How do designers who keep every client coming back actually run the business?
Brief intake, signed scope, revision limits, timestamped approvals, milestone invoicing, and a handoff package on one project record. The client who never had to chase a file, question a revision count, or wonder about an invoice is the client who sends the next brief.
One operating system for design studios
Everything an art director, a freelance collaborator, an account manager, and a client touches, running off one record. A boutique branding kit and an enterprise design contract are held to the same standard.
Leads, Proposals & Pipeline
A restaurant owner submits a brief on the portfolio contact form and the submission creates the contact, opens the deal, and pre-fills the brief. The proposal then reads live catalog pricing, the contract names who owns the source file, and the revision counter runs against the limit that was signed.
Production, Deliverables & Files
Brand colors preloaded, mockups across eight product templates, and a gallery link that does not expire. Feedback lands on the version it is about, approval carries a name and a timestamp, and the font license archives next to the file it licenses.
Client Communication & Portal
Instagram DM, WhatsApp and email on one contact card, and one URL where the client finds the brief, the revisions, the contract and the approved finals.
Retainers, Payments & Scheduling
Retainer usage alerting at 75 percent rather than at the invoice, seventy-five gateways behind the milestone schedule, and capacity measured in hours that actually exist.
Editions, Portfolio & Store
Twenty originals across a gallery, a marketplace and the studio on one stock pool, so the same piece never sells twice. The portfolio is the storefront, the case study page is the lead magnet, and a price changes once.
Workshops, Courses & Subscribers
Workshop seats, gallery RSVPs, course pages and gated content on the same contact record as the client work, with bring-your-own-gateway subscriber monetization in 149 countries.
Marketing, Email & Social Publishing
Select the finished project and the post drafts itself to Instagram, TikTok, Behance and the video channel. Email past clients by what they bought rather than by who opened an email.
Reviews, Reputation & Loyalty
Delivery triggers the review request to Google, Behance and Dribbble, responses aggregate next to the project that earned them, and the collector who referred three buyers has a record.
One platform for every creative practice
The format changes. The login does not.
A restaurant owner emails about a logo. The inquiry creates a deal. A structured brief captures mood board, brand guidelines, and project scope before the first meeting ends.
Good, better, best tiers on one proposal, each reading live pricing from the catalog. Milestone payments carry dates and amounts. The contract includes revision limits, kill fees, and ownership transfer clauses. The client picks a tier, signs, pays the deposit, and the project exists in one record.
The portfolio ranks for "[your city] + graphic designer" through Reputation's SEO tools. The case study page converts a visitor into the next brief submission.
Structured forms with mood-board upload, brand guideline attachments, and auto-pipeline creation from your portfolio site.
Three ways to add your team to Calisto Pro
Three options adapt to every subscriber.
Add anyone to your system for tasks and scheduling
Add any Calisto user to your system to assign tasks or scheduling. This allows the user to be included in tasks and scheduling through Agenda. Because the user only sees the assigned task or shift, this is a great option for shift employees, third-party contractors, and volunteers.
Decide what every employee sees of your system
Admins who see everything
Add additional users as needed for full access to every app, every screen, and every record. Available at no additional cost for subscribers of Calisto Commerce and Calisto Ops.
Your team, your portals, and your admin access are all managed in Purview.
Brief to invoice, on one record
What happens to a project between the first message and the final payment, and which parts of it stop needing anybody to remember them.
Inquiry to Signed Contract
Brief, proposal, and contract share one deal record. The inquiry arrives through a portfolio contact form, a social message, or a referral. The proposal pipeline tracks from first inquiry through signed contract. Revision limits and ownership terms bake into the proposal before the first sketch.
Brief to Final Delivery
Timestamped approvals replace FINAL_FINAL_v3. The brief is signed. Project arc tracking follows: brief review, mood board, concepts, revisions, delivery, handoff, invoice. Version management replaces "FINAL_FINAL_v3" with timestamped approvals.
Delivery to Recurring Revenue
The shipped project triggers its own review request. The project ships. An automated review request goes to Behance, Dribbble, and Google profiles. An automated email series through Campaigns turns past projects into inbound lead magnets.
The quote held. The scope stayed true. The trust remained.
The lifecycle is mapped. Now the one screen it all reports to.
Leads, Proposals & Pipeline
A brief that arrives as a Slack message costs thirty minutes of archaeology; a brief that arrives as a form is already a deal. Live pricing on the proposal, revision limits in the contract, and ownership named before the first sketch.
"Make It Pop" Is Not a Brief
The creative brief arrives as a Slack message. The mood board is a Pinterest link with no context. The brand guidelines are a PDF from 2019. The feedback is a screenshot with red arrows. Every project starts with thirty minutes of archaeology before a single pixel moves. A structured brief form captures project scope, mood-board uploads, brand guideline attachments, timeline preferences, and budget ranges. One submit button creates the contact, opens the deal, and pre-fills the project brief from the responses. Nobody parses an email thread to find out what was agreed.
The Inquiry That Came From a Case Study Page
Inquiries do not arrive through one door. A restaurant owner fills in the contact form. An art director sends an Instagram DM. A past client refers a friend by email. A gallery visitor asks about commissions. Each one enters the same pipeline in Deals and carries the source that produced it. The case study page that converted the visitor is attributed on the deal, so the portfolio stops being a gallery and starts being a measurable lead engine. Brief forms embed directly on Sites portfolio and case study pages, which means the form sits on the page that already did the convincing.
The Proposal Price IS the Website Price
A branding package quote should match the website price, but the designer types a price into a proposal document, the website says one number, the proposal says another, and nobody catches the mismatch. Proposals read live pricing from the catalog, so the branding package price on the proposal IS the website price. Always. Good, better, best tiers sit on one document, each pulling its own catalog line: the identity package, the identity plus collateral, the identity plus collateral plus launch campaign. Add-ons attach as catalog items, not as typed numbers. The milestone payment schedule is part of the document, so deposit, concept approval, and delivery each carry a date and an amount before anyone signs.
Who Owns the Source File Is a Clause, Not a Conversation
Templates cover work-for-hire agreements with usage rights clauses, kill fees, and revision limits, plus licensing terms, ownership transfer documents, and NDAs. Each template specifies ownership of source files versus deliverables versus licensed artwork, and for illustration and commissioned work the terms split further: one-time usage, perpetual licensing, exclusive versus non-exclusive rights. The client reviews scope, picks a tier, signs electronically, and pays the deposit in one flow. Not a verbal agreement on WhatsApp. A signed document with terms, living in Depot alongside the project files it governs.
The Usage Window That Does Not Quietly Expire
A license granted for a fixed duration carries its end date on the contract record, so the same alert schedule that watches retainer renewals watches usage rights: 30, 14, and 7 days before the term lapses. The one-year brand usage window does not quietly expire while the client keeps running the campaign.
Your Pipeline, Not Your Scrollback
A restaurant owner DMs on Instagram about a logo. The conversation moves to WhatsApp. The quote is a number in a text message. The contract is a verbal agreement. The invoice is a document, and the payment is a bank transfer that may or may not arrive. The DM becomes a deal on a pipeline, with stages tracking progress from inquiry through delivery, revision rounds count against the contract limit, and approval gates prevent work from advancing without client sign-off. When the project closes, the fulfillment order covering print shipping, file delivery and licensing documentation exists without manual creation.
The Round That Was Never in the Agreement
The project arc is standard: brief review, mood board, concepts, revisions, delivery, handoff, invoice. What breaks it is the round nobody agreed to. Scope-creep flags fire when revision rounds exceed the signed agreement, before free work begins, and the tracking shows which proposals were accepted and which were not.
The Second Project Starts Where the First One Ended
When a packaging client returns for a website redesign, the brand colors, typography, and logo lockups from the packaging project pull into the new brief automatically. No re-briefing. No re-uploading brand assets.
Production, Deliverables & Files
Design tools that save to the same media library the portfolio and store read from, gallery delivery with version history and an approval button, and files that orbit the deal instead of a folder.
Brand Colors Already Loaded
Four tools, four uploads, four sets of brand colors entered manually each time. A separate design tool for thumbnails, a separate tab for the video host, another for the podcast platform, another for social posting. Instead brand colors auto-load from the brand identity profile, AI background removal cleans product shots, and a mockup generator composites designs onto t-shirts, mugs, and phone cases across eight product templates. The design saves to Depot and is immediately available on the portfolio, in the video library, and as podcast cover art.
Retainers, Payments & Scheduling
Usage tracked against the retainer as work happens, milestone invoices from the schedule the client already signed, and capacity measured in hours that actually exist.
The Alert Fires at 75 Percent
The retainer was supposed to cover 40 hours. The client burned through 60. The overage was discovered at the end of the month, at which point invoicing for it feels like a confrontation, so nobody sends it. Usage tracks against monthly deliverable limits or hour caps as the work happens, and notifications trigger at 75%, 90%, and 100% of the retainer scope, so the conversation happens before the work does. Recurring billing handles tiered pricing, usage tracking, and automated billing cycles without a spreadsheet.
Renewal Alerts on the Term and the Rights Window
Renewal alerts send at 30, 14, and 7 days before expiration, on the retainer term itself and on any usage-rights window a signed license granted.
Project Client to Design Subscriber
A one-off logo project ends and the relationship ends with it, so the next quarter starts from zero and the pipeline has to be refilled with strangers. Recurring billing in Deals turns the delivered project into a monthly design subscription: a fixed allocation of deliverables, a fixed price, and an automated cycle. Retainer economics assume roughly 80% utilization, and the studio can see whether it is hitting that number rather than guessing. Cycle dates map to team workload in Bookings, so the month's committed allocations are visible against the hours that actually exist.
75 payment gateways. 11 regions. Your choice.
Connect your preferred local payment provider anywhere in the world. Your merchant account. Your rates. Zero platform lock-in.
North America & Global
Europe
Iberia
Latin America
Caribbean & Central America
Africa
MENA
Asia Pacific
Central Asia & Eastern Bloc
Creator Economy
Buy Now Pay Later
A price changes once and updates everywhere.
The portfolio, the storefront, the market terminal, and the client portal reading one catalog and one stock pool.
Workshops, Courses & Subscribers
Workshop seats, gallery RSVPs, course pages, and gated content, all on the same contact record as the client work.
The Saturday Workshop Has Forty Seats
An in-person lettering workshop takes registrations through a form, payments through a transfer, and attendance through a printed list, and the forty people who showed up never become anything else. Workshop registrations and gallery opening RSVPs run through Tickets, with paid tiers, capacity limits, and check-in. Course pages and event details live on Sites. Every attendee becomes a contact with their registration, their payment, and their attendance on the same timeline as any project they later commission.
Process Videos, Template Packs, Early Releases
A designer records a logo design process start to finish and the video publishes to the subscriber channel. A template pack drops for paying members. Early print releases go to top-tier subscribers before public launch.
Bring Your Own Gateway. 149 Countries.
Other creator platforms take 5% to 12% and require a specific payment processor. Bring your own gateway: use whichever payment processor works in your country, whether that is CCBill, Segpay, Verotel, PayPal or Stripe. Subscriber monetization in 149 countries where other platforms cannot operate.
The Subscriber Becomes a CRM Contact
Subscription tier, payment history, and content access are visible on the same contact timeline as purchase history and message history. Content gating works across the website, the video channel, and the podcast.
Reviews, Reputation & Loyalty
Three stages from delivery through aggregated reputation to the repeat clients and collectors who are tracked as such.
7:30 AM. Pipeline, deadlines, revenue. One screen.
Start your morning with complete operational clarity. Review active deal pipelines, monitor retainer utilization, approve deliverable galleries, and manage client threads from a single unified view.
Studio Command Center
The packaging deal moved to client review overnight. The retainer client hit 87% of their March allocation, the alert fired before anyone works for free. Saturday's art market sales already journaled alongside project revenue. The work-for-hire agreement was signed electronically before the first sketch, with usage rights and revision limits specified on it. One screen, opened once, before the first creative hour.
Revenue & Utilization
A logo project, a retainer payment, Saturday's print sales, and a workshop's registrations. One revenue view replaces the reconciliation spreadsheet.
Brief Pipeline
A restaurant owner submits a brief through the portfolio contact form. Mood board, brand guidelines, and budget arrive as a deal in the pipeline. Not an email to parse.
Deliverable Gallery
The client opens the gallery link. Current revision, previous versions, approval button, comment thread. The approval carries a name and a timestamp, and the milestone invoice releases the same day.
Client & Vendor Inbox
Client messages, print vendor threads, and photographer coordination in one inbox. Every conversation linked to its project, its deadline, and its signed contract.
0
Record per Project
0
Scope Creep Surprises
0%
Utilization Target, Visible
0
Expiring File Links
What a client notices, and what stays yours when the project closes
What changes when the brief, the signed scope, the revision count, the deliverable and the invoice are the same record.
Project Arc
Brief intake to mood board to concepts to revision rounds to final delivery to handoff package to invoice to review request. The standard design project arc, built into the platform as a first-class workflow.Workflow
Utilization Target
Retainer billing assumes 80% utilization. The spreadsheet of "which client owes for what milestone" becomes a live dashboard.Studio Economics
Ownership Clarity
Source file vs. deliverable vs. licensed art. Work-for-hire vs. licensing vs. full IP transfer. Design contracts need to be explicit about ownership, and Sign makes the terms enforceable before a single pixel ships.Contracts
Lock-In
The client list, the project history, the signed scopes, the approved versions and the source files export on any plan. A portfolio is ten years of relationships, and the record of them belongs to the studio whether it stays or goes.Your Work
Designer DNA
The retainer that expired in February. The print vendor whose proof is two days late. The brief that says "make it pop." The client who wants logos by Friday but has not signed the contract. The source file the intern accidentally shared without the font license.Texture
56 Apps. Working together.
Every app works on its own. Every app works better together.
Eight apps. One project.
The brief, the signed scope, the revision count and the deliverable are one record, which is what stops the fifth revision from being a conversation about whether it is the fifth.
Deals
Inbound briefs become a pipeline with a value and a next step, so the enquiry that went quiet in March is a follow-up rather than a memory.
Proposals
A rate card the proposal reads from, scope with a revision count written into it, and usage rights that carry an end date rather than an assumption.
Sign
Work-for-hire terms, revision limits, kill fees, and IP transfer clauses signed before the first sketch. The source file ownership question is a clause on a signed document, not a conversation had after the work ships.
Depot
Working files and final deliverables against the project, reachable by the client without an account and by the editor without a licence for your storage.
Catalog
Editions, prints and digital goods sold from your own store, with edition numbers tracked as inventory rather than as a spreadsheet you hope is current.
Sites
A portfolio on your own domain where an enquiry lands as a brief in the pipeline instead of as an email you will forget to move.
Ethos
Logo, colour palette, type choices, and voice guidelines enforced across the portfolio, proposals, invoices, and the client portal. The solo designer whose materials all match is the one clients describe as professional.
Ledger
Retainers, milestones and print sales in one set of books, with utilisation against the project so you can see which client is actually profitable.
Client communication for designers and artists
Every tool your studio needs to talk to a client is already built into Calisto Pro, and every one of them opens against the deal, the signed contract and the project files the conversation is about.
A phone system for every business
Learn moreEmail on your domain
Learn moreEvery message from every channel in one place
Learn moreSee every interaction with every contact
Learn moreVideo meetings with no download required
Learn moreEvery communication organized by its contact
Learn moreTeam communication with operational context
Learn moreDM Sender Is Email Sender Is Deal Contact
The restaurant owner's inquiry started in an Instagram DM, moved to WhatsApp for scoping, shifted to email for the contract, and returned to WhatsApp for feedback, so finding the full conversation means opening three apps and scrolling through each one. WhatsApp and Instagram DM conversations capture in Inbox, and every sender matches to the same contact record. Open one contact card and every message from every channel sits in chronological order, next to the deal record, next to the signed contract, next to the project files. One scroll.
The Proof That Is Two Days Late Has an Owner
Print vendor threads sit in the same inbox as client messages, linked to the project, its deadline, and its signed contract. The proof that is two days late has an owner and an escalation path, not a buried email.
One URL: Brief, Revisions, Contract, Approved Finals
The client wants to review the latest logo revision. Currently: export a PDF, upload it to a file-sharing service, copy the link, email it, and the client downloads it, prints it for their business partner, and emails back with "the green is too dark." Instead a client portal: the client opens a link, sees the current deliverables, views version history, approves or requests changes, and downloads final files. The brief, the signed contract, and a comment thread are all in one URL. No attachments. No expiring links.
Retainer Clients Get a Branded Portal
Retainer clients get a branded portal through Apps: active projects, deliverable status, asset access, and direct messaging under the studio's own identity. The designer controls what is visible at each stage.
No setup cost. Pay when you start using.
Take a whole suite or pick a single app.
A la carte
Every app a studio runs on, priced one at a time
With a la carte, get:
Studio calendar Calisto BookingsConsultations, reviews, and studio capacity€99–€299/mo by reservations
- Consultations, reviews, and studio capacity on one calendar
- Workshops and sessions booked against real availability
- Availability, resources, and staff held together on one calendar
Client records Calisto RegistryClient, brief, contract, and deliverable history€79–€249/mo by contacts
- Client, brief, contract, and deliverable history on one record
- The project they brief next year opens from the one you just finished
- One person, one record, read by every app that needs them
Services & editions Calisto ListingsServices, editions, and commissioned work offered€79–€249/mo by listings
- Services, editions, and commissioned work as records
- One source behind the site, the quote, and the store
- Structured listing records, not a PDF and a portal login
Workshops Calisto TicketsWorkshop and course seats sold and scanned3.7% of paid ticket price
- Workshop and course seats sold and scanned
- Unpaid events carry no fee; paid seats at 3.7%
- Attendees, seating, and access control on one record
Automations Calisto AutomationsRevision limits, reminders, and delivery notices€55 per user/mo
- Revision limits, reminders, and delivery notices fire by rule
- The rounds are counted without anyone counting them
- Seventeen native connectors across Calisto Pro, with no middleware
Studio setup Calisto PurviewLegal identity, tax, currency, and studio configurationIncluded with every account
- Legal identity, tax, currency, and studio configuration
- Ownership clarity on every file and contract
- Eleven named business-unit types plus a neutral twelfth, each seeding the catalog
Brand standards Calisto BlueprintBrand kits and design standards authored onceIncluded with every account
- Brand kits and design standards authored once
- Brand asset continuity across disciplines
- Twelve authoring domains: SOPs, checklists, specs, curricula, templates, and brand kits
Team capacity Calisto WorkforceUtilisation and capacity across the studioBasic tier included · €22 per user/mo
- Utilisation and capacity across the studio
- Cross-discipline handoff on one roster
- Member profiles, availability, and simple scheduling are included with every account
Brief pipeline Calisto DealsA brief that arrives as a record, not a Slack message€55 per user/mo
- "Make it pop" is not a brief
- A brief that arrives as a record, not a Slack message
- The inquiry that came from a case study page is attributed
Proposals Calisto ProposalsThe proposal price is the website price€35 per user/mo
- The proposal price is the website price
- The quote held, because it read the catalog
- Proposals built from live catalog prices and tracked to acceptance
Payments & retainers Calisto PaymentsRetainers, milestones, and deposits on one recordCommerce subscription only
- Retainers, milestones, and deposits on one record
- The number at the end matched the number at the start
- Your merchant account, your negotiated rates, your currency
Services, editions & products Calisto CatalogServices, prints, templates, and workshopsCommerce subscription only
- Services, prints, templates, and workshops in one catalog
- Editions carry their own licence and edition size
- What you sell is defined in Purview and operated in Catalog
Contracts & IP Calisto SignOwnership and usage rights written into the contract€2.50 per envelope
- Ownership and usage rights written into the contract
- The files came with the licence
- Envelopes signed on any device, filed to the record they belong to
Storefront & checkout Calisto SyncCheckout for editions, templates, and downloadsCommerce subscription only
- Checkout for editions, templates, and downloads
- The store reads the same catalog as the portfolio
- One catalog published to every place you sell
Courses Calisto UniversityCourse builder with modules and certificates€20 per user/mo
- Course builder with modules, assessments, and certificates
- Workshops and courses delivered from the same record
- Assign a named program instead of nine separate courses
Job costing & accounting Calisto LedgerRevenue and utilisation against the project€40 per user/mo
- Revenue and utilisation against the project
- What a retainer actually returned per month
- Double-entry books with journal entries that post and reverse, never vanish
Studio command centre Calisto TodayBriefs, deliverables, and revenue in one viewIncluded with any Ops app
- Briefs, deliverables, contracts, and revenue in one view
- Tiles read live from the apps that own the work
- A report directory, a team scorecard, and a notice queue
Available Upgrades
Every App Works Independently. Calisto Pro works better together.
Pre-built configurations to customize: websites, kiosks, displays and apps designed for your industry.
Browse extensionsBuy concierge hours and our team does the data entry, the configuration and the training.
See concierge packagesRequest a proposal from a certified consultant who has implemented Calisto at your scale.
Request a proposalThe artwork belongs to a shoot, an edit, and a campaign.
Nothing here is an integration. It is one set of records that more than one part of your business already writes to.
Questions designers ask before the first brief
A structured brief template captures project scope, mood-board uploads, brand guideline attachments, timeline preferences, and budget ranges. A completed brief creates a deal in the pipeline automatically. No more parsing email threads for project requirements.
Templates cover work-for-hire agreements, licensing terms, ownership transfer documents, and NDAs, each specifying ownership of source files versus deliverables versus licensed artwork. Clients sign before work begins, and a licence granted for a fixed term alerts at 30, 14 and 7 days before it lapses.
Usage tracks against monthly deliverable limits or hour caps, and the system flags a client approaching their allocation before they exceed it. Renewal alerts send at 30, 14, and 7 days before expiration.
A client portal shows each active project with the brief, current deliverables, version history, and a comment thread. Clients review concepts, leave feedback, and approve finals without email attachments or expiring links. The designer controls what clients see at each stage.
Vendor threads consolidate in Inbox alongside client communication. Deadline tracking alerts on vendor milestones. The print proof that is two days late has a deadline, a vendor thread, and an escalation path.
Print sales and fine art sales at gallery openings or design conferences run through POS. Prints, merchandise, and licensed work list in the catalog online with inventory tracking. Both channels feed into one unified revenue view.
The portfolio builds on Sites with case study pages, package landing pages, and a blog. Brief intake forms embed directly on portfolio pages so visitors convert into project inquiries. Behance portfolio views, Dribbble stats, and Google reviews pull into the same site through Reputation.
Everyone in the studio works the same brief, the same files and the same schedule, and every change carries the designer who made it. Team workload and milestone tracking coordinate through Bookings across team members. Work distributes with deadline tracking. Designer number two gets access to the brand asset library in Depot on day one.
In-person workshop registrations and gallery opening RSVPs go through Tickets. Course pages and event details live on Sites. Premium content gates through Direct for paying subscribers. Promotional emails to past clients and newsletter subscribers go out through Campaigns.