Rare Machine is the design
studio of Melissa Stafford
I believe in producing pixel-perfect, thoughtful work for the clients I team up with. I am open to all projects, but have a special interest in those that support journalism, community building, and social activism and justice.
I create remarkable design experiences.
For nearly 15 years I’ve had the pleasure of collaborating with incredible clients—from journalism startups like The Marshall Project to independent film directors. I’ve worked with clients across multiple industries in finance, healthcare, technology, manufacturing and Fortune 500 businesses.
Whether your business or organization is big or small, I work with you to create an emotive and practical website that tells your unique story.
Select Clients
I contacted Melissa with an important, last-minute assignment to build and design a website. I was concerned that she wouldn’t have enough time but I was beyond pleased with the result. Throughout the intense 48-hour process, she was incredibly responsive and clear in her communication, going the extra mile to meet my various requests. The design itself was creative, clear and sharp. It was such a pleasure working with her and I couldn’t recommend her more.
Louise RougWe turned to Melissa for design on a number of campaigns last year to help ease the workload of our in-house designer. Melissa took in and processed a great deal of information on some complex products and events, listening to our ideas and helping us craft a design strategy for each campaign that was unique and eye catching while fitting in with our larger brands.
She designed multiple pieces for the campaigns, including creating an amazing and spot-on logo for our largest annual event which we continue to use each year. From websites to email marketing to print and web ads, Melissa always came through with stunning, crisp, functional designs in a timely manner and was extremely accommodating and easy to work with throughout the editing process. She is a talented, dedicated professional and we continue to keep her at the top of our list for go-to designers.
Beth AlleeOur agency website was, plainly, useless. It was static, unnavigable and not user-friendly. Our organization knew that the new site had to appeal to and be navigable by a spectrum of users; Melissa made it happen. She patiently took multiple ideas and translated them beautifully into a streamlined tool that caters to the resident, business and tourist community. Melissa is prompt, efficient and a pleasure to work with
Sheena Salvino