Two people, one old net loft, a lot of small good brands.

Saltbox is Ada Hart and Sam Okafor. We started the studio in 2019 so we could work directly with the people who make things, not with the people who manage the people who make things.

Illustration of the Saltbox studio, a dark saltbox-roofed net loft on stilts over the harbour, with warm lit windows

Ada grew up above her parents' hardware store. Sam fixed bikes through college. Between us we have spent a lot of time on the other side of the counter, and it shapes how we work: a brand is not a logo file, it is the sticker on the bag, the chalkboard by the till and the email that says your order is ready.

How a project runs

Most projects take six to ten weeks. We only run two at a time, so you always talk to the people doing the work.

  1. A day on site. We visit the studio, the bakery or the shop floor. We watch how things get made and how people buy them.
  2. One direction. We present one idea, argued well, instead of three we half believe in.
  3. Real materials early. Labels get printed, pages get built, and you react to the actual thing by week three.
  4. Hand over, then check in. You get a site you can edit yourself, a short guide, and a call a month after launch to fix whatever bugs you.

We would rather make a small brand that is completely right than a big one that is mostly fine.

Why a net loft

The studio is a converted net loft on the working waterfront. It is cold in January and loud when the boats come in. It also has room for a print table, a shelf of client samples and a proper coffee setup, which, given some of our clients, is only fair.

If you are nearby, come and say hello. If not, the journal is where we write about the work.

Where we have been

  1. 2019 – Present

    Co-founders · Saltbox

    Portland, Maine

    Brand identity, packaging and websites for independent makers across New England and beyond.

  2. 2013 – 2019

    Senior designer (Ada) · Harbour & Field agency

    Boston

    Identity and packaging for food and drink brands. Learned how much of a brand lives on the side of a box.

  3. 2014 – 2019

    Front-end developer (Sam) · Lantern Commerce

    Remote

    Built storefronts for small shops. Learned that the fastest checkout is the one with the fewest steps.

Where we learned

  1. 2009 – 2013

    Casco Bay School of Design · BFA, Graphic Design (Ada)

    Letterpress, type design and a thesis on the signage of Portland's working waterfront.

  2. 2010 – 2014

    Community bike shop, then a lot of late nights · Self-taught (Sam)

    Learned HTML building the shop's first website, then kept going.

What we do

  • Brand identity
  • Naming
  • Packaging and labels
  • Menus and signage
  • Websites and online shops
  • Booking and pre-order flows
  • Content you can edit yourself
  • Photography direction