About

Mara Ellison designs quiet software and writes about it.

Independent product designer in Lisbon. Before that, eight years designing tools that other designers use every day.

Portrait

Mara Ellison, a designer in glasses, by a window in soft light

At the studio window in Alfama, where most of these essays start as a page of grid paper.

Background

I studied typography, spent my twenties designing interfaces for developer tools, and left to start a studio of one in 2022. I work with small teams who care more about their users’ attention than their own metrics.

What I write

Essays about tools, attention and craft, a few times a year, and shorter notes whenever something seems worth keeping. I write slowly, on grid paper first, and I put the asides in the margins.

Work with me

I take on a few projects a year, booked by the afternoon rather than by the hour. The best way to start is a short email describing the problem you’re stuck on: hello@example.com.

Colophon

Set in Newsreader, Geist and Geist Mono. Built with Framer. Sidenotes, reading progress and the Day and Lamp switch are small code components; everything else is native.