FATHOM / Services / Web Design

Web Design

At most agencies, design and development are separate departments — or separate companies — and something gets lost in the handoff. At Fathom, the design phase and the build are one engagement: the same team that designs the interface builds it, so what gets approved is what ships, not a reinterpretation of a static mockup.

What this covers

01

UX Strategy & Information Architecture

CRO-led layout and navigation decisions — every page is structured against a measurable conversion hypothesis, not just visual preference.

02

Responsive & Mobile-First Design

Included as standard in every build — designed and tested across devices, not adapted after the fact from a desktop-only mockup.

03

Motion & Interactive Design

From subtle micro-interactions to WebGL/3D product visualization and scroll-driven storytelling — engineered to stay within a strict performance budget rather than tanking Core Web Vitals.

04

Accessibility (WCAG 2.2 AA)

Built in from the first wireframe, not retrofitted before launch — including graceful degradation when motion or interactive features are not supported.

How we work

01

Wireframes & UX Strategy

Structure and user flow first — validated against your conversion goals before a single pixel of visual design starts.

02

Visual Design & Prototyping

High-fidelity design against your brand identity — reviewed with you before development starts, not after.

03

Build & Motion Integration

The same team implements what was designed — no separate agency reinterpreting static files into code.

04

QA & Accessibility Review

Cross-device testing and a WCAG 2.2 AA pass before launch — part of the build, not an optional add-on audit.

The UX, motion, and interaction design phase of every build — done by the same team writing the code, not handed off between agencies.

Why FATHOM

Designed and built by one team

No agency-to-agency handoff where a static mockup gets reinterpreted into code — the people making design decisions are the people implementing them.

Motion within a performance budget

Animation and interactivity are engineered under a strict budget (under 50KB of motion code) so the experience never costs you Core Web Vitals — and gracefully degrades where unsupported.

Accessibility in the definition of done

WCAG 2.2 AA review is part of every build before launch — not an optional audit sold separately after the fact.

Conversion hypotheses, not taste debates

Layout and content decisions are framed as measurable conversion hypotheses — which ends the "I just prefer blue" style of design review and replaces it with evidence.

Tools & technology

Figmaaxe DevTools / Lighthouse (Accessibility Testing)Framer Motion / WebGL

Related case studies

Template restyle vs. custom design — where the money actually goes

Restyling a purchased theme is the cheapest way to look "new" — and for a business still validating its offer, it can be the rational choice. What you are not paying for is differentiation or performance: themes carry the weight of every feature they might need, which shows up in load times, and your site inherits the same bones as thousands of others. Custom design costs more because someone is making deliberate decisions about your specific conversion paths, content, and brand — and because the result ships without the dead weight. Our design tiers map this honestly: Standard covers proven patterns executed cleanly, Premium adds custom motion and 3D, and Signature is full interactive craft for projects where the experience is the differentiator. The tier multipliers in our estimator show exactly what each level costs before you talk to anyone.

Frequently asked questions

Is web design a separate cost from development?

Standard design is included in every build. Premium Custom Design and Signature Interactive Craft are selectable design tiers in the Scope Estimator — they scale the price because they scale the work, not because design is billed separately from development.

How is this different from your Branding & Design service?

Branding & Design is standalone visual identity work — logo, guidelines, print materials — delivered through a dedicated graphic designer, with or without a website attached. Web Design is the UX, layout, and interaction design phase of an actual platform build, done in-house by the same team writing the code.

Do you provide design mockups before development starts?

Yes — you review and approve visual design before we start building. If you already have UI mockups from your own designer, we can build directly against those instead of redesigning from scratch.

Ready to build at enterprise scale?

Book a strategic architecture call — or run the estimator and send us your pre-filled scope.

Get a Scope Estimate ↓