HORNY TOADSTUDIOS

Impossible to ignore.

We design websites that make small businesses look established, stand out from their competition, and turn more visitors into customers.

See our work Start a project

A little wild. Go on—poke him.

Santa Fe, New Mexico  ✳  One designer, start to finish What we do
01 / What we do

Four things,
done properly.

Most businesses don't need more marketing. They need a website that finally says the right thing, to the right person, in the first four seconds.

  • Web design

    A custom website built around your business — not a template with your logo dropped into it.

  • Branding

    A logo, colours and lettering that make people recognise you before they've read your name.

  • Automation

    Contact forms that answer people instantly, follow up on their own, and never lose a lead in a text message.

  • Getting found

    Showing up when somebody nearby searches for what you sell — and looking worth calling when they find you.

What's included, and what it costs
02 / Selected work

Built differently
for every business.

Rafa’s is a working shop here in Santa Fe. The other two are concept studies — a gym should not look like an architect, and proving that is the point of them. All three are live layouts running in your browser, not screenshots.

rafasautorepairsantafe.com
Four bays at Rafa's Auto Repair, cars up on the lifts.
ServicesReviewsBroke down?About Rafa (505) 204-4418
Santa Fe · Independent since 2008 Honest work. Fair prices. No runaround. Bring us the symptom — a noise, a light, a feeling — and we find the actual problem, explain it, and fix what needs fixing. Nothing more. Request serviceRead the reviews
Eighteen years, 4.9 starsBroke down on I-25? Start hereSix fields, no diagnosis required

Rafa’s Auto Repair

Auto repair · Santa Fe, NM

Eighteen years of five-star reviews with nowhere to live. Twenty-five customers had independently used the word “honest” — so the site makes his argument in their words instead of his.

Client work
canadabuilders.com
PortfolioProcessLandJournal Begin a conversation
Building in the high desert since 2003 Houses that belong to where they stand. We start with the site. Sun, wind, water, the way the light lands in February. The plan comes second. Begin a conversationSee the work
Projects filed by land and elevationLand assessment enquiryOwner journal, updated weekly

Cañada Builders

Custom home building · Santa Fe, NM

Twenty-two years of work sat behind eleven uncaptioned photos. Now a buyer can tell a remodel from a ground-up build before they ever call.

Concept study
ironsabino.com
ProgramsCoachesRates Claim a rack
Barbell club · 5am to 10pm · No mirrors Nobody gets strong politely. Eleven racks, four platforms, a coach on the floor every hour we are open. No smoothie bar. No contracts. Claim a rackSee the floor
Live floor capacityCoach-led onboardingMonth to month, cancel by text

Iron Sabino

Strength gym · Albuquerque, NM

A gym whose whole appeal is that it isn't soft. The website had to be the same thing before you read a word of it.

Concept study
See all the work
03 / Before and after

Same business.
Different perception.

Nothing about this company changed. Not the trucks, not the crew, not the prices. Only what a stranger assumes about them in the first four seconds. Drag the line.

mesaridgeplumbing.com
HomeAbout UsServicesGalleryContact Us Call Now!
Welcome to our website! Mesa Ridge Plumbing & Heating — Serving Santa Fe and surrounding areas since 1998! Mesa Ridge Plumbing & Heating LLC is a full service plumbing and heating contractor providing quality residential and commercial services to the greater Santa Fe area. Our friendly, professional staff is committed to complete customer satisfaction on every job, big or small. We are fully licensed, bonded and insured for your protection and peace of mind. Please browse our website to learn more about our many services. Click Here For A Free EstimateRead More »
Licensed & InsuredFree EstimatesSe Habla EspañolFinancing AvailableFamily Owned24 Hour Service
mesaridgeplumbing.com
EmergenciesHeatingWater heatersPrices 505 · 555 · 0134
Santa Fe · Answering the phone since 1998 No hot water? We can be there today. Licensed plumbers, a price before we start, and a real person on the line before nine in the morning. Book today's slotSee our prices
Price before we startSame-day emergency slotsText a photo, get an answer
Before After

Both sides are live layouts running in your browser right now — neither one is a picture.

04 / Why this matters

Your website should do more than look good.

It should make someone trust your company. It should explain what you do. It should make contacting you easy. And it should keep working when you’re not.

  1. Somebody finds youUsually on a phone, usually at a bad moment, usually comparing you to two other names.
  2. They understand what you doIn one sentence. Not after reading three paragraphs about your commitment to quality.
  3. They decide you're the real thingReal photos, real prices, real work. This is where most small business websites lose the job.
  4. They get in touchOne obvious button. Then an answer straight away, whether you're on a roof or asleep.

Miss any one of those four
and the visit was worth nothing.

How we handle the last one for you
05 / What's possible

Your website doesn't
have to look like
everyone else's.

Everything below is real and running on this page. Drag it, hover it, poke at it. No explanation, no jargon — just have a play.

Since 1994 · Santa Fe

We take on the jobs nobody else will touch.

Eleven crews. Three counties. One number to call.
Quiet

Same eleven words. Same layout. Only the lettering moves — and the business goes from private wealth manager to demolition contractor.

Type that reacts to you

SANTA FE

Photography that moves Move across it
There's a whole lab of this
06 / How it works

Four steps.
No mystery.

Most projects run four to six weeks. You'll know the price before anything starts, and you'll see it taking shape the whole way through.

  1. 01

    Tell us about your business

    A phone call or a coffee. What you do, who buys from you, and what you wish people understood sooner.

  2. 02

    We design the direction

    You see the real thing early — the look, the words, the homepage — not a wireframe you have to imagine.

  3. 03

    We build it

    Fast on a phone, easy to update, and wired up so enquiries actually reach you.

  4. 04

    You launch

    We put it live, make sure Google can find it, and stay on the hook if anything needs changing.

Lake Schellstede, founder of Horny Toad Studios.
07 / The studio

One person.
Santa Fe.

Horny Toad Studios is Lake Schellstede. I run a window and solar cleaning company here too, which means I've been the small business owner wondering why the phone isn't ringing — not just the designer.

The name comes from the horned lizard. It spends most of its life being impossible to see. Then something gets too close, and it flattens, and puffs up, and if you really push it, it squirts blood out of its eye at you.

Most small businesses are stuck in the first half of that. The website is the second half.

More about the studio

Next move

Your business
shouldn't blend in.

Tell us what you do and who you'd like to be hearing from. We'll tell you honestly whether a new website is the thing that will help.

Start a project 505 · 469 · 4547