The client had a site that worked, but wasn't doing much more than existing. They were a German B2B machine learning company, building complex solutions. Their previous designer had delivered something 'beautiful' but then disappeared.

Julian, the CEO, wasn't looking for a designer who could just make pretty things. He needed someone accountable - someone who would own the work and think beyond the immediate task. My first job was simply to take their existing design and build it in Framer.

It was a development-only gig. But then Julian noticed I was fast, communicated clearly, and actually thought about the bigger picture. The scope expanded. Full brand design system, social media templates, pitch decks that he now uses to close high-ticket ML contracts.

Then came a careers page that actively generates applicants and a redesigned lead flow with integrated chat. I even built a workflow for new 8-slide technical pitch decks to go from brief to finished, on-brand, in under two hours.

It wasn't a hard sell, just showing up and doing the work well. One good engagement, done right, turned into an ongoing partnership that's now lasted over 14 months. Sometimes, clients just want someone they can trust.

9 years of design. Here's where things stand.

Discovery score is now 141, up from 122 last time I posted. Still top 5% of creatives.

What's actually moved the needle: proposals. Not profile tweaks, not tags, not waiting to be discovered. I checked my traffic breakdown recently and only 3% of my portfolio views come from Contra's discovery. The rest is direct, mostly people clicking through from proposals I sent, and search.

So if your profile is complete and nothing's happening, the profile probably isn't the problem. The volume is.

The other thing I've learned this round: the proposal that gets a reply usually isn't the one listing credentials. It's the one that names a real risk in the client's project before they've thought of it. Clients get twenty messages saying "9 years experience, I'd love to help." They remember the one that said "your subscription app is going to fight your theme."

What I do: one-person studio. Brand identity, packaging with production-ready files and 3D mockups, and full website builds, handled end to end so nothing gets lost between design and execution.

Happy to give back here. If you're working on your Contra profile and want a second pair of eyes on case studies, services, or positioning, send it over and I'll help however I can.