Hannah May
Design Lead & Founder of Maybe Design Studio
Lisbon, PRT
www.maybedesignstudio.com
instagram @hannahmay.co
linkedin
pinterest
Q What do you do?
“Hey, I’m Hannah May.”
I am Founder, Creative Director + Lead Designer of my branding agency Maybe Design Studio.
We are a dynamic team of creatives working globally with start-up and scale-up Founders who want to bring their biggest, boldest and bravest ideas to life through building their brand.
What I work with you to create is so much more than just design.
It’s a deep dive into who you are as a Founder, the conversations that you want to lead and the market opportunity that is waiting for you to claim.
We extract the juice that is going to create a category-defining brand for your business that helps you scale sustainably, attract the right people and create waves in your industry.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
I have always been a builder.
The first 8 years of my career were focused on working inside big businesses and directly with brands - building my career in fashion buying and operations first, then transitioning into business development, e-commerce and the start-up world as a brand consultant.
And the last 8 years I have been building Maybe Design Studio - working Founder to Founder, bringing my insight and experience and combining it with design to build the most important part of what makes a business great: its brand.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
My approach is both left and right brain.
I bring the strategy, focus, logic and business acumen from the left-hand side - combined with the creativity, deep thinking, wonder and curiosity of the right-hand side.
I’m able to hold space for you to truly be yourself, think deeply and solve real business problems whilst also building beautiful visual worlds that your audience wants to live in.
Q What are you working on right now?
Right now we are working on building some incredible brands across multiple industries, locations and sentiments:
Currently building brands for:
A boutique fragrance house based in Luxembourg bringing unknown Asian scent brands to Europe.
A dog grooming salon and brand in London that is aiming to be the Aesop of the dog-care world.
An online community that invites women to connect back with their body and ancestry through creative practice.
A doctor-led skincare brand who is leading the way in creating beauty products for irritated skin conditions.
Q What’s your style?
My style and approach to all projects differs depending on the project and the Founder in front of me, creating brands that are both bold and considered at the same time.
I don’t lean on a specific style to define the studio's work but take inspiration from culture, movements, history and building brands with tension that evokes meaning and difference.
My style can be bold and poppy, tech focused and future thinking, or grounded editorial.
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
I love to build physical brands and products, but also love to work 1:1 with Founders to break through what's holding them back from getting their ideas out into the world and working in alignment with who they are, not who they think that they need to be through my Brand Consultancy and Brand Coaching services.
I explain this as a combination of both working on the business model and brand communications, but also working 1:1 with the Founder on their personal relationship, capacity and connection to their business by investing in their most important and effective marketing tool — themselves.
Q What is frustrating you right now?
Watching and learning the 10,384 online courses that I seem to purchase, get excited about then never finish.
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
I would have someone as a check in and chat buddy that I could bounce ideas off in between meetings and deep creative work to keep me stimulated. Working alone is hard!
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
When I first started the business, I wish I'd told myself that my curiosity, determination and fearlessness are my greatest assets — so keep them close.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
I would love to know more about LLM search engines. I'm currently swotting up on this for myself and my own clients.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
Right now I am calling in ambitious, mission-driven and future-focused Founders who know that their brand is one of their most important assets in their business and want to commit to building it long term.
Whether that's through brand strategy, visual identity or website/app design and development.
We work with all industries, styles and markets.
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
Our ideal collaboration is just that. A collaboration.
Between us and the client to create the best work possible. We love to push boundaries, for clients to know what they want but also be open to new ideas. To work alongside each other as thought partners to bring your big idea to life.
Q: What is your rate?
Each project is custom quoted but:
Branding typically starts from £6,000
Websites typically start from £8,000
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
You can reach out to me on hannah@maybedesignstudio.com or enquire through our website.
Q Who is a creative you admire?
My absolute inspiration for all things brand at the moment is Miranda Does Brands. Her content, cultural commentary and brand breakdowns are so on point in a sea of samey expert creators.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Getting out in nature, moving my body, challenging my opinions and deep-diving into Substacks on obscure subjects.
This member profile was originally published in September 2026.