Rideau Studio  ·  Web design & identity
Booking summer ’26
Rideau
studio  that ships. that earns. within budget. made yours.

We make bold, purposeful websites for small businesses, creators, and events. No agency price tag. Pay in dollars, or in trade. Either way works.

Manifesto · 001 · first of our kind

Good design shouldn’t be a privilege of the well-funded. We believe a small business deserves the same care, the same craft, the same considered hand as a brand ten times its size. So we work to your budget, not around it. Tell us your number. We’ll tell you what’s possible inside it. The work is the same. The price is yours.

Approach Tell us what you can spend. We tell you what’s possible before you commit.
Trade welcome Photography, illustration, copy, food, music. We accept payment in kind for projects we love.
Where we work Ottawa-rooted, working with clients everywhere. Toronto, London, LA, your kitchen table.

Selected work.

004 projects · 2025 → 2026
№ 01 / 04  ·  2026

Sister Fitness Club.

A community-first fitness club for women. The site feels less like a gym, more like a clubhouse. Bold type, full-bleed imagery, and a booking flow that doesn’t fight you.

Web designIdentityBooking flow
sistersfitnessclub.com
№ 02 / 04  ·  2025

Secret Sauce.

Single-product e-commerce for a small-batch sauce brand. Editorial pacing, a checkout that converts, and a bottle that deserved better than a default theme.

E-commerceSingle productBrand site
secretcompany.ca
№ 03 / 04  ·  2025

Monadi Fitness.

A personal trainer in Ottawa with serious clients. Dark, confident, no-nonsense. Booking a session takes ten seconds.

Web designBrandBooking
monadifitness.com
№ 04 / 04  ·  2025

Ria Saraf.

A creator and dancer based in the UK who needed a site as expressive as her work. Type as choreography. Kinetic headlines, generous imagery, a shop that doesn’t break the mood.

Creator siteEditorialUK
riasaraf.com
Services · 02

What we make.

Three things, done well. Everything is scoped to your budget. Bigger, smaller, or somewhere in between. We tell you up front what fits.

01

Web design & redesign

From-scratch builds or a refresh of what you have. Fast, conversion-aware, and not assembled from a template.

Design + buildCMS & e-commercePerformance audit
02

Identity, brand & photography

Logos, palettes, type systems. Full identity for new ventures, or a re-skin for one that has outgrown its old look. Site photography included on request.

Logo & markBrand guidelinesPhotographyTemplates & assets
03

Touch-ups & events

Single-page sites, event identities, posters, quick fixes. Fast turnaround on focused work. Usually under two weeks.

Event micrositesPrint & postersSite repairs
Process · 03

How it works.

Four steps, no surprises. Every project starts with a fixed scope and a fixed price, agreed before we touch the design tools.

01 Week 0 · Free

A conversation.

A 30-minute call. Tell us the project and your budget. We tell you what’s possible inside it.

02 Week 1 · Scoping

A fixed quote.

Written scope, deliverables, timeline, price. No hourly billing. What we agree to is what you pay.

03 Weeks 2–4 · Design

The making.

Design and build, with two review checkpoints. Most projects ship in four to six weeks.

04 Launch · Forever

A handoff.

We launch, hand over the keys, and stay on call for thirty days. Ongoing care is optional, never required.

About · 04

Small studio.
Big intent.

Rideau Studio is a small, independent design practice in Ottawa. Built on the idea that good design shouldn’t be a luxury.

We work with the people big agencies won’t take meetings with. Small businesses, solo founders, creators, side projects that deserve to be taken seriously. The same care goes into a $500 microsite as a $50,000 brand build.

The studio is run hands-on. You talk to the people doing the work. No account managers, no upsell decks, no phase-three add-ons. Just a clear scope, a fair price, and design we’re proud of.

004
Sites shipped
02
Countries
Coffees, est.
Words · 05

Kind things, said about us.

They actually listened to my budget. The site somehow feels ten times more expensive than what I paid, and clients keep complimenting it.

M
M. Ardalan
Founder, Monadi Fitness

We swapped a year of class passes for our website. They got it. The whole process felt like working with someone who actually cares about the outcome.

S
Sister FC team
Founders, Sister Fitness Club

I came in with a reference I loved and a number I could afford. They did not try to talk me out of either. They made something better than both.

R
Ria S.
Creator, London

Fast, clear, kind. The quote they gave us in week one is the quote we paid in week six. That basically never happens.

A
Alex Tremblay
Founder, Secret Sauce Co.

Our annual gala microsite went up in nine days, on a budget half what an agency quoted us. Beautifully made, and our donations doubled the same week.

D
Dr. Priya Mehta
Director, Bytown Arts Foundation

As a first-time founder, I was nervous to even ask for a quote. They walked me through what was possible at every price point. Calm, honest, and the work is gorgeous.

J
Jordan Okafor
Founder, Slow North Coffee

We needed something that did not look like every other dental clinic on the internet. They listened, asked smart questions, and delivered a site we are proud to send people to.

K
Dr. Karen Liu
Owner, Glebe Family Dental

A small studio that works like a much bigger one. Considered, calm, and surprisingly fast. The team made our nonprofit feel like a serious organization.

N
Naomi Bergeron
Comms Lead, Capital Region Mutual Aid
FAQ · 06

Things people
ask us.

Have a question we have not answered? Reach out and we will get back within a day.

Email us your questions

You tell us your number on the first call. We tell you what’s possible inside it: a single-page site, a brochure, full e-commerce, a quick refresh. No project is too small. If your budget can’t fit what you’re asking for, we’ll say so and offer a smaller version, or point you elsewhere.

Really. We’ve traded for class passes, photography, illustration, recipes, event tickets, and once a custom-made knife. If you make something we’d use anyway, let’s talk. Half-trade, half-cash works too.

Ottawa, Ontario. We’ve shipped sites for clients in Canada and the UK, and we work async with anyone, anywhere. Time zones aren’t a problem.

A single-page site or event microsite: 1–2 weeks. A typical small-business site: 4–6 weeks. A full brand + site build: 8–10 weeks. We give you a real timeline in the quote, and we hit it.

Yes. Full ownership of all design files, source code, and brand assets transfers to you on final payment. No held-hostage retainer, no licensing tricks.

We set you up on whatever stack fits: Webflow, Framer, custom, your existing CMS. We always pick something you can edit yourself. Monthly care plans are available, but never required.

The designer doing your work. No account manager middle layer, no junior handoffs. The person on your kickoff call is the one writing the CSS.

Contact · 07

Start the
conversation.

Tell us about the project. We reply in under 24 hours, weekdays. Booking projects starting June 2026. Trade-friendly. Small budgets welcome.

or email hello@rideau.studio

Thank you. We will reply within a working day.

Emailhello@rideau.studio
StudioOttawa, ON · 45.42° N
HoursMon to Fri · 9 to 6 EST