Working with freelancers & agencies is killing your productivity.
Freelancers ghost. Agencies overcharge. Hiring takes months. DarkRoast gives DTC and CPG brands a dedicated senior designer, embedded in your team and on-demand, for one flat monthly rate.
The Fractional Design Advantage
Most brands need consistent, reliable creative support, not a full-time designer.
With DarkRoast, you get all the benefits of in-house design — senior creative talent, daily responsiveness, and consistent output without the hassle of hiring full-time
Design On-Demand
Senior designer embedded in your team
10 – 15 hours / week
Daily output and responsiveness
No long-term commitment
Cancel anytime after 90 days
How We Work
Your work will fluctuate.
Your bill won’t.
Instead of a fixed hour cap, your designer works within a 10–15 hour weekly range — leaning in during busy stretches, easing back in quieter ones. The pace adjusts to your business. The price never does.
Your working range holds between 10–15 hrs/week
Long-term average: 12.5 hrs/week
Flexibility
10–15 hours a week is the normal working range. Occasional weeks run higher — we flex to cover it, no hard wall when things get busy.
Predictability
Your monthly fee is fixed. It doesn’t move with a busy week or a quiet one — the bill stays the same either way.
Simplicity
There’s no timesheet to review or meter to watch. You review finished work — your designer manages the pace.
Most frequently asked
What if I need more than 15 hours some week?
That’s normal, and it’s fine. If it’s a busy week or two — a launch, a deadline crunch — we’ll do what we can to push through and accommodate it. It doesn’t change your monthly cost.
If you find you need more than 15 hours consistently, that’s usually a sign your business has outgrown the current plan — and that’s a conversation about scaling up to a higher weekly capacity, not a penalty for going over.
AI + Human Craft
15 hours is the new 40.
AI didn’t replace great designers. It multiplied what one can deliver.
Your DarkRoast designer combines senior creative experience with AI, automation and our Creative Ops Platform to move faster, explore more and eliminate repetitive production work.
That means the kind of creative output that once required a full-time designer can now be delivered in a focused 10–15 hours a week.
Human taste. AI speed. Fractional efficiency.
What Makes Us Stronger
Flexible like freelance.
Reliable like an agency.
With DarkRoast, you don’t have to choose between agility and quality — You get both
Agencies
Large contracts
Long lead times
Rotating designers
Long email threads
Fixed scope
Narrow expertise
Freelancers
Unpredictable costs
Weekly output
Same designer
Replies when free
Fixed capacity
Generalist expertise
DarkRoast
One flat monthly fee
Daily output
Same designer + team
Daily replies
Flexible and scalable
Broad expertise
CPG Is Our DNA
We’ve worked with 400+ CPG brands on 25,000+ projects
Most agencies chase the big rebrands and overlook the everyday work. We specialize in the day-to-day design that keeps CPG brands moving.
580+
Sell Sheets
190+
Club Packaging
250+
Shipper Displays
320+
Instacart Creative
1850+
Amazon Images
750+
Email Designs
5000+
Social Media Graphics
2500+
Performance Ads
250+
OOH & Billboards
200+
Trade Show Booths
The DarkRoast Difference
Smart, flexible and built for CPG brands
No Wasted Time
100% focused on creative output
Hyper Efficiency
AI-driven workflows for faster turnaround
Compounding Consistency
Same designer, faster and sharper over time
Creative Ops Platform
Manage multiple projects with clarity and speed
Full-Service Team on Tap
3D, motion, and UI/UX when you need it
No Commitment
No long-term contracts. Cancel anytime after 90 days.
Free Trial
Try your new designer on a real project
Hand us something from your to-do list and we’ll design it — no cost, no strings attached. It’s the easiest way to see how we work before you commit to anything.
Customer Stories
What it’s like to work with us?
Testimonials
Our clients average 104 projects a year
Here's what they say about working with us.
“
The team at DarkRoast has helped us take our creative execution to a new level. We are paired with a spectacular design pro that has quickly become an extension of our team. Working with DarkRoast is like the “easy button” for bringing creative projects to life!
“
DarkRoast has been an invaluable creative partner for NuttZo, consistently delivering work that is on-brand, thoughtful, and fast. They understand our brand voice without us having to over-explain it and always bring creative ideas to the table rather than just executing what we ask for.
“
Our designer has impressed us with her quick grasp of our brand identity, as well as her speed in creating content and making edits. She feels like an extension of the Barleans team, with outstanding communication and delivering quick results.
“
DarkRoast is like a team member that helps us bring to life our sales and marketing campaigns. They check all our boxes: Great design. Fast turnarounds. Reliable and affordable.
“
I've never worked with a freelancer or agency with faster turnaround times. Since working with DarkRoast, the branding in our emails, ads, social media content, website graphics has become a lot more consistent (and prettier). It's almost like our designer can read my mind.
“
Working with the DarkRoast team has been an absolute pleasure, and the unlimited revisions make perfecting each project a much less stressful experience.
Ready to meet your new designer?
Join 400+ CPG & DTC brands who keep their design moving with a dedicated team — without hiring full-time
