The Story So Far
From Tokyo boutiques to global platforms.
I'm Kevin Korpi, and Hold Fast Studio is my independent design practice. I've spent 20+ years designing hardware, software, and AI products for companies like Google, GoPro, Amazon, Adobe, Microsoft Research and a whole bunch of startups.
Most of my work lives at the messy intersection where hardware, software, and AI collide. Now I work with early-stage founders turning half-formed ideas into actual products. The kind of work where you're defining what the thing even is while also shipping it. I thrive in 0→1 chaos. I can shape product vision with founders and then build the entire design system. I don't do endless discovery phases or twenty-slide decks. I research, design, and jam with founders and engineers. And I ship.
Most of my clients can't afford to hire wrong, can't wait six months to find someone, and definitely can't waste time on designers who only do one thing. They need someone who thinks like a founder and executes like a senior IC. That's what I do.
When I'm not thinking about products or design, I'm on a mountain bike, snowboard, or holding a camera. Trying very hard not to turn any of it into a "product opportunity."
Tokyo
Copywriter to Accidental Designer
I started out as a copywriter at a small design studio in Tokyo, the only foreigner in the room, learning how to think through words before visuals. That writing background shaped how I approach design to this day. When projects needed visuals or front-end work, I taught myself. That’s where design stopped being someone else’s job and became mine.
Tokyo
Copywriter to Accidental Designer
I started out as a copywriter at a small design studio in Tokyo, the only foreigner in the room, learning how to think through words before visuals. That writing background shaped how I approach design to this day. When projects needed visuals or front-end work, I taught myself. That’s where design stopped being someone else’s job and became mine.
Tokyo
Copywriter to Accidental Designer
I started out as a copywriter at a small design studio in Tokyo, the only foreigner in the room, learning how to think through words before visuals. That writing background shaped how I approach design to this day. When projects needed visuals or front-end work, I taught myself. That’s where design stopped being someone else’s job and became mine.
The Agency Years
Scaling from Studio to Agency
Still in Tokyo, I joined a small web firm that grew fast into a full interactive agency working with Fortune 500 clients. We built some of the first mobile experiences for DoCoMo phones, back when mobile UX barely existed. I became a partner and led a bilingual design and product team building large-scale websites and digital products. It was a crash course in scale, leadership, and shipping under pressure.
The Agency Years
Scaling from Studio to Agency
Still in Tokyo, I joined a small web firm that grew fast into a full interactive agency working with Fortune 500 clients. We built some of the first mobile experiences for DoCoMo phones, back when mobile UX barely existed. I became a partner and led a bilingual design and product team building large-scale websites and digital products. It was a crash course in scale, leadership, and shipping under pressure.
The Agency Years
Scaling from Studio to Agency
Still in Tokyo, I joined a small web firm that grew fast into a full interactive agency working with Fortune 500 clients. We built some of the first mobile experiences for DoCoMo phones, back when mobile UX barely existed. I became a partner and led a bilingual design and product team building large-scale websites and digital products. It was a crash course in scale, leadership, and shipping under pressure.
Big Tech™
Design at Global Scale
After moving back to the States, I joined Microsoft and later Google, leading design projects for content management and design systems Microsoft.com, AdWords, and Analytics. I also worked on the first Amazon Fire Tablet. Those years taught me how to balance user needs, engineering realities, and business goals while shipping products used by billions. I returned to Microsoft Research to work on early AI and NLP interfaces, then back to Google to help shape parts of Android. It gave me perspective on how massive systems really get made, and how to keep them human.
Big Tech™
Design at Global Scale
After moving back to the States, I joined Microsoft and later Google, leading design projects for content management and design systems Microsoft.com, AdWords, and Analytics. I also worked on the first Amazon Fire Tablet. Those years taught me how to balance user needs, engineering realities, and business goals while shipping products used by billions. I returned to Microsoft Research to work on early AI and NLP interfaces, then back to Google to help shape parts of Android. It gave me perspective on how massive systems really get made, and how to keep them human.
Big Tech™
Design at Global Scale
After moving back to the States, I joined Microsoft and later Google, leading design projects for content management and design systems Microsoft.com, AdWords, and Analytics. I also worked on the first Amazon Fire Tablet. Those years taught me how to balance user needs, engineering realities, and business goals while shipping products used by billions. I returned to Microsoft Research to work on early AI and NLP interfaces, then back to Google to help shape parts of Android. It gave me perspective on how massive systems really get made, and how to keep them human.
Hardware and Product Design
Where Physical Meets Digital
I shifted focus to hardware-connected products, leading design at Contour Cameras and later serving as Principal Designer at GoPro. I specialized in integrating physical devices with their companion apps and ecosystems, turning complex technology into simple, powerful experiences. This is where I found my footing, bridging industrial design, firmware, and digital UX into a unified whole.
Hardware and Product Design
Where Physical Meets Digital
I shifted focus to hardware-connected products, leading design at Contour Cameras and later serving as Principal Designer at GoPro. I specialized in integrating physical devices with their companion apps and ecosystems, turning complex technology into simple, powerful experiences. This is where I found my footing, bridging industrial design, firmware, and digital UX into a unified whole.
Hardware and Product Design
Where Physical Meets Digital
I shifted focus to hardware-connected products, leading design at Contour Cameras and later serving as Principal Designer at GoPro. I specialized in integrating physical devices with their companion apps and ecosystems, turning complex technology into simple, powerful experiences. This is where I found my footing, bridging industrial design, firmware, and digital UX into a unified whole.
Hold Fast Studio
Design for Builders
Hold Fast is where everything I’ve learned connects. Writing, design, product, hardware, and AI all inform how I work today. I partner with founders and product leaders who need senior design leadership that moves fast and ships.
I take on projects that sit at the intersection of hardware, software, and intelligence. Creator tools, connected devices, and early AI products that require clear thinking and confident execution.
Hold Fast exists for teams that can’t afford to waste months and money on the wrong designer. I step in as a fractional design partner who owns strategy, design, and delivery, then help you hire the right full-time designer when you’re ready.
I’ve built products in just about every environment possible, from two-person startups to trillion-dollar companies. Hold Fast ties it all together into one approach: think fast, design with intent, and ship what matters.
Hold Fast Studio
Design for Builders
Hold Fast is where everything I’ve learned connects. Writing, design, product, hardware, and AI all inform how I work today. I partner with founders and product leaders who need senior design leadership that moves fast and ships.
I take on projects that sit at the intersection of hardware, software, and intelligence. Creator tools, connected devices, and early AI products that require clear thinking and confident execution.
Hold Fast exists for teams that can’t afford to waste months and money on the wrong designer. I step in as a fractional design partner who owns strategy, design, and delivery, then help you hire the right full-time designer when you’re ready.
I’ve built products in just about every environment possible, from two-person startups to trillion-dollar companies. Hold Fast ties it all together into one approach: think fast, design with intent, and ship what matters.
Hold Fast Studio
Design for Builders
Hold Fast is where everything I’ve learned connects. Writing, design, product, hardware, and AI all inform how I work today. I partner with founders and product leaders who need senior design leadership that moves fast and ships.
I take on projects that sit at the intersection of hardware, software, and intelligence. Creator tools, connected devices, and early AI products that require clear thinking and confident execution.
Hold Fast exists for teams that can’t afford to waste months and money on the wrong designer. I step in as a fractional design partner who owns strategy, design, and delivery, then help you hire the right full-time designer when you’re ready.
I’ve built products in just about every environment possible, from two-person startups to trillion-dollar companies. Hold Fast ties it all together into one approach: think fast, design with intent, and ship what matters.
Words on Substack
Design, hiring, and building products.
Your project starts today.
30-minute intro call. No proposal required.
Your project starts today.
30-minute intro call. No proposal required.