Nine people, one long table.
Halden is an independent design studio in Lisbon. We started in 2014 and have stayed small on purpose, so the people you meet on the first call are the people doing the work.
Why we stay small
Big agencies are good at many things. Remembering what you said in the first meeting is rarely one of them.
We take on four or five projects at a time. Each has a senior lead who stays from discovery to launch, and the whole team reviews the work every Thursday, so nothing ships that only one person has seen.
We have no account managers and no sales team. You talk to designers and developers, and they talk to you in plain language.
- Founded
- 2014
- Team
- 9 designers and engineers
- Based in
- Lisbon, working across Europe
- Projects at a time
- 4 to 5
What we hold to
Four promises we make to every client, and that you are welcome to hold us to.
Senior by default
Every project is led by someone with at least ten years of practice. Juniors learn alongside, never alone.
Show, don't pitch
We never do free pitches. We show routes in context: on your website, your shopfront, your app.
Honest timelines
You get a dated plan before you sign. If something slips, you hear it from us first, with a fix.
Leave it editable
Clean files, documented code and training, so your team can carry on without us.
The team
Designers, developers and one researcher. Everyone works on client projects, including the founder.
Sample team. The names are fictional.
- Marta Halden Founder, creative director
- Rui Costa Design director
- Lena Okafor Senior brand designer
- Joel Marquez Lead developer
- Ana Ferreira Product designer
- Theo Brandt Designer, motion
- Sara Lindholm UX researcher
- Diogo Pinto Front-end developer
- Nadia Elmi Studio manager
Twelve years, briefly
- 2014
Two designers, one client
Marta Halden and Rui Costa start the studio from a shared desk, designing identities for local shops.
- 2016
First websites
Joel joins as our first developer. From now on we build what we design.
- 2019
A room of our own
We move into the current studio and the long table arrives.
- 2021
Product design
A logistics client asks for help with an internal tool. Our product practice begins.
- 2024
Research in-house
Sara joins, so every product project now starts with time in the field.
- 2026
Still nine
More than 140 projects launched, and still one table.
More about the studio
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How a project runs
Four phases, dated before you sign: what we do in each, what you get, and what we need from you.
See the process -
We're hiring
We're looking for a senior product designer and a front-end developer to join the table.
See open roles
Have a project in mind?
Tell us where you are and where you'd like to be. We reply to every enquiry within two working days.