Handsome in?
Handsome's product category is Product Design Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAFAEAG, Packaging & Product Brand Design. Its NAICS code is 54142.