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Est. 2017Free of charge, full of ideas

Teo Valdane, Designer & Creative Developer

Teo Valdane, designer & creative developer

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ExtraLead story · Filed in Lisbon

Local designer makes the web feel handmade again

For nine years, Teo Valdane has been setting interfaces the way printers once set type: by hand, with care, and with a stubborn eye for detail.

By the editor3 min readPage A1
Vaulted stone pool room at Maré Hotel with an arched window onto the sea
Fig. 1. Maré Hotel, Comporta, Portugal. Art direction, Web design, Development, 2026.Read the case file

Valdane works with hotels, festivals, ateliers and ambitious start-ups that would rather be remembered than merely visited. Each project starts the same way: a long conversation, a short brief and a sharpened pencil.

The results are websites that read like editorials and move like objects. Type is set with care, images are given room to breathe, and every animation has a job to do. Nothing ships until it feels inevitable.

This edition collects the latest work, a short interview and a few kind letters from readers. Turn the page, or write to the editor if something catches your eye.

In brief

Now booking projects for spring 2027New case file: Fieldnote CeramicsMaré Hotel opens its own booking desk onlineLocal typographer still not over kerningCoffee consumption at record levelsOrbital Nights lineup site survives ticket dayStudio relocates to a sunnier desk
Section A2The reel

Selected work

01 / 06
Open the archive
Section A4The interview
Teo Valdane working at a laptop in the studio
Fig. 4. Teo Valdane in the studio, LisbonHover for colour

Three questions for the person behind the dispatch

What do you actually do?
I design and build websites that feel like objects you want to hold. Art direction, interaction design and front-end development, all under one roof, so nothing gets lost between the idea and the launch.
Who do you work with?
Hotels, festivals, independent shops and the occasional brave start-up. Usually small teams with big ideas and a story they want people to feel, not just read.
Why a newspaper?
Because print worked out hierarchy, rhythm and restraint long before the web existed. I borrow those rules, then let everything move.
  • Art director
  • Interactive designer
  • Creative developer
  • Based in Lisbon

Good design is the art of making someone feel it was made just for them.

Teo Valdane, on a Tuesday
Section B1Classifieds

Classifieds

Services offered, rates on request, every enquiry answered.

Cut out and keep

Ad. 01

Wanted

Brands with something to say

Art direction for brands that refuse to look like anyone else. Visual concepts, campaign worlds and the rules that hold them together.

  • Concept
  • Art direction
  • Design systems
Ad. 02

For hire

Websites that move

Editorial websites, launch pages and product stories, designed for the scroll and tuned for every screen size.

  • Web design
  • Interaction
  • Prototyping
Ad. 03

Skilled hands

Code, set by hand

Fast, accessible front-end builds with motion that feels physical. Every animation is shaped in the browser, not handed over in a file.

  • Creative development
  • Motion
  • Performance
Ad. 04

Notice

Identity, refreshed

Logos, type systems and colour palettes, from a single mark to the full kit a team needs to stay consistent.

  • Brand identity
  • Typography
  • Guidelines
Ad. 05

Lessons

Workshops and talks

Hands-on sessions on motion, typography and editorial design for studios and in-house teams who want to level up together.

  • Workshops
  • Talks
  • Mentoring
Ad. 06

Free estimate

Not sure yet?

Tell me what you are trying to make. I will reply with honest next steps, a rough timeline and whether I am the right person for it.

  • Two working days
  • No obligation
Write in
Section B2By the numbers

By the numbers

Projects shipped
64
Hotels, festivals, makers and a few brave start-ups.
Years in practice
09
Independent since 2021, in studios before that.
Awards and mentions
17
Most of them framed, one of them used as a coaster.
Countries reached
12
From Comporta to Copenhagen, mostly remote.
Section B3Letters to the editor

Kind words from the readers

Tip. Swipe sideways to read every letter.

Letter No. 01

Dear Editor,

Teo understood our hotel better than we did. The new site feels like the first five minutes of a stay: calm, warm and a little bit magic. Guests tell us they booked before they finished scrolling.

Inês Carvalho

Founder, Maré Hotel

Letter No. 02

Dear Editor,

We asked for a lineup page and got a whole festival you can scroll through. Playful, fast, and it held up beautifully on ticket day.

Jonas Weber

Creative Director, Orbital Nights

Letter No. 03

Dear Editor,

Rigorous with the data, generous with ideas. Teo turned a century of records into something people browse for fun, and our researchers love it too.

Priya Raman

Head of Digital, Verdant Archive

Letter No. 04

Dear Editor,

A rare mix of art director and engineer. Every detail we argued about made it into the launch, and the launch made it into the press.

Tomás Ferreira

Co-founder, Atlas Cycles

Section B4From draft to print

How a project gets printed

Clear enough to plan around, loose enough to leave room for the happy accident.

  1. 01Step 1 of 4

    The brief

    We start by listening. A workshop, some research and a short written brief that says what success looks like before a single pixel moves.

    • Discovery workshop
    • Audience research
    • Written brief
  2. 02Step 2 of 4

    The draft

    Concepts, moodboards and a first art direction. We pick one bold idea, then give it room to breathe across the key screens.

    • Art direction
    • Moodboards
    • Key screens
  3. 03Step 3 of 4

    The press

    Design and development run side by side, so type, motion and code are shaped together rather than thrown over a wall.

    • Design system
    • Prototypes
    • Front-end build
  4. 04Step 4 of 4

    The edition

    Launch, measure, refine. A site is never really finished, so I stay on hand for the first months to tune what matters.

    • Launch
    • Analytics review
    • Ongoing care
Section C1Stop the presses

Let us make the front page together

Let's makethe front pagetogether

Have a story worth printing? I am booking a small number of projects for spring 2027. Tell me what you are making and I will reply within two working days.

Studio: Lisbon, PortugalLocal time --:--
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Section Z1The back page

That is all the news for today.

New editions go to press whenever there is something worth printing. Yours could be next.

Write to the editor

Colophon

Set in League Gothic, Newsreader and IBM Plex Mono. Printed on pixels in Lisbon, recycled daily.

Correspondence

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