HALF OCEAN
HALF SKY BLUE
Half-Blue is a creative studio obsessed with one color. We design brands, websites, photos and objects that feel like deep water and fresh air — calm, bold, timeless.
Indigo Lab — Kyoto residency
Photography series, 2025
We are not blue. We are half-blue.
Half sad, half hopeful. Half ocean, half sky. Half digital, half handmade. Founded in a surf shack with one laptop and a bucket of indigo, Half-Blue grew into a distributed studio of designers, photographers and storytellers working between Lisbon, Copenhagen and Tokyo.
Why blue?
Blue is the world's favourite color and the least appetizing one. It means trust and melancholy, infinity and cold. We chose the hardest color on purpose — if you can make blue feel warm, you can make anything feel human.
Surf & indigo
First workshop in Ericeira, Portugal. Hand-dyed tees to fund first MacBook.
Studio & lab
Brand systems for ocean startups, editorial photography, blue-hour retreats.
Design that breathes like the sea.
Brand Identity
Naming, logo, color systems built around blue psychology. Guidelines people actually use.
Web & E-commerce
Awwwards-level sites, Shopify builds, headless CMS, motion and 95+ PageSpeed.
Photography
Blue-hour editorials, surf documentaries, product in natural light. Film + digital.
Indigo & Textile
Natural dye research, limited drops, workshops. From shibori to workwear.
Art Direction
Campaigns, lookbooks, packaging. Calm maximalism with a melancholic twist.
Blue Retreats
3-day reset by the ocean: cold dips, darkroom, journaling, no pitch decks.
“We don't decorate. We de-saturate noise until only the essential blue remains.”
— Mara Voss, founder, Half-Blue
Proof in 50 shades.
A mix of client work and self-initiated obsessions. All shot, dyed or coded by us.
From dip to ship in 4 tides.
No 80-slide decks. Four focused sprints, you in the boat with us.
Interviews, ocean walk, color audit. We find the one true blue for you.
Moodfilms, prototypes, indigo swatches. You touch and click, not just look.
Full system: logo, type, web, packaging. Tested in sun and on screen.
Launch, measure, care plan. Monthly tide reports and calm support.
Blue notes, fresh weekly.
Field notes on color, ocean, craft and calm business. Click any story to read full version.
Questions? Good. We like depth.
How much does branding cost?
Small tide from $4k, full ocean from $12k. Fixed price, no hourly fog.
Do you work remotely?
Yes, 100%. We have sea bases in Lisbon and Copenhagen but ship worldwide.
What is Half-Blue exactly?
Half creative studio, half research lab on blueness: color, ocean, calm tech.
Can I visit indigo workshops?
Every first Saturday. Bring old white shirt, leave with deep blue.
Let's make something blue.
Tell us about your wave. Reply within 48h, usually faster.
Lisbon • Copenhagen • Tokyo
hello at half-blue dot com — studio by the sea