> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://folio.ghostcms.templates.codememory.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # A week in the studio - URL: https://folio.ghostcms.templates.codememory.com/a-week-in-the-studio/ - Published: 2026-08-14T09:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-14T09:00:00.000Z - Description: One meeting, a quiet Tuesday, burnt pasta and a two-hour talk about railway signs. A normal week, day by day. - Author: Sam Okoye - Tags: Journal, #Import 2026-09-30 05:40 People sometimes ask what a normal week at Folio looks like. The honest answer is that there is no normal week. But there is a rhythm that most weeks follow, and it says a lot about how a small studio stays sane. Here is last week, day by day. ## Monday: the long table Every Monday starts at the long table at nine thirty, with coffee and pastries from the bakery downstairs. We go through every project, one by one: what happened last week, what needs to happen this week and what is stuck. It takes about an hour. Nobody brings a laptop. This meeting is the only fixed meeting of the week. Everything else is arranged as needed. We think most studios have too many meetings, and we protect our time for actual work. > One good meeting on Monday saves five bad ones during the week. > > **Sam Okoye** ## Tuesday: deep work Tuesday is the quietest day. No client calls are booked before two in the afternoon, and most of us wear headphones all morning. This is when the real design work happens: the long, focused hours when an idea goes from rough to right. Last Tuesday, Tomás spent the whole day on one book cover for Oxide. He tried about thirty versions. The one he chose was the fourth. ![](https://folio.ghostcms.templates.codememory.com/content/images/2026/09/week-bikes-1.jpg) ![](https://folio.ghostcms.templates.codememory.com/content/images/2026/09/week-canal-1.jpg) ![](https://folio.ghostcms.templates.codememory.com/content/images/2026/09/week-plants-1.jpg) The ride to work, the canal outside and the plants that everyone forgets to water. ## Wednesday: clients Wednesday is when we meet clients, usually in the studio. We prefer meeting in person when we can, because design is easier to discuss when you can point at things on a table. Last week we had three visits: a first meeting with a museum, a review of the Tidewater website and a workshop with the nature charity about the next version of their birding app. 🍝 Wednesday lunch is cooked in the studio kitchen by whoever is least busy. Last week was Aiko's miso soup. The week before was Sam's famous burnt pasta. ## Thursday: making things Thursday is for production: preparing files for print, checking proofs, recording voice-overs, exporting animations. It is the least glamorous part of the job and one of the most important. A beautiful design with a mistake in the print file is a disaster. Last Thursday, Sam spent the afternoon at the printer checking the first proofs of the Nordlicht posters. The blue was slightly too purple. It took three tries to get right. ![Checking colours on screen before a print run. Screens lie; paper tells the truth.](https://folio.ghostcms.templates.codememory.com/content/images/2026/09/week-screen-1.jpg) Checking colours on screen before a print run. Screens lie; paper tells the truth. ## Friday: looking outward Friday afternoons are for things that are not client work. Sometimes we visit an exhibition together. Sometimes someone gives a short talk about something they have learned: a new tool, a typeface, a book. Sometimes we work on our own projects, like this journal. Last Friday, Lena gave a talk about the history of Dutch wayfinding, with photographs of old railway signs she has been collecting for years. It turned into a two-hour conversation that ended at the bar across the street. ![Friday lunch, which tends to last longer than lunch should.](https://folio.ghostcms.templates.codememory.com/content/images/2026/09/week-lunch-1.jpg) Friday lunch, which tends to last longer than lunch should. ## The tools behind the week People sometimes expect a design studio to run on clever software. Ours runs on a large paper calendar on the wall, a shared folder for files and a group chat that goes quiet at six. Every project has a single page in a shared document with the brief, the deadlines and the next three things to do. That is the whole system. We have tried the fancier tools. They all worked for a few weeks, and then we spent more time updating the software than doing the work. With four people, a wall calendar and a conversation over coffee do the job better. ### When the rhythm breaks Some weeks the rhythm breaks completely. A big deadline, a print run gone wrong or a client emergency can take over everything. When that happens, we drop the routine without guilt and do what is needed. The rule is simply that the following week goes back to normal, and anyone who worked late gets the time back. ## What makes it work Looking back at the week, a few things stand out. - **Protected time.** Tuesday mornings are sacred. Clients understand when we explain why. - **Small team, shared view.** With four people, everyone knows what everyone else is doing without needing software to tell them. - **Real breaks.** We eat together, away from our desks, almost every day. - **Leaving on time.** The studio closes at six. Late nights happen before big deadlines, but they are the exception, and we take the time back afterwards. None of this is revolutionary. But after years of trying different ways of working, this is the rhythm that lets us do our best work and still enjoy it. Next week will look different, of course. It always does.