Cardbird Studio · est. 2019
a design studio that plays every hand dealt.
Brand identity, digital product, print and art direction — run by a small team that stays at the table from the first sketch to the launch.
the studio
small table, full attention.
Cardbird is four designers and a rotating cast of collaborators. No account layer, no handoff to a junior team — the people who pitch the work are the people who make it.
We started in 2019 doing identity work for people who make physical things — roasters, binders, ceramicists — and grew into the screens those brands live on. That order matters to us: the mark, the system, then the product.
“Every brief is a hand. Read the table, commit to a play, and show your cards when it counts.”
Engagements run from three-week identity sprints to year-long product partnerships. Whatever the length, you get a named team, a shared board, and weekly reviews against real work — never a slide about work.
- founded
- 2019
- projects shipped
- 60+
- industries
- 12
- studios
- Lisbon · Berlin
the hand
four suits, one deck.
Most projects pull from more than one. We scope them together so the brand, the product and the print never drift apart.
brand identity
The mark and the system it lives in — built to survive contact with the real world.
- naming & positioning
- logo & wordmark
- type & colour systems
- guidelines
digital product
Interfaces and design systems for teams that ship every week.
- ux & ui design
- design systems
- marketing sites
- prototypes
editorial & print
Books, packaging and objects — drawn, set and prepared for press.
- publication design
- packaging
- typography
- production & artwork
art direction
The look of a campaign, and the people hired to shoot it.
- campaign concepts
- photography direction
- motion & social
- launch assets
selected work
a few hands we’ve played.
Representative projects across identity, product and print. Full case studies on request.
Verso
Identity & packaging for an independent bookbinder.
2025 · brand
Halva
Product design and design system for a recipe app.
2025 · product
Öfen
Packaging system for a small-batch ceramics studio.
2024 · print
Field Notes Radio
Art direction and cover system for a music podcast.
2024 · direction
Marram
Rebrand for a coastal conservation trust.
2023 · brand
Ledger
Dashboard and component library for a fintech team.
2023 · product
how we play
the same four moves, every time.
A real sequence, not a phase diagram. Each step ends with something you can look at.
the deal
A working session to lay out goals, constraints and what winning looks like. You leave with a scope and a fixed price.
reading the table
Research, audit and references. We come back with a direction and the reasoning behind it — before any polish.
playing the hand
Design in weekly rounds against real content. You see rough and refined, never just the safe middle.
showing your cards
Files, systems and a walkthrough for whoever carries it next. We stay reachable after launch.
contact
got a hand
worth playing?
Tell us a little about the project. We reply to everything within two working days.
or email hello@cardbird.studio