With Griffon Noir, Maéva Hostalier and Eric Huguenin run each website as a pair, from scoping to launch. We approach it as a piece of craftsmanship: a tailor-made project and precise technique.
A web project often passes through too many hands
Hand a website to a traditional communications agency, and you meet a chain of people: a project manager, an art director, graphic designers, developers, a tech lead. Each one handles their share of the work. Between two stages, someone writes a report, and the next person starts again from that summary.
You pay for it at each handover. The developer discovers the mockups once the design is signed off. They flag an animation that won’t hold up on mobile, or a template your real copy overflows. You go back, you settle problems the team could have spotted at the start, and the schedule slips.
Griffon Noir: two crafts, one duo
Griffon Noir is an independent brand, design and web development studio based in Lyon, France. We founded it to remove those handovers. You talk to the two people who design and build your website, and those two people follow your project from the first conversation to launch.
We weigh our two points of view on each decision. Maéva knows what the code will have to deliver when she designs a screen. Eric knows the intent behind the design when he builds a page. He takes part in the design work, and Maéva keeps an eye on development. What you approve in the mockups is what we put online.
Maéva Hostalier, creative director
Maéva covers the whole creative scope: UX, UI, product design, design systems, branding and visual identity, social media visuals. Before Griffon Noir, she worked as a product designer on digital products for large companies. There she learned to design for real users, with real technical constraints.
If you already have a website, she audits its design: user journeys and visual consistency. On a project, she starts from your brand and your users, builds the visual identity, then designs the high-fidelity mockups and the design system that ties them together. You’ll find her work in our Design & Branding expertise.
Outside the studio, Maéva makes handmade jewellery under the name Atelier Nema, with the same care for detail she puts into her mockups.
Maéva holds the big picture of a project and a brand, and she takes care of the detail in each component. She sets up the tools we need and delivers spotless files, built with development in mind. She speaks the technical language too: with her, nothing gets lost between the mockup and the final product.
Eric Huguenin, technical director
Eric has been building websites since 2010, and his role goes beyond code. He scopes projects: technical audit of the existing site, site structure, content strategy, specifications. He then develops each site as a custom build, with WordPress, Payload CMS or Astro depending on the need, with no bought theme and no page builder. He also chooses and sets up the hosting, and he remains your main contact from brief to delivery.
As tools evolve, Eric spends a growing share of his time on technical direction: deciding the architecture, steering the project, and delivering a custom finish down to the last animation detail. You’ll find this work in our Strategy & Consulting, Custom Development and Infrastructure & Hosting expertise.
How we run a project
We start with a written brief: your goals, your content, the site structure, the technical and functional specifications. This document sets the scope before the first mockup, and it protects you from bad surprises along the way.
Maéva builds on it for the visual benchmark, the design system and the mockups. Eric reviews each screen with her during design, so that no visual choice blocks development. He then moves on to development, animation, hosting and launch. We test the site together before we hand it over to you.
A craftsman’s approach
We approach each website as a custom piece. We start from your problem, and we choose the simplest technique that solves it: a CMS when you need to manage your content, a static site when you don’t. We aim for fast, light, maintainable websites that you own.
This approach takes commitment. We prefer to take on few projects and give each one our full attention, with the drive to solve your specific problem.
AI in the way we work
We use AI as a tool, like Figma or a code editor. It saves us time on some tasks, such as first drafts or checks. We spend that time on what takes human experience: understanding your needs, making the calls, and giving you a quick and accurate answer.
The value of a website lies in the judgement of the people who design it. AI speeds up our work. Our choices remain our own.
Animation and content for your social media
Motion design is part of our skills too. We produce our own animations and social media visuals, and we can do the same for you: turn the creative work of your website into animations, visuals or assets for your communication.
For more ambitious projects, closer to a VFX film, we bring in experts in the field. We discuss it with you at the scoping stage.
Two independents, a duo when your project needs it
We remain two independents. When a job calls for a developer or a designer alone, one of us takes it on. When your project needs both perspectives, we run it together. Each of us calls in the other as soon as we see your project needs it.
Frequently asked questions
Is Griffon Noir an agency?
We are a two-person studio. You work with the two people who design and develop your website, with no project manager in between.
Can I hire you for a single area of expertise?
Yes. You can entrust us with design alone, development alone or an audit. We suggest the duo when your project benefits from it.
Where are you based?
We work from Lyon, France.
What you’ll read in this journal
We will write about our projects, our technical choices and our views on the craft. Got a project in mind? Write to us.