Formatry: a creative studio built from the ground up
One campaign idea has to survive a feed post, a story, a banner and the handoff to finished files. Rebuilding and checking each format eats production time. I designed and built Formatry to turn that job into one coherent, editable pack. Over four months, I researched the market, designed the brand and Studio, and built the account, export and API workflows and Rust rendering engine behind the public service.
Finding the production gap
In Adobe's 2025 survey of more than 1,600 marketers, 70% said their organizations create at least 1,000 content assets a year, and 37% reported too few fresh variations for timely paid social campaigns. Google's creative specifications span landscape, square, 4:5 and 9:16 images. Search terms such as “ad creative generator,” “ad resizer for multiple sizes” and “banner ad generator API” pointed to three jobs: generate, adapt and automate. I used those jobs to choose what to benchmark.
I tested manual editors, creative studios and API renderers against six jobs: turn one brief into a pack, see every size together, keep copy and assets linked, repair a composition, deliver files and automate through an API. Bannerbear generated ten sizes in my trial, but the compositions still needed cleanup. The Brief gave me a multi-format workspace; its five-size AI Resize test also needed manual fixes. Those trials led to the core product decision: show the whole pack and let people fix it before export.
From a brief to files people can use
In the public Studio, a person brings images, a logo and copy, sees several formats together, edits the composition and previews the pack before export. Presets provide starting points; custom dimensions let the campaign determine the formats.
I designed the editing workflow around the composition: Assets, Text, Style and Export share the same saved creative. Desktop keeps the artwork and controls together; mobile uses a sheet that can expand for editing and collapse for review. Export states cover the rest of the job: know which sizes are included, download one image directly or a pack as a ZIP, and retry a failed transfer without losing the preview.
I built accounts and recovery, projects, an asset library, paid access, durable export jobs and file history around that editing flow. The public API runs the same job for automated clients: submit a pack request, follow its status, read an artifact manifest and download the files.
Renderer, agents and identity
The native Rust renderer is the default backend for image composition; Studio handles editing and review, while server jobs own export and file delivery. One saved creative definition connects the editor, API and renderer. The product supports still images and animated GIF/WebP banners.
I extended that model to agents. The hosted MCP integration lets Codex and Cursor create campaigns, upload assets, revise saved creatives, preview the result and retrieve files through scoped access. Agent edits use the same command service as Studio, with revision checks that reject stale changes.
I created the gradient F and wordmark, Formatry Girl and her dog, editorial illustrations and an expressive 404. In Studio, the brand stays quieter so the creative remains the focal point; shared type, surfaces, fields and actions connect the workspace with the public site.
I also built Formatry Media: 42 guides across six topics, from writing a creative brief to adapting formats and preparing files for handoff.
From the first public release on June 22 through October 18, 2026, the changelog records 64 dated entries across editing, rendering, accounts and delivery. Usage and commercial results are still being measured.