About

Details

Founded

2005

Contact

hello@3n.design

Offerings

Brand identity
Design systems
Digital design
Web Development
WordPress Consulting

Hello, I’m Yann Novak—a hands-on independent designer and developer based in Los Angeles, with a focus on design, technology, and cultural work. For the past 20 years, I’ve helped artists, musicians, and cultural organizations carve out space on the open web where their work can thrive and reach their audience.

My studio is proudly queer-led and grounded in collaboration, care, and a refusal of the extractive practices of big tech. Many of the individuals and organizations I partner with come from or serve marginalized communities, and I approach every project with a deep commitment to digital equity and long-term sustainability. My practice is guided by the principles of the open web: independence, decentralization, interoperability, and universal access.

Creative work deserves tools and platforms that empower rather than extract. I build with open-source and privacy-respecting technologies, and decline to use closed platforms that lock users in, erode autonomy, or make marginalized voices less safe online. Whether the project is an independent artist’s portfolio or an institutional redesign, the goal is the same: systems and websites that reflect your values, scale with your needs, and support your work on your terms.

Alongside client work, I also speak and lead workshops on independent web practice, digital sovereignty, and building outside the platforms that dominate our lives. I’ve been a guest lecturer on design at ArtCenter College of Design, Cornish College of the Arts, and the Art Institute of Seattle.

For the past 25 years, I’ve also worked as an artist and composer. You can explore that side of my practice on my other site.

Schedule a call.

Process

My goal for any project is to deliver websites built for long-term flexibility, performance, and content management—designed to scale and easy to maintain. Every site includes custom content structures, mobile-first responsive design, search engine readiness, and performance optimization, built with WordPress and a range of other open-source tools.

[01]
Research

I review your existing content and analyze your contemporaries to understand the landscape. Through conversations and a bit of homework, we define what you need—structurally and aesthetically—and shape an intuitive site architecture from there.
[02]
Design

I focus on a single design concept, delivered as HD wireframes and a Sketch prototype, that we iterate across multiple rounds of revisions. Function leads form, and though development is mobile-first, I begin every design at desktop scale and simplify from there.
[03]
Development

Whether I’m building a custom theme or a child theme, all code is written by me, by hand. I take pride in pixel-perfect translations from design to live site, and I have experience migrating content from Squarespace, Tumblr, Wix, Concrete5, Drupal, and other WordPress sites.
[04]
Test

I make sure everything looks right and functions correctly across desktop, mobile, and tablet, and across major operating systems and browsers. This stage is invisible by design—small inconsistencies surface and get resolved before launch.
[05]
Stack

I use WordPress and Advanced Custom Fields, as well as a few other go-to plugins. For hosting, I recommend clients use DreamHost’s Web Hosting or VPS Hosting plans—they offer strong rates, reliable uptime, and a thoughtful approach to environmental impact.
[06]
Launch

This includes domain setup, server configuration, WordPress installation, caching, CDN setup, backups, and SEO readiness, plus any integrations with external services. When requested, I also help set up analytics, including privacy-focused alternatives when those are a good fit.

Services

I offer three project models—bespoke, off-the-shelf, and consulting—each scalable in price, timeline, and scope. Between them, I can accommodate a wide range of clients and needs, from full custom builds to streamlined solutions to longer engagements with internal teams.

[A]
Bespoke

My bespoke websites are completely custom and built from the ground up. These projects are typically larger, well-defined scopes for established clients who need a site built from scratch or a comprehensive redesign. I work on a flat rate and only take on one or two bespoke projects at a time. They usually take 8–16 weeks to complete and fall in the region of $5k–$20k.
[B]
Off-the-shelf

My off-the-shelf projects are tailored for emerging artists, musicians, and fledgling organizations in need of a web presence. These builds use a pre-existing WordPress theme to accommodate more modest budgets, and I work on an hourly basis at $125/hr—meaning we can move at your pace, as quickly or slowly as you need. Most off-the-shelf projects fall in the region of $1k–$2k.
[C]
Consulting

My consulting work covers engagements that fall outside the other two models—from ongoing collaboration with an institution’s internal team to smaller, focused projects like security audits, privacy reviews, or platform research. I work a set number of hours or days over a period that fits the scope, whether that’s a few hours or several months, billed hourly.