Chapter IThe Studio
Mythical Creature is an app studio in New York City. We design, build, and modernize iOS and web apps. Instead of handing over designs, we hand over something that works. In tech, people who can both design a product and engineer it are so rare they get called unicorns. We prefer mythical creature.
The studio is built around one: Cory Etzkorn, a designer and engineer with 15+ years of experience. Cory was one of Notion’s first 20 employees, working across design and engineering to shape a brand and product now used by millions. Like a kraken, the studio has many arms, with design, engineering, and AI working as one creature.
Chapter IISelected Work
We build apps and software for startups and for some of the most iconic companies around. Every project is designed and built by the same hands, from the first sketch to the last line of code.
SoulmateiOS & Web
Superintelligent dating
StowiOS & Web
A social shopping app
NotionWeb
Brand, marketing, web, AI
OdysseyWeb & Product
An AI lab’s launch site
The Wall Street JournalWeb
Design systems
Chapter IIIServices
Clients usually come to us for one of four things.
¶ Prototypes. A working prototype of a feature or a whole app, built in real code and ready to test with real people and to build on.
¶ New apps. From idea to App Store: strategy, design, and engineering for iOS and the web. We build natively in Swift or in React Native, which lets Android follow from the same codebase when you’re ready.
¶ Modernization. Redesigns and re-platforms for products that have started to show their age, without breaking what already works.
¶ AI. Features that feel like part of the product rather than bolted on, from the first experiment to production.
Our process usually starts in the code. With 15+ years of experience, we can often skip a separate design phase and prototype directly in the product, so decisions get made in the real thing instead of in slides and mockups. You work directly with the person designing and building your product: no handoffs, no account managers, nothing lost in translation. We’re happy to start with a dedicated design phase when a project calls for it. But if you’re looking for design or brand work on its own, outside a codebase, we’re probably not the right fit.
Chapter IVWorking Together
We take on only a few clients at a time, so each one gets our full attention. Sessions can be booked online. Projects and advisory start with an email to cory@mythicalcreature.nyc: tell us what you’re building, when you need it, and your budget, and we’ll suggest the right way to work together.
¶ Sessions. 60 minutes, $1,000. One design, engineering, or product question, answered live. Share a link and your question when you book, and we’ll spend the hour on it. Start a project within 30 days and the fee is credited toward it. ☞︎ Learn more
¶ Projects. Fixed scope, flat fee. A prototype, a new app, a modernization, or an AI feature, scoped up front with clear milestones so you know exactly what you’re getting and when. The work is mostly async, with a few live check-ins at key moments. ☞︎ Start a project
¶ Advisory. Monthly. A weekly meeting plus one or two days a week of hands-on design and engineering, for teams that want senior help without making a senior hire. ☞︎ Ask about advisory
Thanks for reading.
Made in New York City, MMXXVI.