Why smart companies are using fractional design studios

When early-stage startups need design help, they usually consider two options: hire in-house or bring in an agency. Gev Marotz thinks they’re missing a third.

Marotz, a former Wealthsimple product design lead, now runs Gev Design, a fractional design studio that specializes in supporting fast-moving tech startups. Unlike freelancers, his team doesn’t charge by the hour, and the work comes at half the cost of a typical agency.

”We focus on product, users, and forward momentum. That’s where we can make the biggest impact.”

Gev Marotz

“Most teams bring us in during inflection points,” Marotz said. “When the goal is clarity and speed, you don’t need someone in every meeting. You need someone who can help you build the right thing, quickly.”

Marotz and his studio plug directly into the founding team. They help shape product, brand, and user experience from the inside, without the time or cost of hiring and onboarding. 

Fractional design, as he sees it, is about embedding senior talent early, which means solving high-stakes problems while startups are still nimble. His studio works on short-term contracts, often working with several companies at a time, all referred through word of mouth. 

“We usually join early, when things are still ambiguous. We help define the product, not just design the screens,” he said. “That might mean rethinking onboarding, mapping out an MVP, or rebuilding the UX around real user behaviour.”

Here are three brands that tapped Marotz’s team to rethink their user experience when it mattered most.

Scrappy no more

After a decade of rapid growth, TechTO had outgrown its old brand. What started as a scrappy local meetup had become a national platform, but its look and feel hadn’t kept pace.

“Our old brand felt like it was still using a BlackBerry,” said TechTO Co-Founder Jason Goldlist. “After 10 years, we needed a new identity that both reflected the roots of the community but also looked forward towards the future.”

Marotz stepped in to lead the redesign. Working directly with Goldlist, Marotz rebuilt the brand and website from scratch. “No pitch decks. No process theater. Just fast collaboration,” Marotz said. “It still felt like TechTO, just grown up.”

Goldlist’s brief left room to push the work. “He got the assignment: honour the TechTO legacy, nod to classic tech tropes, and layer in just enough AI weirdness to break through the noise and win over the next-gen builder crowd.”

The full refresh shipped in weeks, and the response was immediate. “We had trust from day one,” Marotz added. “We launched the full brand and site refresh in weeks and the community rallied behind it. That kind of pride doesn’t come from a handoff file. It comes from real partnership.”

Built to move fast

Syzl, often described as “Airbnb for kitchens,” makes it easy to browse, compare, and book commercial kitchen space. But as the startup gained traction, its product experience and brand needed a reset.

Gev Design was brought in to lead that reset and better serve food entrepreneurs. The team overhauled Syzl’s brand and website, rebuilt mobile and web flows, and refined the design system to be more consistent and usable. 

“We didn’t just polish the UI—we helped Syzl rethink the entire experience,” Marotz said. “That meant rebuilding core mobile and web flows, refreshing the brand and marketing site, and mentoring their in-house designer to grow confidence and capability.”

Working alongside Syzl’s team meant testing a new feature flow, getting feedback, and shipping improvements in just three days. And it brought more than a fresh look. 

“The relaunch gave Syzl a clearer voice and faster momentum across product, brand, and marketing,” Marotz added. “It aligned the team, sped up decisions, and boosted confidence—all critical when you’re gearing up to grow.”

“Gev is passionate, curious, and always seeking the best outcome,” said Azrah Manji-Savin, CEO and Co-Founder of Syzl. “He deeply cared about the team and the customers we serve, which made working together a dream.”

‘Work deep, not wide’

Blitzy, a platform that turns written specs into working software, partnered with Marotz to launch its core product fast and at enterprise scale.

“Gev came recommended for product design by the best UI designer I had ever worked with,” said Blitzy Founder and CEO Brian Elliot. “He brings high empathy UX design with considered and clean UI design, woven with the business acumen to deliver the right outcomes. Gev’s team is equally tier 1.”

Instead of handing off Figma files, Marotz’s team embedded with Blitzy engineers. They mapped user flows, wrote detailed specs, and built a design system that still powers every customer build. Their components became templates for Blitzy’s AI engine.

“We helped architect the product,” Marotz said. “That meant writing detailed specs, defining edge cases, and building a reusable design system that still powers customer-facing builds today. Our specs became internal templates for Blitzy’s AI engine, something you don’t get from surface-level design work.”

Marotz also used Blitzy to build one of his own products, giving the team real feedback and surfacing bugs before launch. That feedback loop also helped Blitzy move faster and land enterprise clients. 

“Our specs now power every Blitzy customer build,” Marotz added. “That kind of lasting impact is rare, but it’s what happens when fractional teams work deep, not wide.”

Making the model work

Marotz keeps the studio intentionally small, so it can plug in where it counts. “We’re not in every standup, and that’s kind of the point,” he said. ”We focus on product, users, and forward momentum. That’s where we can make the biggest impact.”

That same mindset led Marotz to co-found Juggle, an AI assistant aimed to support fractional professionals juggling multiple roles.

As the fractional model gains traction beyond engineering and finance, design is starting to catch up. Marotz sees his studio as proof that it can thrive when it moves at the pace of early-stage teams.

Whether you’re rethinking your onboarding, launching a product, or rebuilding your brand, Gev Design helps you get there faster. Learn more now.

All images provided by Gev Marotz.