about alberolabs
what’s in a name?
(oh, and Alberola is also my last name.)
albero is Italian for tree. It’s the organic half of the studio: growth, warmth, care. Work that develops the way living things do: rooted, branching, always learning.
labs is the experimental half: endlessly curious, always testing new tools that could change the game for you. Never exploration for its own sake: every experiment is pointed at a real problem you have.
what’s in a name?
albero is Italian for tree. It’s the organic half of the studio: growth, warmth, care. Work that develops the way living things do: rooted, branching, always learning.
labs is the experimental half: endlessly curious, always testing new tools that could change the game for you. Never exploration for its own sake: every experiment is pointed at a real problem you have.
(oh, and Alberola is also my last name.)
the human behind it
I studied communication, design, and marketing, then dropped out of my Master’s at HEC because co-founding a startup mid-thesis felt like the better education. That startup was SmartHalo: a smart navigation device for city bikes that raised over 2 million dollars over 2 campaigns on Kickstarter and ended up on Apple Store shelves. As Chief Design Officer I ran design. Along the way I managed teams, product, and distribution, spoke at TEDx and the World Design Summit, and guest-lectured in HEC’s entrepreneurship classes.
I also did design and UX work for various agencies and as a freelancer for companies like IKEA, La Presse, Hydro-Québec, Psycho Bunny and more. Carrying a product from idea to shelf, with my own money and years on the line, changed how I read projects forever. Your website isn’t a build to me; it’s a decision with money and strategic objectives attached.
Over the years, friends in decision-making seats and former clients kept telling me the same stories: how complicated it was to update their website, how hard it was to get design work done, how their tools never quite did what they needed day to day. I’d been on their side of the table, and I knew it could be simpler. That’s why alberolabs exists.
Today I bring everything I’ve learned to my clients, and because I’ve been the client, I only structure deals I’d be happy to sign myself.
what i hold myself to
- 01
listen first
I want to understand the pain, the constraints, and what you're actually aspiring to before I propose anything. The work only counts if you get real value out of it.
- 02
show the work
You'll always know why I made a call and why I work the way I do. No black boxes.
- 03
make it simple
Complex things, made digestible. In what I build and in how I explain it.
- 04
keep it fun
Work takes up too much of our lives to be joyless. I share the excitement and curiosity openly; it's contagious on purpose.
- 05
own it
I want to be proud of what ships. If something isn't working for you, I'm reachable and I'll make it right.
who does the work
Most contracts, I take on myself. That’s the point of a small studio: you talk to the person doing the work. Behind me is a trusted network of specialists who jump in and out of projects as needed, especially when a job calls for expertise I don’t have. You always deal with me; the team flexes behind the scenes.
- based in
- montréal
- works with
- anyone, anywhere
- speaks
- french & english, fluently
because work isn’t everything, some things I dig
- cycling
- soccer
- badminton
- running
- hiking
- board games
- movies
- tacos
- donuts
- bagels
- jarry park
- the chalet
- travelling
services