AVENUE 12 DESIGN · EST. 1995
Design. Code.
Experience.
We've been designing and building things for more than 30 years.
Avenue 12 began as a graphic design studio before the Web became part of everyday business. As the technology changed, so did we — moving from print, identity and illustration into websites, programming, databases, e-commerce and custom web applications.
Today we're an independent design and development studio based in Costa Rica, working with clients here, in Canada and elsewhere.
WHAT WE DO
More than a website.
A website is often only one part of the problem.
Sometimes a business needs a new identity. Sometimes it needs a better website. Sometimes it needs a database, an online application, an e-commerce system or a way to make an existing operation work more efficiently.
Sometimes it needs all of those things working together.
Avenue 12 brings design and technology together under one roof, allowing us to work from the visual idea all the way through to the underlying code and database.
CAPABILITIES
What we build.
Web Design
Responsive websites designed around real content, real users and the way people actually use the Web.
Web Development
PHP, MySQL, JavaScript, HTML, CSS and database-driven applications built around specific requirements.
Branding & Design
Identity, logos, typography, print, packaging, illustration and other forms of visual communication.
E-commerce
Online stores and custom commerce functionality designed around products, customers, orders and the business behind them.
Technical Services
Hosting, domains, SSL, maintenance, migrations, performance, SEO and the technical work required to keep things running.
DESIGN + DEVELOPMENT
We understand both sides.
Avenue 12 started on the design side.
The Web eventually made it necessary to understand the other side too.
Over the years, design work led naturally into HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, MySQL, databases, server technology and custom programming.
That combination remains one of the most useful things we bring to a project.
We don't just ask what something should look like. We also ask how it should work, what it needs to do behind the scenes and how it will be maintained once it goes live.
INDEPENDENT SINCE 1995
Small by design.
Avenue 12 has remained deliberately independent.
There isn't a large agency structure between the client and the people doing the work.
That keeps communication direct and allows us to stay involved in the details of a project instead of handing each part to a different department.
We work with a limited number of projects at a time and prefer long-term relationships over simply producing another website and moving on to the next one.
EXPERIENCE
1995 → today
We've worked through several generations of the Web.
From early hand-built websites and slow Internet connections to responsive design, database-driven applications, mobile devices and modern Web technology.
The tools have changed considerably.
The fundamentals haven't.
Good design still needs to communicate. Good technology still needs to solve a problem. And a website still needs to work for the people using it.
Read the Avenue 12 HistoryTHE WORK
There are too many to list.
Thirty years produces a fairly large archive.
Websites, identities, packaging, publications, advertisements, illustrations, e-commerce systems, database applications and plenty of other things have passed through Avenue 12 over the years.
Some are still online. Some aren't. Some clients are still around. Some businesses disappeared years ago. Some projects have been redesigned several times since we built them.
We're not going to fill this site with hundreds of screenshots of old work simply to make the portfolio look bigger.
Every once in a while, we'll pull something interesting from the archives instead.
Not a portfolio. An archive.
BASED IN COSTA RICA
Working beyond borders.
Avenue 12 moved its operations to Costa Rica in 2005.
The move changed where we worked, but not who we worked with.
The Web makes location considerably less important than it once was, and Avenue 12 continues to work with clients in Costa Rica, Canada and elsewhere.
One independent studio. Multiple countries. One direct relationship.
THE SHORT VERSION
We've been doing this for a while.
Avenue 12 Design was established in 1995.
We started with graphic design and followed the technology wherever it went.
Today that means design, development, databases, e-commerce, branding, print, hosting and all the other pieces required to turn an idea into something that actually works.
That's what we do.
HAVE A PROJECT?
Let's talk about it.
Tell us what you're working on, what you need accomplished and what you're prepared to invest. The more information you provide, the better we can determine whether Avenue 12 is the right fit.