Helped teams raise $12m+
Design smart, early.
One design partner across brand, product, and web when direction is being set.
Design practice of Felix Dorner for early-stage startups and busy studios.
Trusted by teams across Europe and the US
The problem
Design treated lightly early
becomes a liability later.
Teams move fast and make decisions before everything is clear. Design choices that seem temporary harden into structure, limit flexibility, and become difficult to undo.
Common symptoms
Early momentum creates long-term constraints
Design responsibility is fragmented
Every change feels harder than it should
I started this practice to help teams make scalable design decisions before assumptions harden.
Over time, I kept seeing the same pattern. Teams moved fast and built good things, but early design decisions made without senior judgment quietly turned into constraints. By the time misalignment became visible, changing direction was already expensive.
My path into design began at SoundCloud, where I learned how product thinking supports fast-moving teams. Since then, I’ve worked across products, brands, and websites for teams across Europe and the US, collaborated long-term with design studios in Berlin and supported startups that raised millions.
Across all of it, one thing stayed consistent: when brand, product, and website are not aligned as one system, progress slows, and flexibility disappears.
This practice exists to bring flexible senior design partnership in early to help teams move forward without locking themselves into decisions they will have to undo later.
Work
See how teams gained clarity before scale.
Across 15+ years of work, early design decisions consistently reduce long-term cost.
Bauplan
Brand and website for a San Francisco data startup ahead of a $7.5m funding round.
„We love our branding. You did an amazing job!“
Ciro Greco
Co-Founder, Bauplan
Flowers
Product design system for a Munich-based SaaS startup during early growth.
reteach
Visual refresh for a German e-learning platform entering its next growth phase.
Library of Lost Books
UX prototype for a global citizen science archive at the Leo Baeck Institute Jerusalem.
Arne Keunecke
UX/UI lead, navos create
Plans
Ways to engage before decisions get expensive.
These are common entry points. Choose what fits, or start a conversation to shape a custom setup.
FAQ
Common questions
Access senior design judgment without a long-term commitment.
For moments where early decisions will shape what comes next.
No commitment. Just a fit check.
