Julian Pantaleone Get in touch
Julian Pantaleone Julian Pantaleone

I design, brand and build software that people actually use.

I take products from idea to launch: the name, the brand, the product design and the build. Alongside that, I’ve spent ten years creating brand identities, photography, video and social content for real clients in beauty, healthcare, home services and sports.

See Maestra More products

Open to product design, creative technology and content roles. Based in New Jersey, between Philadelphia and New York.

Featured project

Salon software that takes work off the front desk.

I spent six years at the front desk of a salon and spa with 30,000+ recurring clients. Maestra is the system I wished we had: booking, checkout and team management designed around how a busy desk really works, with a built-in AI assistant that handles scheduling conflicts and inventory behind the scenes.

Maestra

Your salon’s brain.

Other software keeps your salon’s records. Maestra runs your salon’s day: booking, checkout, team, inventory and owner insights in one calm system, with an AI assistant named Denise working behind the desk.

Open the live demo
Denise, Maestra’s AI assistant

Denise, the assistant inside Maestra

“Gil’s running 20 minutes late. I found a fix that only moves one client: Isabella → Bridget at 3:05. Want me to apply it?”

Denise suggests and people decide. Every change is approved and can be undone, and every number she gives comes from the salon’s real data.

Maestra calendar in day view Compact calendar showing a twenty-person team Calendar with the list of staff who are off today Checkout panel with split tips, split payment and rebooking

The calendar is the heart of the desk. Service colors carry the day; a yellow block means the client is here, a check means they’ve checked out.

Check in, check out

Every screen gets one test: does this take work off the desk, or add to it? A normal visit is two taps. Everything else stays out of the way until it’s needed.

Calm by design

One primary button per screen, status shown as a dot and a word, and color saved for what matters. It’s built for a busy Saturday at the desk.

No AI talks to clients

Clients come for their stylist. Denise works behind the desk, and the guest experience stays with the people they came to see.

My role
Founder. Brand, product design and build
Built with
Supabase, Vercel, Claude Code
The bar
Feature parity with Phorest and Boulevard
Status
Public demo, testing with salon owners

More products

Four more products I named, branded and designed.

Each one started as a brand decision: who it’s for, how it should feel, and what would make that person open it twice.

Loop

Closed alpha

Six-second videos made for friend groups instead of an algorithm. A spiritual successor to Vine.

Buzzin

Beta testing at Penn State, 2027

A campus social app: feed, groups, a weekly top ten and AI study notes, built for one university at a time.

ShearSpace

In development

A hiring marketplace that matches stylists, nail techs, estheticians and makeup artists with salons on culture and craft.

Arii

Pre-beta

A personal assistant you text like a friend. It books, schedules, pays and follows up so you don’t have to.

Brand & content

Ten years of brand, photo and video work for paying clients.

The products above come from the same place as my client work: figuring out what makes someone stop scrolling, trust a brand and come back.

J&D Productions

J&D Productions is the brand and content studio I’ve run since 2019. We build identities, social systems, photography and video for small businesses across New Jersey and New York.

Clients include salons, dental practices, HVAC companies, local sports programs and charity events like the Make-A-Wish New Jersey golf outing and the Marty Lyons Foundation game at MetLife Stadium.

+50%Online visibilityMulti-location dental rebrand
+70%EngagementSame client, paid and organic
+50%Rebooking rate$3M HVAC company rebrand
20+Recurring clientsOngoing partnerships
Smiles Family Dentistry Indoor Air Technologies Coterie Make-A-Wish ND Irish Acerbo’s Wraps & Graphics

Brand identity

Logos, color and type systems, and full visual languages for clients and for every product on this page.

Figma, Illustrator, Photoshop

Content and campaigns

Photography, video, copy and posting systems that grow an audience, run end to end from shoot to analytics.

Lightroom, Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, drone

Product design and build

User flows, interfaces and the working app itself, taken from first sketch to something real people can test.

Figma, React, Supabase, Vercel

Experience

Where I’ve worked.

Founder · Maestra

Designing and building AI-powered salon booking and management software, now in a public demo with salon owners testing it.

Owner, sales and creative director · J&D Productions

Brand and content studio for small businesses across New Jersey. Rebrands, social systems, photography and video for 20+ recurring clients.

Sales representative, contract · Revscale AI

Ran multi-channel outbound campaigns selling AI response, voice and outreach agents to small businesses. 30% open rate, 20% click-through and 20% conversion on qualified conversations.

Social media director · Coterie17 Salon & Spa

Led front-of-house operations and social media for a salon and spa with 30,000+ recurring clients. Service, content and retention programs contributed to $2M+ in added annual revenue.

Headshot of Julian Pantaleone

About

A creative who likes to make things.

Brands, products, campaigns, photography, video, even music. What I’m good at is figuring out what makes someone want to use a product, buy from a brand or stop on a post, and then making the thing that does it.

I’ve done that for clients for a decade. Now I’m doing it for my own software, taking each product from first sketch to a working app. I want work where brand, product and craft all matter at once.

Lately I’m thinking about

  • How consumer apps win on first-impression design and 30-day retention.
  • How Gen Z brands earn attention without trying too hard.
  • Brands that feel handmade even when they’re polished.

Tools I use every day

Photoshop, Lightroom, Illustrator, Figma, Premiere, DaVinci Resolve, Logic Pro

Contact

Let’s work together.

Email is the fastest way to reach me. I usually reply the same day.

Phone or text(609) 778-8887
LinkedInjulian-pantaleone
Instagram, photo work@j_d_productions