Privacy Policy

Design Vortex ("we", "us", "the studio") is a small art commission practice. We collect the minimum information we need to deliver your commission and run the studio. We don't sell your data, ever. This page explains exactly what we collect and why — in plain English.

1. What we collect

When you submit a commission brief or contact form, we collect:

• Your name and email address — so we can reply and deliver files.
• Phone number (optional) — only if you provide one.
• Project details and references — what you wrote in the brief, links you shared.
• Payment information — processed by Stripe; we never see your card number.
• Communication history — emails, messages, revisions exchanged during your commission.

2. How we use it

Exclusively for these purposes:

• Replying to your inquiry and delivering your commission.
• Sending revision updates and the final files.
• Tax compliance — required by law (US: invoices retained 7 years).
• The occasional studio dispatch newsletter, only if you've opted in. Unsubscribe link in every email.

3. What we don't do

This list is deliberately short and absolute:

• We don't sell your information. Ever. To anyone.
• We don't share your brief, references, or descriptions with third parties.
• We don't post your character publicly without consent (and yes, we ask).
• We don't run ad retargeting. No Facebook pixel, no Google Ads remarketing.

4. Sharing & third parties

To operate the studio, we use these services. Each handles only what's required:

• Stripe — payment processing. Sees your card details, not your project info.
• Resend — transactional email. Sees your email address and message contents (encrypted in transit).
• Vercel — hosting. May log IP addresses for security purposes (retained 30 days).
• Supabase — secure database for your brief and contact submissions.
• Plausible Analytics — privacy-respecting site analytics. No cookies, no personal data, no tracking across sites.

All of the above are GDPR-compliant. We don't use any other third-party services that process your data.

5. Cookies & analytics

We use exactly two cookies:

• A session cookie that keeps your commission brief draft saved locally if you close the tab. Cleared on submission.
• A preferences cookie that remembers if you've dismissed the cookie banner.

That's it. No third-party cookies. No tracking pixels. No fingerprinting.

6. Your rights

Whether you're in the EU, UK, California, or anywhere else, you can:

• Request a copy of all data we have on you (we'll send it within 30 days).
• Request deletion of your data (except tax records we're legally required to keep).
• Correct anything that's wrong.
• Opt out of the newsletter or any other communication.

Email hello@designvortex.co and we'll handle it personally. No tickets, no forms, no chatbots.

7. Children's privacy

Design Vortex doesn't knowingly collect information from anyone under 13. If you're a parent who discovers your child has provided information, email us and we'll delete it immediately.

8. Changes & contact

We may update this policy occasionally — usually because we've added a new tool or simplified a process. Material changes will be announced via the studio dispatch and updated on this page. The "Last updated" date at the top of this page is always current.

Questions, requests, concerns — email hello@designvortex.co. A real human will reply within 48 hours.