The Studio

Two people, not an agency.

IVALDR is Dylan Gill and Tyler Cummings, a two-person web studio in Whitby. There's no account manager and no sales team here, so you talk to the person building your site from the first call through to launch and after.

That's also why we only take on a handful of projects at a time. Each one gets our full attention.

We work from Whitby, in Durham Region, and most of our clients are local businesses within a couple of hours' drive.

Why Ivaldr.

We like history and old myths. In the Norse stories the sons of Ívaldi were smiths. They made Odin’s spear, a ship that carried every god and still folded into a pouch, and a head of golden hair that grew like the real thing. Ivaldr is our own spelling of their father’s name.

A forge and a workshop felt right for us, because that is what this is, a digital workshop. And what those three pieces could do is close to how we think a website should be built.

The story behind the name.

Here is the myth in the order it happened, as Snorri Sturluson tells it in the Prose Edda, written down in Iceland in the early 1200s.

  1. A prank goes wrong.

    Loki, the trickster, cut off the hair of Sif, the wife of Thor. When Thor found out he took hold of Loki and meant to break every bone in him. Loki swore that he would get Sif new hair, made of gold, that would grow like the real thing.

  2. The sons of Ívaldi.

    Loki went down to the dwarves known as the sons of Ívaldi, who were smiths, and asked them to make the hair. They made it. At the same time they made two more things, a ship and a spear.

  3. Three treasures.

    The hair was gold, and when it was set on Sif's head it took root and grew like her own. The ship, Skíðblaðnir, was big enough to carry every god with their weapons, and it had a fair wind the moment its sail went up. It was made of so many parts, fitted so well, that it could be folded like cloth and kept in a pouch. The spear, Gungnir, never stopped in its thrust.

    Odin riding his horse Sleipnir and holding the spear Gungnir, an engraving
    Odin on Sleipnir with Gungnir, by Lorenz Frølich, 1895. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

  4. Loki's wager.

    Loki boasted that no one could match them, and bet his head that two other dwarf brothers, Brokkr and Sindri, could not make three things as good. They made a golden boar, a gold ring that dripped more gold, and the hammer Mjölnir. The gods judged the hammer the best of all the treasures, and Brokkr won the wager.

    Dwarf smiths at a forge hammering out an enormous hammer, with other treasures on a table beside them, an illustration
    The third gift, an enormous hammer, by E. Boyd Smith, from In the Days of Giants by Abbie Farwell Brown, 1902. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

  5. Where our name comes from.

    Ivaldr is our own spelling of the smiths' father's name. No figure called Ivaldr appears in the stories. We chose it because we like history and old myths, because a forge and a workshop suit a digital workshop, and because what those three treasures could do is close to how we think a website should be built.

Where this comes from: Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál (the Prose Edda), for the making of the three treasures, Loki’s wager and the gods’ judgement; Gylfaginning for the ship; Sigrdrífumál for the runes on Gungnir’s point.

The three treasures.

Each of the three treasures stands for something we do.

Skíðblaðnir, the ship

Built around your business.

In the story

Skíðblaðnir was made for the god Freyr. It was big enough to carry every god with their weapons and armour, and it caught a fair wind the moment its sail went up. It was also built from so many parts, fitted so well, that it could be folded like cloth and kept in a pouch.

In our work

That is how we think about a build. We make your site from scratch for your business, at the size you need now.

It fits the phone in your customer's hand as well as it fits a big screen, and it is put together so more can be added later.

What we build

Skíðblaðnir, a longship with its sail set, on a workbench

Sif's golden hair

Looked after, long after launch.

In the story

The hair is the reason the smiths were hired at all. It was real gold, and when it was set on Sif's head it took root and grew like her own.

In our work

A website should do the same. It is yours from the day it launches, and it should keep growing with the business it belongs to.

So we stay on after launch. We host your site, keep it up to date and change things when you ask.

How we look after it

A loom hung with golden hair, beside a spinning wheel

Gungnir, Odin's spear

It never stops short.

In the story

Gungnir was made for Odin. The story says that once it was thrust, it never stopped. Another old poem says runes were cut into its point. It is the spear in our logo.

In our work

A good-looking site that nobody finds has stopped short. So has one that people find and never call from.

We build yours to go the whole way. It is made to be found by people nearby who are looking for what you do, and to turn that visit into a call, a quote or a booking. After launch you still have the person who built it, and an answer within one working day.

How we get you found

Gungnir, a spear, lying across an anvil under a hammer

Dylan Gill

Co-owner

Graduated from DC with a computer science degree.

Tyler Cummings

Co-owner

Graduated from UBC with a computer science degree.

Tell us what you need.

We reply within one working day, and you talk to whoever does the build.

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Based in
Whitby, Ontario
Availability
Taking on new projects
Response
One working day
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