Design and engineering that ship together.
Most agencies hand the design over to engineers. PixelPappa is both. Björn is a designer by training who also engineers, so the brief doesn't get re-interpreted across two contracts — and the product that ships looks like the product you signed up for.
Design that
ships.
Design at PixelPappa means making product decisions, not painting screens. We start every engagement by understanding what to build and who it's for — research, journey mapping, the parts of strategy that change the design. Then we design the product end-to-end: information architecture, interaction, interface, motion, design systems, accessibility. The deliverable isn't a Figma file you hand to your developers. The deliverable is a working product.
In practice that means product discovery that informs the design rather than running as a separate phase. End-to-end UI work, including the screens nobody wants to design. Design systems built to be implemented rather than admired. Accessibility treated as a design problem from the start, not a QA step bolted on at the end. Motion and prototyping that show the product working before it's built.
Selected work
Soundtrap
Product design for Soundtrap, Spotify's collaborative music creation platform.
Engineering
that designers
actually wrote.
Most “designed by a studio, built by a dev shop” products lose a third of the design in the implementation. PixelPappa engineering is done by the same head that designed it. Production-quality code — React, Next.js, mobile, backend, APIs, the database schema, the deploy pipeline. We write the code that ships, and we keep it shipping. No hand-off, no re-interpretation, no “the developers said it can't be done.”
In practice that means frontend in React and Next.js, mobile in a cross-platform stack, backend with API design and database architecture, and the operational layer that turns demo into live: deploy, monitoring, performance. GDPR and accessibility built into the code rather than bolted on. The same person who designed the system writes the components.
Selected clients across two decades
- Infospread
- Spotify
- Husqvarna
- Skånetrafiken
- Soundtrap
- Bublar
- Högskolan Halmstad
- Varberg Energi
- IST
- SPF Seniorerna
- Bjäre Kraft
- Sonesson
- Mörbylånga kommun
- Plotagon
- Hyph
- Smålandsoperan
- Växjö kommun
- Cosafe
- Visma
- Borås Stad
- Neighbourhood
Selected work
Real projects we've designed and built.
What our
partners say
01/10
“Björn's competence, passion and leadership in how to approach Accessibility not just as a matter of compliance but as principles that provide true value for all users of a product. If you care about usability, it is time to also care about accessibility.”
Urban Falk
Head of Education at Soundtrap
How we
work.
Every engagement starts with a paid discovery. A week or two to understand the problem, talk to the people involved, and write the plan. Premium work isn't free at the front either, and that filter is intentional.
From there, the shape of the engagement follows the shape of the brief. Some are weeks. Some are a year. We don't price by the hour — we price what ships. Twenty years of pattern recognition means we work fast, and fixed pricing rewards that.
No team augmentation. No subcontracted engineering. The same hands that designed it write the code.
Frequently
asked.
- How is PixelPappa different from a design agency or a development shop?
- Most agencies hand the design over to engineers. Most dev shops subcontract the design. PixelPappa is both — Björn is a designer by training who also engineers, so the brief does not get re-interpreted across two contracts. One decision, not two procurements. The product that ships matches the product you signed up for.
- What does design engineering actually mean in practice?
- It means the same head that designed the system also writes the components. Product discovery and design happen as one motion, not as a separate phase that gets handed off. Production-quality code — React, Next.js, mobile, backend, API, database — written by the person who designed it. No hand-off, no re-interpretation, no thirty per cent of the design lost in implementation.
- Where is PixelPappa based, and do you work remotely?
- PixelPappa is based in Båstad, Sweden, and works remote-first. Clients across two decades have included Spotify, Husqvarna, Skånetrafiken, IST, Soundtrap, Visma, and Bjäre Kraft — most engagements run remote with periodic on-site sessions where it helps.
- What does a typical engagement look like?
- Every project starts with a paid discovery — a week or two, fixed price, ends with a written plan. From there the shape of the engagement follows the shape of the brief. Some are a few weeks of prototyping when the question is whether the idea works. Some are six to twelve weeks of fixed-scope build when you know what to ship. Some are quarterly embeds running twelve to eighteen months when you need a designer-engineer inside the team, like the IST engagement.
- Do you take on new products, or only existing ones?
- Both. Greenfield products where there is nothing yet and we design and engineer the first version from scratch. Existing products where the design has drifted from the engineering or the engineering has drifted from the design and the gap needs closing. The shape of the work changes; the principle does not — design and engineering decided in one head.
- Who is Björn Rutholm?
- Björn is the founder of PixelPappa. Twenty years of designing and engineering shipped product across Spotify, Soundtrap, IST, Skånetrafiken, Husqvarna, Visma, Bjäre Kraft, and others. Designer by training, engineer in practice — the same person who designs the system writes the code that ships it.
- What is PixelPappa's stance on AI in delivery?
- AI is how we work, not what we sell. We use AI to move faster on the parts that benefit from it — research synthesis, repetitive scaffolding, accessibility checks, code review. Design judgement and engineering quality are non-negotiable. The product that ships is shipped because the person responsible for it can defend every decision, with or without the tool that helped get there.
Tell us what you're building.
Most projects start with a short conversation. You tell us what you're trying to ship, who it's for, and what's getting in the way. We tell you whether we're the right team — and if we're not, who is. No deck, no pitch, no obligation.
Start a project