L / 01
Identity system
Wordmark, type and colour decisions, and the rules that keep them consistent once other people start using them.
Ships: wordmark set, type & colour spec, usage notes, exported files
3–4 weeks
Brand & web design · solo practice
Design work that ships in a fixed lane, not an open tab.
I am Nell Farrow, and Drift Lane is my one-person design practice. Small teams hire me to shape an identity, design a website, or do both and hand over a build they can edit themselves — inside a scope and a date we agree before anything starts.
The practice
One designer, one project at a time. You talk to the person doing the work, you see files as they are made rather than at a reveal, and every lane closes with a handover rather than a dependency. Anything I cannot do well — motion, copy at volume, complex engineering — I will say so early and point you somewhere sensible.
01 — What I take on
Four lanes, each with a defined finish line
Pick the lane closest to your situation. If your need sits between two of them, say so in the brief and I will quote the mix rather than push you into the larger one.
L / 02
Website design
Structure first, then layouts for every state a real page needs — including the empty, long and mobile versions your developer will ask about.
Ships: sitemap, page designs, responsive rules, component sheet
4–6 weeks
L / 03
Design and build
The same design work, then built as a lightweight site you can edit. No plugin sprawl, no admin you need me to operate for you.
Ships: built site, editable content model, handover walkthrough
5–6 weeks
L / 04
Short fix lane
A focused pass on something that already exists: one page that is not converting, a landing page for a launch, or a tidy-up before you hire in-house.
Ships: one revised page or asset set, notes on what changed
4–8 days
02 — How a lane runs
The same four steps every time
Nothing here is a surprise. You always know what happens next, what I am waiting on, and what it costs to change direction.
Step 01
Brief & quote
You send the form, I read it and reply with questions or a fixed quote. If a call helps, we take thirty minutes.
I need: your brief and your date
Step 02
Direction
Two routes, shown flat and in context, with the reasoning written down. You pick one; we do not average them.
I need: one decision-maker
Step 03
Build out
The chosen route extended across everything in scope, with two review rounds booked in the calendar rather than improvised.
I need: real content, or a stand-in
Step 04
Handover
Files, source and a recorded walkthrough, plus two weeks of small-fix support so the lane closes properly.
I need: where files should live
03 — Selected work
Recent lanes, described plainly
Three projects that show the range of the practice. Longer case notes and the full file sets are available on request.
A small studio site that the studio can edit
A two-person workshop needed a site they could update between jobs. We cut the page count in half, wrote a content model with four field types, and built it so adding a project takes about ten minutes.
- Sitemap
- Six page designs
- Static build
- Handover video
An identity built for a shelf, a sticker and a screen
An independent publisher with three imprints and no shared rules. The system gives each imprint its own colour and spine treatment while keeping one wordmark, one type pairing and one set of margins.
- Wordmark set
- Type & colour spec
- Spine templates
- Usage notes
A documentation-heavy product, made readable
Designs for a technical product where most visitors arrive mid-funnel. The work focused on comparison layouts, a legible code block treatment and the long-page states nobody had designed yet.
- Structure
- Nine page designs
- Component sheet
- Responsive rules
04 — Working together
What the arrangement actually looks like
Read this before you write to me. It saves us both a call, and it is the part most freelance sites leave out.
Engagement formats
- Fixed laneOne scope, one price, agreed dates. Most projects run this way.
- Day rateBooked in blocks of two or more days for advisory or overflow work.
- Retained dayOne reserved day a month for teams who need a steady hand on design.
Bring this to the first call
- The decisionWho signs off, and who does not need to be in the thread.
- A real dateA launch, an event, a funding round — whatever the work has to land before.
- Existing materialCurrent site, any brand files, and two or three references you already like.
Outside my scope
- Ongoing opsI do not run your site, inbox or ad account after handover.
- Volume contentLong-form copywriting and photography are better briefed to a specialist.
- Complex appsProduct engineering beyond a marketing site needs a developer alongside me.
05 — Questions
Answers people ask for before writing in
How do you quote, and when do I know the price?
Every lane is quoted as a fixed price after I have read your brief — usually within two working days, no call required for smaller lanes. The quote lists what is included, the review rounds, and the cost of anything added later, so the number does not move unless the scope does.
How far ahead should I book?
Two to six weeks is normal, because I take one project at a time. The announcement at the top of this page always shows the next open lanes. Short fix lanes can sometimes slot into a gap the same week.
How many rounds of revisions are included?
Two review rounds per lane, scheduled in advance rather than left open. A round means consolidated feedback from your side, then my changes. Extra rounds are available at the day rate and quoted before I start them.
Do you write the words as well?
I will edit and restructure what you have, and I will write short interface text, buttons and headings where design and language are the same decision. Full page copy, article writing and product naming are better handled by a writer, and I can suggest how to brief one.
What happens at handover, and what do I own?
You receive editable source files, exported assets and a recorded walkthrough, and you own the final work outright once the invoice is settled. Working files stay archived on my side for two years in case you need an earlier version.
Can you work with my developer or existing team?
Yes, and it is often the fastest route. I hand over a component sheet and responsive rules written for implementation, join one review during the build, and answer questions in your channel rather than asking for extra meetings.
What if the project needs to pause?
Pauses happen. If yours runs past two weeks, the lane returns to the schedule and we book a new window at the original price for up to three months. I will always tell you what the next available slot is before the pause starts.
06 — Start a project
Send a brief
A few sentences is plenty. I read everything myself and reply with either a fixed quote or the two or three questions standing between us and one.
Briefs reviewed every Tuesday
Reply within two working days
No call needed for short lanes