https://shovel.studio

Shapeful design systems for
ecomm at scale

Profile

  • Shovel is a design and development studio specializing in e-commerce experiences looking to elevate their digital footprint. We have a track record of building systems from the ground up across DTC products where brand experience is inseparable from the purchase experience.
  • Our typical clients are in the range of $1-$15M a year in revenue.

Digital Servicing

  • UX/UI Design
  • Brand Design
  • Information Architecture
  • E-Commerce (Shopify Plus)
  • Frontend Development

Case studiesthis year

Hours

A full identity and design system that drove +$51,000 in the first 60 days

Shoulder Hoodie in black, editorial model, size selectorHours Collection Shopify homepage and product page design for men's streetwear brand

Roman Hessary

Founder

"I’m very thoroughly impressed… you’ve understood the brand from a perspective that sometimes feels like it’s like an internal dialogue… I think it captured our minimalism but made it feel very premium."

Buttz

Converting new customers on an unconventional sizing system

Buttz Shopify product page design — High Elastics Brief with multi-angle model photography and color swatch selector

Toyah Diebel

CEO

"Instead of forcing our brand into existing limitations, you found ways to make the website and design work for us. The result feels super premium, more flexible, and much more Buttz."

Forms

5.9% conversion with 12.9% email sign ups

Forms Shopify store on MacBook Pro — full collection catalog with streetwear tees, hoodies, art toys, and accessories

APOC

2x conversion and +14% AOV on 6,000 products

APOC Store Shopify website design showcasing fashion, glass jewellery, furniture, and London store

Little Otter

$9.5M+ raised during our partnership

Little Otter whole-family mental health platform on MacBook — insurance-covered virtual therapy homepage with family hero photography

BAU-HŌUSE

Contemporary art and streetwear retailer

Two mobile screens: left, the BAU-HOUSE homepage with "Updated Stock for 2025" messaging, product cards, and full-bleed category banners; right, the Martine Rose brand page showing a filterable product grid with prices.
Explore all work

Every idea and design decision is meant to move towards best-in-class work

Shovel’s core principles

Be water

Every website we build is not a website. It’s a scalable design system that carries across every channel a brand lives in

The details are not the details

Great digital experiences don't choose between functional and memorable. The perfect interface must be easy to use and impossible to forget

Absorb what is useful

Good design listens to data first, then trusts the eye to go further

Stay foolish

Honest feedback at the start costs less than polite silence at the end

For the teenage self

The work should always technically, visually, and strategically hold up after go-live. More importantly there’s always a dash of child-like imagination included

A thousand nos

Do fewer things well than many things mildly

See the studio

Jules Volleburg

Co-Founder

@ APOC

"Nice and efficient to work with. Also, a good eye and understanding of other strong websites (like Acne, etc.), so there is a certain level of trust."

Roman Hessary

Founder

@ Hours

"I’m very thoroughly impressed… you’ve understood the brand from a perspective that sometimes feels like it’s like an internal dialogue… I think it captured our minimalism but made it feel very premium."

Alexis Cedeño

Senior Manager of Marketing Operations

@ Little Otter

"You handled the technical side so our marketing team could focus on what they wanted, not how to build it."

Joseph Murphy

Co-Founder

@ Mitobyte

"Their attentiveness and meticulous attention to detail set them apart, and it’s clear they are dedicated to delivering high-quality results."

Nice words from partners :)

Meet w/ Blaze

I've been posting videos since I was 12. YouTube first, then whatever platform came next. The content was always about whatever I was building at the time. Skateboarding, streetwear brands, video games. Web design took over around 2020. The hobby eventually became the job. The audience followed the work and the work got better because of the audience. Running a studio co-exists with being a creator. By 2024 that loop had a name: Shovel. The studio runs on a contractor model with senior international talent across design and development. Over 100,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok watch the work happen in real time.