Partnering with founders to win with design at critical moments

Cramer Office is the independent design and advisory practice of Nicolas Cramer. I've been a venture-backed founder myself. I know the pressure, the trade-offs, the scarcity of resources, and the pace you're working with. I treat your time and money like my own.

The work is hands-on. I embed directly with your team or work alongside it to navigate a launch, pivot, fundraise, refounding, and beyond.

Engagements

Every engagement is bespoke. Most follow one of three patterns, though I always shape the work to fit your team and milestones.

Sprint

A focused month to establish design foundations. Typical for pre-seed teams with a concept that needs shape or a prototype which needs soul.

Embed

I join your team as acting head of design or founding designer through launch, raise, or milestone. Typical for seed to Series A companies building their first real product.

Explore

I design a new product direction or future vision without disrupting your core team. Typical for growth-stage companies with something new to figure out.

Capabilities

Small teams need people who can move swiftly between disciplines. Here's what I can own and help with.

I can own

Concept ideation

Prototyping

Research

Mobile app design

Web app design

Design systems

UI engineering

Brand identity

Naming and voice

Site design

Roadmap work

Strategic narrative

Fundraising decks

Design recruiting

I have people for

App engineering

AI engineering

Media production

Ecommerce

Illustration

Vibe marketing

Principles

No matter the engagement, I approach my work with the same set of principles. They're what I've learned matters most when working in early-stage teams.

Founder perspective

I look at design problems through a founder's lens, thinking about the second- and third-order effects of decisions on product, engineering, operations, and revenue.

Honest broker

You have biases about your own thing. I'll shoot you straight and tell you what's working and what isn't. The goal is to help you build a culture that balances taste and intuition with low ego truth seeking.

Range is required

At early stages, you need breadth more than narrow expertise. I've touched product, brand, engineering, fundraising, and management.

Quality as strategy

Design is how early-stage companies earn trust from customers, investors, and recruits. People judge books by their cover. Demonstrate taste. Impute the qualities you want.

No agency overhead

It's me. I embed in your team and work how you work. No decks, no big reveals, no client treatment.