Inktrap

We speak to a London studio that’s graduated from websites through apps to design systems and that loves nothing more than a good design sprint.

Founded in 2013 by Brunel University graduates Sam Lester and James Keal, Inktrap (inktrap.co.uk) is a London-based design studio that prides itself on making beautiful, practical and impactful digital products, from initial concept to front-end development. Over the past five years, it’s shifted its focus from websites to apps and on to design systems for the web, picking up a strong client roster and growing from a two-person team to a staff of six, a number that’s set to increase soon.

Let’s meet the team – comprising Sam Lester, co-founder; James Keal, cofounder; Rachel Brockbank, digital product designer; Liz Hamburger, digital product designer; and Joe Thom, frontend developer – to find out more.

Hi there! Could you tell us a bit about Inktrap and how it came together?

SL: Hello! James and I started the company over five years ago, during our final year at Brunel University. We were essentially freelancing together at the start – my previous agency experience and James’ strong design process seemed to be a good match.

We started off doing marketing websites but soon got into apps. This led to us working with a bunch of different tech startups to help design and build their web or app MVPs. We learnt a lot really quickly as we were doing a bit of everything, from simple prototypes and marketing sites to full design and build of apps and back-end systems.

A few years ago we decided to shift our focus away from app development to creating design systems for the web. This has allowed us to do more of what we truly enjoy – designing interfaces and implementing them in the browser.

Tell us a bit about your studio principles.

SL: We’ve always been pretty clear about wanting to run the business in a way that focuses on the user and product, not just what the client asks us to do.