About

ESC

We build digital experiences that leave a lasting impression.

A creative technology studio in London, founded by two neurodivergent creatives who believe inclusive design should be the default, not the exception.

Our story

Started in a small flat in Battersea.

We started By Default in 2023. Two creatives in a small flat in Battersea, London, having a conversation that changed everything. Syeda said, "What if we built the studio we always wished existed for people like us?" Erlen, never scared of a challenge, said, "Let's do it. How hard could it be?" Little did we know it would be the hardest thing we'd ever do, and also the most rewarding.

We'd spent our careers in an industry built around a narrow idea of what "normal" looks like. Designed for people who read at a certain speed, process information a certain way, and move through the world without the same challenges. As neurodivergent creatives, we'd spent years adapting to systems and spaces that weren't built with us in mind. We knew firsthand what it feels like to be designed around instead of designed for.

So we stopped waiting for the industry to change and built it ourselves. The result is better work where participation is possible for everyone, not just a few. That's our commercial advantage. Inclusive design isn't an afterthought. It's our default.

Meet The Team

Erlen Masson

Co-Founder, CEO & Head of Innovation

An award-winning designer, technologist, and innovator often described by clients as a “creative genius.” As a kid, a teacher once told him, “He’ll never amount to anything.”

Erlen struggled with dyslexia growing up. Reading and writing never came easily, but discovering Photoshop that same year changed everything. Design became the language he used to communicate visually. That moment shaped his career and still drives how he leads today.

With over a decade of experience leading multi-disciplinary creative teams for culture-defining brands, including TIME Inc., Warner, and HYPEBEAST, and working on digital campaigns for Burberry, Moncler, and Nike.

Erlen has helped shape how global audiences experience digital brand storytelling in new and innovative ways.

The difference between a brand that gets noticed and a brand that gets remembered is participation. You don't remember what you scrolled past. You remember what you played with, learned from, and couldn't help but share."

At By Default, Erlen leads innovation, building interactive technology that lets the studio design and deliver digital experiences at speed and scale without compromising creativity. He also leads conversations with businesses and industry peers on AI in design and digital spaces, championing its role in amplifying human creativity rather than replacing it.

He drives a culture of experimentation where creativity, systems, and technology intersect, taking ideas from concept to product at speed and into scalable commercial growth.

Portrait of Erlen Masson
Portrait of Syeda Masson

Syeda Masson

Co-Founder & Strategy Director

Syeda begins every project with one question: “How should this make someone feel?” A brand and business strategist who thinks in systems, patterns and connecting big-picture vision to structured execution. Mapping how culture and behaviour shifts how consumers see and engage with modern brands today.

Her decade long experience spans across luxury fashion brands, retail and digital commerce, where she’s worked for Isabel Marant, Rick Owens, ASOS, Diesel, Selfridges and supported start up brands to launch.

Those years grounded her belief in, ‘feelings shape memory’ and ‘sweating the little details’ others miss is what gets you remembered. A philosophy that continues to guide how she leads and builds brand experiences today.

Inclusion isn't about designing for everyone. That's impossible. It starts with understanding who you're excluding and why, and building them in. The brands willing to do that work are the ones nobody else can compete with."

Embracing her neurodiversity as a leader, she combines her divergent thinking which gives her a unique lens in viewing the world.

Today, she advocates for creative wellbeing and neuro-affirmative support systems in the workplace, to leave the creative industry a little better than she found it.

Paul Le Fevre

Chief Commercial Officer

A commercial leader with nearly two decades of experience scaling revenue across global media and cultural platforms. His experience has shaped a simple belief he leads by today:

The most valuable growth doesn't come from doing more. It comes from fully activating what already exists."

At By Default, Paul sets the direction for revenue strategy, partnership growth, and the commercial foundation that supports the studio's expansion. He works closely with brand and publisher partners, designing the systems and collaborations that turn creative work into measurable business outcomes.

Across his career, Paul has unlocked more than £100 million in cumulative revenue. He's built businesses from zero to nine-figure valuations and architected commercial foundations through innovative audience growth solutions for global brands including Nike, Google, Apple, Adidas, and Meta.

Having led commercial growth across global media publishers, affiliate platforms, retail media businesses and creative experience-led environments, Paul has built a rare full-funnel perspective on modern audience behaviour, understanding not just how to capture attention, but how to turn engagement into measurable commercial impact and long-term brand loyalty.

Outside of work, Paul is a parent of two, a runner, a golfer, a DJ, and a Manchester United supporter, though the last one tests the patience of everyone around him.

Portrait of Paul Le Fevre
Portrait of Muskaan Kasat

Muskaan Kasat

Brand Designer

Portrait of Sruti Gidugu

Sruti Gidugu

Strategist

Portrait of Nourdine Streather

Nourdine Streather

Senior Ad Operations Specialist

What we believe

Inclusive by default.

Inclusive design isn't a phase or a checklist. It's the standard. We build for the audiences others leave out, and the work gets stronger because of it.

Feelings shape memory.

The detail others overlook is the part that gets remembered. We sweat the small things, the moment a transition lands, a word change, a tap that feels right, because that's where brand memory actually lives.

Divergent thinking, better answers.

The best work comes from teams who see briefs differently and arrive at answers nobody else would. Neurodiversity isn't a side note in how we work. It's the lens.

How we work

The engineering of excellence.

We think about our studio the way a race engineer thinks about a car. Every component exists for a reason. The tools we use, the apps we build on, the processes we follow, the people we bring in. Each one is chosen deliberately and integrated with precision. Nothing is filler. Nothing is inherited from "the way it's always been done."

That mindset doesn't stop at operations. It carries into every project. The way a transition is timed, the logic behind a quiz flow, the performance of a page on a mid-range phone in Lagos. We treat every detail as a decision that affects the whole. Get one component wrong and the system underperforms. Get them all right and the work speaks for itself.

This is how a small studio competes with agencies ten times our size. Not by scaling headcount, but by engineering every part of the process to perform at its best.

01 Discover

Strategy and audience insight

We start with the audience, not the brief. Who they are, where they make decisions, what the competition isn't doing. Every project begins with the research that shapes the right brief, not just the fastest one.

02 Develop

Creative direction and interactive build

Creative direction, design systems, and technology decisions happen together, not in sequence. We shape the thinking before we execute it, so the work is led by strategy, not production.

03 Deliver

Production, integration, performance

Everything we build is tested across real devices, optimised for performance, and monitored after launch. If it's not working, we fix it. The engagement doesn't end at handover.

Our capabilities

Strategy, craft, and delivery.
All in one place.

Three disciplines behind everything we make. Available as a full partnership or hired one at a time.

Ready to be remembered?

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Getting remembered starts here. We do the strategic and creative work that turns a business into a brand, then make sure that brand is consistent and recognisable everywhere it shows up.

What your brand stands for, how it talks, and how it shows up. Through stakeholder research, audience workshops, and competitor analysis, we define positioning, personality, tone of voice, and the core messaging that everything else gets built on.
The visual system that makes a brand recognisable across web, social, print, and product. We design the logo, build the colour palette and typography suite, define motion principles, and create the graphic system that holds the whole thing together.
Where the brand goes from concept to materials your team can actually use. We produce the brand guidelines, presentation templates, social media kits, and campaign launch assets your organisation needs to apply the brand consistently across every touchpoint.

Ready to build something your audience deserves?

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Bespoke digital experiences, designed and built end-to-end. Websites, interactive tools, platforms, whatever the brief needs. We handle the design, the engineering, and everything in between to make sure it works, performs, and converts.

How the experience should work, decided before anything visual gets designed. Through user research, information architecture, wireframing, and user flow mapping, we produce the structural blueprint the visual design and development are built against.
Where structure becomes something the audience actually experiences. We design the UI, build a reusable design system, set responsive layouts, define interaction patterns, and craft motion. One connected system your team can extend as the product grows.
Where design becomes a working product. Custom front end and back end, platform integration, engineered for performance, accessibility, search, and security. Tested across real devices and built for the load it will carry live.
Nothing we build stops needing work after launch. Ongoing maintenance, security patching, uptime monitoring, performance optimisation, and training for your team. Plus monthly analytics so you can see what's working and what isn't.

Ready to launch something worth sharing?

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The strategic and creative work that decides whether a launch gets shared or scrolled past. We earn attention rather than buy it, and build inclusion into the brief from day one.

What makes every digital experience we build actually land. We define who it's for, what it should make them feel or do, and how it fits the wider brand story. Strategic foundation, not media planning or audience buying.
Every campaign needs its own identity without breaking from the master brand. We design the campaign logo, build a visual toolkit, define voice and messaging, and produce the motion and copy for launch. Same thinking, lighter footprint.
Making sure a campaign reaches and represents the audiences it speaks to. We work to WCAG standards, review visuals and language to avoid stereotypes, and shape narratives with underrepresented communities rather than about them. In the brief by default, not added at the end.

Let's talk

Let's build something together.

Every project starts with a conversation. Tell us what you're building toward and we'll take it from there.

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