FOR DESIGN STUDIOS

Your creative never travels unpaid.

For branding, UI/UX, and illustration studios: prospects evaluate protected boards, every revision round carries a price tag, and source files hand off only when the money lands.

Concepts protectedRevisions fundedCriteria set before round one

DELIVERABLE ESCROW

  • brand_book_v4.pdfIN ESCROW
  • logo_suite.aiIN ESCROW
  • ui_kit.figIN ESCROW
  • preview_board.pdfSHARED · PROTECTED
Approve → files + payment release together

SOUND FAMILIAR?

The concepts wowed them. Then, silence.

A prospect takes the concept round and disappears — no payment, no recourse, and your ideas resurface under someone else's brand.

Round nine is free, apparently

“Tiny tweak” culture quietly converts your margin into unpaid labor. Unlimited revisions are where studios go to die.

Final delivery is when clients go quiet

A deposit covers half your risk. The back half of every project rides on faith — and handoff day is exactly when inboxes stop answering.

HOW IT WORKS FOR YOU

From brief to handoff, round by round

1

Scope

AI shapes your brief into concept rounds, deliverables, and a revision policy with teeth. Acceptance funds the project.

2

Design on the record

Versions and round history build a running account of what was asked and what was delivered.

3

Boards, not files

Prospects and clients evaluate protected presentation boards — real judgment, zero exposure of your working files.

4

The handoff

Approval triggers it: source files to them, payment to you, in a single motion.

THE DIFFERENCE

Concept rounds with a lock on them

Your thinking is the product — so it stays protected until it's paid for. Boards carry the pitch; the source stays in escrow; and when the client approves, files and money change hands together.

  • Pitch rounds shown as protected boards — ideas can't walk away
  • Every round beyond the package is priced before the artboard opens
  • Handoff and payment are one event — no hostage files, no faith
  • A round-by-round record ends “what am I paying for?” forever

ORGANIZATIONAL INSIGHT

Know what's working. Fix what isn't.

What's working, what's not

Wins, risks and drift across every team and engagement — surfaced before they cost you.

Meetings, already prepared

Standups and weekly reviews arrive pre-written from real delivery activity. Walk in with the brief, or skip the meeting.

Your keys, your dial

Bring your own AI keys and choose how much runs — reports only, or full delivery intelligence. No markup, no lock-in.

THIS WEEK AT YOUR DEV SHOP · OPS BRIEF

AI-DRAFTED
  • WORKING WELL

    Sprint velocity up 12% — Team Atlas ahead of plan two sprints running

  • NEEDS ATTENTION

    Review turnaround slipping on Project Kepler — 2.1 days average, trending up

  • SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENT

    Rebalance review load — two seniors carry 70% of reviews this month

SHARE WITH

Team Management Client — optional

PLUGS INTO YOUR STACK

Keep your tools. Add the proof.

Rounds and reviews stay in your flow. Northn mirrors milestones from your project tool and attaches watermarked previews to the exact round they prove — no parallel process to maintain.

AsanaMonday.comClickUpNotionAdobe WorkfrontTrelloFigma

All connect over their public APIs. Tell us what you run — founding-partner integrations ship first.

Product names are trademarks of their respective owners, listed to describe interoperability — not affiliation or endorsement.

STRAIGHT ANSWERS

What studio principals ask

Can a prospect run off with round one?

They only ever hold protected boards. The working files — AI, Fig, PSD, fonts — sit in escrow until payment releases. Walking away buys them nothing usable.

What does the client actually see?

A clean review space: boards for each round, the revision history, and one approve button. They never worry about hostage files — and you never worry about silence.

What about round four, five, six…?

Rounds beyond the package become priced additions the client accepts before you open the file. Indecision starts costing the right party.

Is this a gig platform for designers?

No — there are no listings, no commissions on creative work, no strangers. Studios use Northn directly with clients they already have, keeping full control of the account and the credit.

No more spec work and no more free round nine — your designers' rates hold because the process holds.

Stop giving concepts away to prospects who vanish.
Get paid for every round.

Book a walkthrough

Bring one brand project — see the whole flow before you commit.