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Haemish O'Donnell
Digital architect — websites, systems, AI builds.
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Rare by Design is my independent digital studio, based in Palm Springs, California. It's the operating brand under which I design and build websites, brand identities, and digital systems for clients who need their presence to feel as deliberate as their work.
The studio site itself is a build — a moving identity rather than a static portfolio. Deep plum, gold, animated typography, custom motion. The work speaks before the copy does.
What I do under Rare by Design:
⦿ Full website design and build (front-end and back-end)
⦿ Brand identity and visual systems
⦿ App and Chrome extension development
⦿ Digital marketing infrastructure (analytics, pixels, SEO, dashboards)
⦿ AI product builds and integrations
The studio operates on a simple principle: most freelancers compete on aesthetics or price. I compete on the layer between idea and operational — the messy middle where systems either work or quietly fall apart. Every site I ship includes the surface clients see and the infrastructure they don't.
I built this site for myself at the same level I build for clients, because the studio site is the first conversation every new client has with me.
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Innerwork Systems is a three-product self-knowledge platform I designed, built, and shipped end to end under my studio, Rare by Design.
Three deliverables, one ecosystem, framed around a single thesis: every mind runs on infrastructure, and most people never see theirs.
The product line:
⦿ Subsurface — $7.99 journaling app with six chapters and a burn mechanic
⦿ The Portrait — $65–$125 bespoke astrology + Human Design guide, delivered as a private interactive link within 72 hours
⦿ Decoded — $200–$250 relational compatibility translator with embedded AI chat
What I built solo:
⦿ Brand identity, visual system, and all copywriting
⦿ Front-end: custom HTML / CSS / JavaScript with a 90-second diagnostic funnel
⦿ Back-end: PHP + MySQL on Hostinger Business
⦿ Payments: Stripe (Portrait + Decoded) and Gumroad (Subsurface) — four payment links total
⦿ Email automation: 13 emails across four Kit sequences
⦿ Order management: password-protected dashboard at /dashboard.php with revenue tracking, slot management, and live diagnostic lead capture
⦿ Compliance: Privacy Policy, Terms of Service, cookie consent, Meta Pixel, Meta Business Account
The thesis: introspective work doesn't have to look soft. Built right, it can feel like premium infrastructure — precise, intentional, revenue-ready from day one.
Live at innerwork.systems (http://innerwork.systems).
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Brooke is a private AI practice management platform I built for my mom, Lizette O'Donnell — a Coldwell Banker agent working the Hi-Desert and Coachella Valley in California. She has one quiet long-term goal: to eventually go independent from the brokerage. I started building her exit infrastructure before she even asked for it.
Nine tools, one private app, one user:
⦿ Chat — structured answers (Bottom Line, Step-by-Step, Watch Out) grounded in the actual documents that govern her practice
⦿ Voice — hands-free, hold-to-talk while driving between Joshua Tree and Palm Springs
⦿ Listing Generator — CRMLS public remarks, Zillow description, and Instagram caption in 30 seconds
⦿ Email Drafter — seven email types, tone-adjustable, ready to send
⦿ Document Scanner — point the iPad camera at a contract or MLS screen, get flagged compliance issues and the next move
⦿ Script Me — exact words for hard conversations: price reductions, low offers, cold-feet buyers, difficult clients
⦿ Form Helper — every C.A.R. form (RPA, BRBC, TDS, RLA, AVID and more) walked through section by section
⦿ Client CRM — built-in, no external tool, no monthly fee
⦿ Brand Builder — bio, Instagram profile, email signature, and elevator pitch for the day she launches under her own name
The knowledge base is trained on what actually governs her work — the 2026 California DRE Reference Book, California Real Estate Law, San Bernardino County STR ordinances, and CRMLS formatting standards. Not a general chatbot. A specialist.
The hidden layer: every answer ends with a single Broker Tip connecting the task she just completed to a California broker's license exam concept. She's not sitting down to study. She's just working. But every day she gets a little closer to that license.
The build:
⦿ One single-file progressive web app under 300KB — installs to her iPad home screen with a custom splash screen and bottom navigation
⦿ Custom Node.js API hosted on Hostinger — handles routing, authentication, and AI calls
⦿ Claude (Anthropic) powering chat, tools, scripts, and vision-based document scanning
⦿ Web Speech API for voice input + Web Speech Synthesis for read-back
⦿ localStorage for client CRM, chat history, and daily briefing — no database required
Brooke isn't a product for sale. It's a private platform built for a single independent agent — proof that the right tools, built with care, can replace an entire back office.
Built under Rare by Design.
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The Barracks is a 32-year-old leather-and-brotherhood institution. The owner is relocating from Palm Springs to a 4,600 sq ft space in Phoenix's Melrose District — and the move opens the door to a full rebrand.
I built a single interactive deck giving the client three full strategic directions to choose from, each rendered as its own self-contained brand world inside one URL:
⦿ Solid Alpha — dark, military, badge-forward. The confident anchor, built on the venue's existing brand colors.
⦿ Desert Reborn — warm, editorial, cinematic. A mythic rebirth that leans into "Phoenix" itself.
⦿ The Hide — leather-forward heritage. Gear, hardware, oxblood and brass. The most true to what The Barracks has always been.
Each direction keeps the wolf, the 32-year legacy, and the leather soul — they simply feel like three different nights.
Engineered as a gateway landing with a sticky switcher, each direction loaded as an isolated full pitch deck (iframe srcdoc) so their separate color systems never collide. One URL, three full brand visions, frictionless comparison.
Built end-to-end under Rare by Design. The full interactive deck is available on request.
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