Designer and front-end developer · Lisbon
Independent since 2021
Design that survives the build.
I’m Ines Kerrowe. I design websites and interfaces for observatories, libraries, foundries and the people who run them, and then I build them myself, so nothing gets lost between the mockup and the browser.
Move your cursor over the headline to see how it’s built, or To see how the headline is built, .
- Now
- Northlight Observatory, phase two
- Next opening
- November 2026
- Lisbon
- --:--
Selected work
Three case studies, 2025–26. Each one ends with a working piece of what I built.
- 01Northlight ObservatoryAn observatory that opens at night, and a planner that works in the dark.Read the case study →
- 02Arca Seed LibraryA library that lends seeds, and a counter anyone can run on their first Saturday.Read the case study →
- 03Verso Type FoundryA foundry whose first page is your own headline, set in their type.Read the case study →
Index (7)
Everything since going independent. Three have full case studies; the others open a short note.
Showing 7 of 7 projects.
- 01Northlight ObservatoryPico, AzoresPublic site and a tonight’s-sky plannerWebsites, Creative code · 20262026
- 02Arca Seed LibraryPortoCatalogue and lending counter for 4,312 varietiesProduct UI, Design systems · 20252025
- 03Verso Type FoundryRotterdamSpecimen site, live type tester and licence calculatorWebsites, Creative code · 20252025
How a project runs
Ten weeks for most sites. You’ll see working code in week two, and every Friday after that.
- 01Week 1
Listen
Two long conversations, a look at your analytics, and time where the work happens: a counter, a terrace, a shop floor.
You getA one-page brief we both sign off
- 02Weeks 2–3
Sketch in the browser
Prototypes you can click on your own phone, not static comps. We argue about real things early.
You getA working prototype link
- 03Weeks 4–9
Build
Production code from the first day of build, with a preview link every Friday and a short note on what changed.
You getWeekly previews, code in your repository
- 04Week 10 on
Hand over
Documentation written for whoever looks after it next, a recorded walkthrough, and thirty days of fixes on me.
You getDocs, a walkthrough, 30 days of fixes
Clients and kind words
Small teams with long memories. Most of them have come back for a second phase.
- Northlight
- ARCA
- Verso
- Montefrio CC
- maresia
- Oficina Lume
- BARRO
“Ines is the first person we’ve hired where the thing we signed off is the thing that shipped. No translation layer, no surprises.”
“She spent a Saturday behind our counter before she drew anything. Every volunteer since has been able to use what she built.”
About
Ten years on both sides of the handover.
I started as a developer on a newsroom’s interactive desk in Lisbon, building election maps at two in the morning. Then four years designing at Hollow & Field in Amsterdam, where I learned how much gets lost when a design is thrown over the wall for someone else to build.
Since 2021 I’ve done both, for a handful of clients a year. It’s slower to start and much faster to finish: nothing gets designed that can’t be built, and nothing gets built that wasn’t designed.
Before this
- 2021 —
- Independent, Lisbon
- 2017 — 2021
- Senior designer, Hollow & Field, Amsterdam
- 2014 — 2017
- Front-end developer, a newsroom interactive desk, Lisbon
What I reach for
- Figma for thinking
- TypeScript and React
- Astro for sites that should be fast
- Canvas and WebGL, sparingly
- A 2B pencil
Work with me
Tell me what this project should change.
I take on four or five projects a year, so every enquiry gets read properly. The more you tell me, the better my first reply will be.
- Availability
- Booking from November 2026; two slots in Q1 2027
- Typical project
- Sites 8–12 weeks; product work 3–6 months at three days a week
- Budgets
- Most projects land between €12,000 and €50,000, fixed price per phase
- Reply
- Within two working days, in English or Portuguese