01 · Discipline
Loud is a discipline.
It takes more decisions, not fewer. The work earns the room it takes up.
outside nycwe tried minimal once
designthat screams.
We said minimal. We meant it as a vibe. The work does whatever it wants.
Move your cursor. The type is watching.The type is loud. Scroll to meet it.scroll
brand identitywordmarksmotion designcampaignsbrand in the machinebrand identitywordmarksmotion designcampaignsbrand in the machine
§ 01 · Studio
A misleading name. An honest point of view.
hardly.minimal is a design studio that makes things that get noticed. Brands and visual systems that don't apologize for existing.
If you wanted forgettable, you came to the wrong place.
Eight loud opinions.
§ 02 · Approach02 · Type
Type takes a side.
Pick a typeface, you picked a stance. We pick the loud ones on purpose.
stretchbreatheshout.
03 · Restraint
Restraint is overrated.
Especially the kind that calls itself taste. Commit instead.
04 · Color
Color picks a fight.
If your palette can't lose, it can't win. We use the ones that risk something.
05 · Canvas
Blank canvas is not a finish line.
Minimal is what's left when you ran out of opinions. We don't run out.
#F1ECE4 · the blank one06 · POV
If a meeting could have named it, it isn't a brand.
Consensus is forgettable on purpose. We don't design by committee.
07 · Volume
Brands don't whisper into rooms.
The ones you remember showed up loud and stayed loud.
08 · Loud
There's no quiet version.
There's no safe option to fall back on. That's what you're paying for.
we lied about the minimal partdesign that screamsthe work does whatever it wantsno apologieswe tried minimal oncewe lied about the minimal partdesign that screamsthe work does whatever it wantsno apologieswe tried minimal once
Voice with range.
§ 03 · VoiceWe
width100
weight800
One typeface. Two axes. Drag the sliders to shape it. Our voice has range. We use all of it.
Minimal is a cop-out dressed up as taste.
§ 04 · Our Take- 01
There's a version of design that plays it safe.
It removes everything interesting and calls it restraint.
- 02
We think that's a waste of a good blank canvas.
Blank canvas earns more than that.
- 03
Good design has a voice.
It uses it.
- 04
It takes up space.
All of it, when it has to.
- 05
It makes a decision and commits to it.
Then it ships.
- 06
We're not here to whisper.
The name was a warning. You missed it.
Questions you'd probably ask anyway.
§ 05 · FAQ01What does hardly.minimal actually do?
We design brand identity, wordmarks, motion design, campaigns, and visual systems that don't apologize for existing. Anything that has a voice and needs it turned up.
02Brand in the Machine. What is that?
It's our answer to a real problem: what happens when you make content without us? Every brand we build ships with Brand in the Machine, a prompt system designed for the tools you actually use. Midjourney, ChatGPT, Claude, whatever. Not the generic kit an app spits out. The one with your point of view baked in, so the 11pm version still sounds like you.
03“Minimal” feels misleading. What's the deal?
It is. We named ourselves hardly.minimal and then made the loudest work we could. Consider it a thesis statement. The name is the joke, the work is the punchline.
04How do projects start?
Contact us. Tell us what you're building, who it's for, and why “polite” isn't the right answer. We'll come back with how we'd attack it.
05Who do you work with?
Founders, brand leads, and creative directors who'd rather be the brand that gets talked about than the one that gets filed. If “tasteful and forgettable” is the brief, we're the wrong studio.
06Are you a team or a one-person studio?
Independent studio. Small by design. You get principal-level work because there's no junior to hand it off to.
07How long does a project take?
Depends what you're after. A Brand Sprint is two weeks flat, fixed price. Ongoing work runs on a retainer. Everything else is scoped to the actual work. We dig into it, then come back with a real timeline. No guessing, no scope creep dressed up as a timeline.
Still curious?Ask us anything ↗
A brand without a site is just a PDF.
§ 06 · SisterWe do the brand. Our sister studio unweby builds the site that actually does it justice. They're as opinionated as we are. You'll like them.
§ 07 · Noise
we lied
about the minimal part.
Bring us something loud. The inbox is open.
© 2026 hardly.minimal · a studio just outside new york citywe tried to keep it minimal.we failed. no regrets.
website design in collaboration with unweby ↗