Small Is the New Big
Why small, craftful agencies are winning in 2026
· Saints
It's 2026. The age of small, craftful design agencies has arrived.
It used to be a thing. Grow big, look strong. Grow a large team, set up a big office with a shiny logo in the hallway, maybe hire an artist to do a mural (those are still awesome btw). Then hire accountants, an office manager, a PR person, customer support, etc etc. And before you know it, the client's budget is being eaten by the agency's overhead, because in reality, that's where your money is going as a client. It's to keep the shiny agency machine running.
So less money, less time, less brainpower is going into actually solving your problem, having creative freedom, and space to come up with the right AND beautiful solutions your customers need.
But David has come knocking on Goliath's door. Once, scaling big was the dream. Even ours. Now it's hopelessly unsustainable with AI. A team of two can now do what used to take a large team. Many of the simple and boring tasks can now be outsourced to AI with just a prompt. Heck, even this article got edited by AI, because my creative brain doesn't structure sentences 'as it should be'. O well, creative people understand.
So is AI a threat? Yes, for budget-hungry agencies trying to look big. But for us creatives, it means freedom. Offloading all the boring tasks to AI so we can spend more time and money on the actual work clients pay us to do, strategizing, thinking through problems creatively while catching some fresh air in the forest, getting the big picture, honing in on the small details and then working things through iteratively, mulling, shaving until it fits.
So if you're thinking, well that agency is so big they must be doing a good job, think again. This is 2026. And it wouldn't be the first time a small agency like us has snatched a six-figure project from a big, established-looking agency. They wanted to charge seven figures for the same work. Work they were going to outsource anyway.
Times have changed, but our craft hasn't. Going forward, craft will separate the craftsmen from the wood butcher.
(AI was used to find the word 'wood butcher' and restructure sentences. All words are human and my own.)
Small Is the New Big
Why small, craftful agencies are winning in 2026
· Saints
It's 2026. The age of small, craftful design agencies has arrived.
It used to be a thing. Grow big, look strong. Grow a large team, set up a big office with a shiny logo in the hallway, maybe hire an artist to do a mural (those are still awesome btw). Then hire accountants, an office manager, a PR person, customer support, etc etc. And before you know it, the client's budget is being eaten by the agency's overhead, because in reality, that's where your money is going as a client. It's to keep the shiny agency machine running.
So less money, less time, less brainpower is going into actually solving your problem, having creative freedom, and space to come up with the right AND beautiful solutions your customers need.
But David has come knocking on Goliath's door. Once, scaling big was the dream. Even ours. Now it's hopelessly unsustainable with AI. A team of two can now do what used to take a large team. Many of the simple and boring tasks can now be outsourced to AI with just a prompt. Heck, even this article got edited by AI, because my creative brain doesn't structure sentences 'as it should be'. O well, creative people understand.
So is AI a threat? Yes, for budget-hungry agencies trying to look big. But for us creatives, it means freedom. Offloading all the boring tasks to AI so we can spend more time and money on the actual work clients pay us to do, strategizing, thinking through problems creatively while catching some fresh air in the forest, getting the big picture, honing in on the small details and then working things through iteratively, mulling, shaving until it fits.
So if you're thinking, well that agency is so big they must be doing a good job, think again. This is 2026. And it wouldn't be the first time a small agency like us has snatched a six-figure project from a big, established-looking agency. They wanted to charge seven figures for the same work. Work they were going to outsource anyway.
Times have changed, but our craft hasn't. Going forward, craft will separate the craftsmen from the wood butcher.
(AI was used to find the word 'wood butcher' and restructure sentences. All words are human and my own.)