Smile or Die is a digital studio focused on building sharp, high-performing websites and brands. We believe clarity beats complexity, bold ideas beat safe ones, and design should always have a purpose. No fluff, no excuses—just work that moves businesses forward.
The Experiences and Decisions That Brought Us Here
Every studio has a beginning. Ours was shaped by curiosity, experimentation, and a refusal to do things the safe way. Smile or Die grew from years of learning, building, breaking, and refining—until our approach became clear: make work that’s bold, intentional, and built to last.
We headhunted Rachael after discovering a Stonehenge replica she built entirely from mud brick in the Arizona desert. Now our art correspondent, she’s often walking her pitbull, shooting film photos, or engineering autonomous living spaces.
Lingga recently appeared in HQ with a puff of purple smoke, and nothing’s been the same since. A multimedia magician, she mostly uses her powers for good. You’ll find her laughing with her husband and son, traveling whimsical places, or baking tasty homemade treats.
Haikal crash-landed here years ago and won’t say where he’s from—though we suspect the future. When not building cool sites for SOD, he’s tuning a chrono-drive, dissecting alien tech, or spinning zero-gravity DJ sets aboard his abandoned space freighter.
After a short but promising run as a badminton star, Bobby redirected his obsession to video and film. We sometimes think he lives inside the screen. You’ll find him perfecting his serve, café-hopping for the best caramel latte, or testing glitch effects on strangers.
After taking a vow of silence, Abdul began communicating purely through color and form. Obsessed with grid theory and elevating the mundane, his order shows in everything he does. You’ll find him eating taro chips and listening to nature sounds online.
We found Kamron one lucky day after he action-rolled from a painted mystery van onto a highway shoulder, unharmed. When not managing SOD’s accounting and planning, he’s making bomb Kool-Aid, hypnotizing volunteers, or tending his succulent garden.
After an elective trepanning, Marley assembled the crack team that is SOD today. You might find him telepathic weightlifting, meditating in his lunar lair, or hosting his infamous local news broadcast.