─ field notes
notes.
Short essays from the studio — on the craft of bespoke websites, landing pages that convert, the economics of Vercel for small businesses, and the handmade web.
- edition
- № 01 · 2026
- entries
- 05 filed
- cadence
- ~1 / fortnight
- typeset in
- fraunces · manrope · dm mono
Every essay in here argues, one way or another, that the website you keep meaning to redo is worth the bother.
─ contents
05 / 05
- 01
Custom website vs Squarespace — a 2026 cost breakdown for service businesses
An honest five-year cost comparison between a custom-built website, Squarespace, and Wix for UK service businesses. When each one actually wins.
- · custom website
- · squarespace alternatives
- · website cost
19 · 04 · 20263 min read19 · 04 · 20263 min - 02
The handmade web — a short manifesto for websites that feel alive
Ten credos for building websites the slow way. A short manifesto for the handmade web — no templates, no page builders, no stock anything.
- · handmade web
- · manifesto
- · craft
12 · 04 · 20263 min read12 · 04 · 20263 min - 03
The 11 parts of a landing page that converts (without looking like everyone else's)
A practical anatomy of a high-converting landing page, with one anti-template tip per section. The eleventh part is the one every competitor forgets.
- · landing page
- · conversion
- · web design
01 · 04 · 20264 min read01 · 04 · 20264 min - 04
The real cost of a Vercel website for a small business (including the zero)
A transparent line-by-line breakdown of what a hand-built Vercel site actually costs a small business over five years — domain, email, forms, the build itself.
- · vercel
- · website cost
- · small business
18 · 03 · 20263 min read18 · 03 · 20263 min - 05
Why your template website feels dead — and how to bring it back to life
You're not wrong that it looks fine. It still feels generic. Here are the three things templated sites can't do, and what bespoke actually fixes.
- · bespoke websites
- · squarespace alternatives
- · website design
04 · 03 · 20263 min read04 · 03 · 20263 min
─ from the studio
If something in the notes is true of you, it’s probably worth a ten-minute conversation.