Trust Design Shop

What Trust Design Shop does

Trust Design Shop is an independent, two-person design studio founded in fall 2021 by Hannah Smith (Partner, Lead of Brand & Design) and Jesse MacKenzie (Partner, Lead of Strategy & Web), operating from Connex FW, a co-working space in Fort Worth, Texas. The studio delivers bespoke brand strategy, visual identity, web design and development, illustration, animation, copywriting, and packaging services to small and mid-sized businesses, startups, and select enterprise clients across verticals including video production, tech consulting, real estate, sports, furniture, and food/beverage. Core technology is the Webflow platform for web delivery, complemented by custom scripting, advanced animation, and hand-drawn illustration work; the studio is a featured Webflow Expert on the Dribbble marketplace. Revenue is generated entirely through project-based professional services engagements priced and scoped individually, with no subscription or recurring revenue model. The business is bootstrapped and founder-owned with no external institutional investment disclosed.

The studio acquires clients through a hybrid direct-outreach and community-led motion: prospective clients engage via the studio website contact form ([email protected]) or phone (817.264.7626), and the founders supplement this with public-facing credibility-building through Dribbble, Instagram, LinkedIn, an educational blog, podcast appearances (Creative Questions, Adobe Live Spotlight), and invited speaking and workshop engagements (Creative Works West 2025, Texas A&M guest lecture). Documented award recognition includes 20 logos selected for LogoLounge Book 14, inclusion in the 2023 LogoLounge Logo Trend Report, a BrandNew 'Best of 2023' feature for the Hometeam brand identity, and the 2023 Adobe Live Spotlight interview. The studio maintains recurring creative partnerships with Bad Lucky Studio (animation), Butler (collaborative identity work), Hoodzpah Design (referrals and co-development), and Lively Scout (illustration), which effectively expand its delivery capacity without formal headcount growth.

Name

Trust Design Shop

Legal name

Trust Design Shop

Website

https://trustdesignshop.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Trust Design Shop is an independent, two-person design studio in Fort Worth, Texas, founded in 2021, delivering bespoke brand strategy, visual identity, Webflow web development, illustration, and animation services to SMBs, startups, and select enterprises across diverse U.S. verticals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Brand Design Services

NAICS

Graphic Design Services (541430), Graphic Design Services (54143)

akta.pro primary industry

Packaging & Brand Identity Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Digital Creative & Experience Design Agencies (Web/App/UX) (MPAAAAAD)

Keywords

• Brand identity design
• Web design development
• Visual identity systems
• Logo design services
• Creative design studio

Headquarters

HQ city

Fort Worth

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Custom Design Services: Trust Design Shop operates as an independent design studio providing bespoke branding, web design, illustration, copywriting, and related creative services. Revenue is generated through project-based professional services engagements, with each client engagement scoped and priced individually. There is no subscription or recurring revenue model described.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Trust Design Shop is an independent two-person design studio that provides bespoke brand strategy, visual identity, web design and development (with Webflow expertise), illustration, animation, copywriting, packaging, and brand consultation services. All engagements are scoped and priced on a project basis, with the studio embedding deeply into each client to deliver agency-caliber work with boutique personalization.

Product overview

Trust Design Shop is an independent two-person design studio founded in fall 2021, operating from Fort Worth, Texas. The studio offers a comprehensive suite of brand strategy and design services encompassing research, market analysis, positioning, naming, logo design, visual identity, brand voice, web design and development with Webflow expertise, illustration, animation, copywriting, and brand campaigns. The portfolio includes case studies for clients across diverse industries including Bits & Letters (web systems), Southtown Design+Build (luxury home builder), Hometeam (video production), Let Live Pickleball (sports), SpinDr Softball (training products), OcularPop (videography), David Nix Associates (tech consulting), Hulala Home (furniture), Forte Film Studio (film production), Potallow (food products), Dérive Coffee Roasters (coffee), Quill & Cauldron (entertainment services), and Datalily (data/analytics). Additional offerings include speaking engagements, workshops, and an educational blog. The studio is recognized as Webflow Experts and Dribbble featured designers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Strategy Services Research, market analysis, positioning, brand values, and naming services that form the foundational strategic layer for brand development. Targeted at founders and marketing leads of small businesses, startups, and boutique companies.
• Brand Services Logo design, visual identity systems, brand voice development, messaging and taglines, and brand applications tailored to client needs. Targeted at SMBs, startups, and boutique companies seeking high-quality identity systems.
• Web Services Web strategy, design and development with Webflow expertise, custom scripting, and advanced animation capabilities. Targeted at businesses seeking high-craft, animation-rich websites.
• Extras Services Illustration, animation, copywriting, brand campaigns, production design, merch packages, email design, event branding, speaking and workshops, and brand consultation as add-on creative capabilities. Targeted at clients needing supplemental brand expression beyond core identity and web work.

Quantifiable outcome

• Client reported significant increase in new client/potential client inquiries following Southtown Design+Build rebrand.
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ButlercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerButler designed the original script logo for Hometeam, which Trust Design Shop then used as the foundation for the complete brand identity redesign. The Hometeam brand is credited as a collaboration between Butler and Trust Design Shop. Butler is a design studio with which Trust has a productive creative partnership on major brand identity projects.
• Bad Lucky StudiominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBad Lucky Studio created logo animations for multiple Trust Design Shop projects, including the Bits & Letters logo animation and the Hometeam script logo animation. Trust Design Shop regularly partners with Bad Lucky Studio for animation work that complements their brand identity projects.
• Creative Works WestcoreGTM or Marketing PartnerJosh from Creative Works West reached out to invite Trust Design Shop to lead a workshop at the Spring 2025 Creative Works West conference. The workshop, titled 'Punch Above Your Weight,' positioned the studio as thought leaders in the small design studio space and served as a key marketing and brand-building opportunity.
• Lively Scout (Katie Lively)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKatie Lively at Lively Scout created the paddle artwork designs featured in the first Let Live Pickleball product collection. Trust Design Shop used this artwork as inspiration for the broader brand identity they developed for Let Live, ensuring the brand could accommodate future artist collaborations.
• Texas A&M UniversityminorGTM or Marketing PartnerJohn Boran from Texas A&M invited Trust Design Shop to speak to design students a few weeks before the Creative Works West workshop, giving the studio a platform to share their expertise and approach with the next generation of designers.
• Connex FW (Co-working Space)minorOthersTrust Design Shop operates from Connex FW, a co-working space built from shipping containers in Fort Worth. Jie Melchiors, founder of Connex, is also co-owner of Hulala Home — a Trust Design Shop client. Connex served as an introduction point for the Hulala Home partnership.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Hoodzpah Design: Two-person-led boutique branding studio (Jen Hood and Amy Hood) specializing in brand identity and packaging for ambitious small brands. Closely comparable in size, founder-led structure, service mix, and SMB/startup focus; explicitly referenced in Trust Design Shop's own data as a referral partner and collaborator on Datalily and Quill & Cauldron.
• Finsweet: Webflow ecosystem design and development agency and toolmaker. Directly comparable on Webflow platform expertise and SMB/startup client base; Trust Design Shop explicitly credits Finsweet as part of its own website build stack, signaling overlapping platform positioning.
• Mast Studio: Boutique brand and design studio specializing in brand identity, motion, and digital experiences for ambitious companies. Comparable on studio scale, service mix, and design-led approach to SMB and mid-market engagements.
• Refokus: Boutique Webflow-focused design and development agency with a global client roster. Directly comparable on the Webflow specialization, premium web/animation craft, and SMB-to-mid-market positioning that Trust Design Shop also targets via Dribbble Webflow Experts.
• Saint Urbain: Independent brand and digital design studio producing award-winning identity and website work for startups and cultural brands. Comparable on boutique scale, design award profile, and the strategy-to-execution brand identity offering.
• Manual: Boutique creative studio offering brand strategy, identity, and digital experience design for ambitious brands. Directly comparable on studio size, service mix (strategy → brand → web), and SMB/startup client profile.

Broad incumbents

• Red Antler: Established Brooklyn-based brand identity agency known for launching venture-backed startups. Overlaps with Trust Design Shop's brand identity and naming offering but operates with a much larger team and at higher price points serving well-funded startups.
• Koto: Larger London-based branding and design agency working with venture-backed and enterprise clients. Operates in the same brand identity and web design space but at significantly greater scale and with broader geographic reach, making it a comparable incumbent rather than a direct small-studio competitor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/trust-design-shop
• Instagraminstagram.com/trustdesignshop

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Trust Design Shop