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A studio of one, on purpose

I’m Abhinab Guru, a product and brand designer. Clearing exists so that the person you meet on the first call is the person who does the work, all the way through.
Portrait of Abhinab Guru, founder of Clearing

Why Clearing

Complex products don't need more design. They need a clearing: space where the right path becomes obvious.

Over the years I have designed for 11 industries, from lending apps and clinical dashboards to farmer marketplaces and generative AI tools. The pattern was always the same: the work was best when the person who understood the problem was also the person making the decisions.

Agencies split that person into five roles. Clearing puts them back together. You get senior thinking on every screen, direct communication, and a studio small enough to say no to work that isn't a fit.

What I believe about design

  • Evidence before opinion

    Every design decision should survive the question “how do we know?”. Research is part of the job, not an add-on.

  • Flows before pixels

    Most products don’t fail on visuals. They fail because the path through them is unclear. I fix the path first.

  • Built to be built

    Designs arrive with tokens, specs and states, so engineers spend their time building, not guessing.

  • Restraint is a feature

    The best version of a screen usually has fewer things on it. Removing is most of the work.

A lone fisherman on a rock above surging water, a mountain beyond

What I say no to

  • Spec work or unpaid pitches
  • More than two clients at a time
  • Dark patterns, even when they convert
  • Projects without one decision-maker on your side
  • Hourly billing

Saying no to these is what makes it possible to say a full yes to the projects I take on.

On AI

AI makes me faster. It doesn't make the decisions.

I use AI openly for research synthesis, early exploration, content variants and AI-assisted graphics. That speed goes back to you as shorter timelines. The judgement (what to build, what to leave out, what your users will trust) stays human, and stays mine.

Capabilities

Branding & Marketing

  • Brand identity design
  • AI graphic design

Product & UX Design

  • Mobile app design
  • Website design
  • Dashboards & data visualisation
  • Design for AI
  • Design systems
  • MVP design & rapid prototyping

UX Research & Audit

  • UI/UX audit
  • Discovery research
  • Usability testing
  • Competitive benchmarking
  • Surveys & behavioural analysis
  • AI product research

Product Strategy Consulting

  • Brand strategy consulting
  • Product design consulting
  • Digital transformation consulting
  • Growth & marketing consulting

If this sounds like how you want to work, let's talk.

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