Apricity

the problem

A founder with a clear idea — a selective membership community for people who've decided to stop saving the good moments for special occasions — and nothing built yet. No brand, no site, no way to take an application, approve a member, announce an evening or count who's coming. The manual version would have been Instagram DMs, a spreadsheet and a lot of "are you still coming?".

The brief was to go from zero to a community that could open its doors, with a founder who would run it herself afterwards.

the system

Brand first. Name, wordmark, palette and voice — warm, editorial, unhurried — documented in a brand guide the site is built from, so every screen and every email reads as the same place.

A public site that explains the idea (manifesto, pillars), shows what's coming (events), and takes applications. Addresses of evenings are never public — members see them after confirming.

A members' side. Apply → the founder reviews → an invitation lands by email → the member signs in with a magic link or Google. From then on: a dashboard of upcoming evenings, one-tap RSVP with confirmation email, a place to cancel with the policy visible, a profile. Membership details (tiers, opening, pricing) sit right above the application so nobody applies blind.

The founder's admin. Applications to review, events built from reusable templates, attendee lists per evening, pending RSVPs on the overview, a notification bell so nothing waits unnoticed, members table with inline tier and status editing, manual member creation for people who join in person. Everything in Athens time. Branded transactional emails throughout.

Payments kept deliberately simple for launch: a payment link per booking with the founder's own invoicing, rather than a full checkout the community doesn't need yet.

the layers

• Brand — identity, wordmark, palette, typography, tone of voice, email templates
• Interface — Next.js 14 · React · Tailwind · self-hosted type
• Database — Supabase Postgres with row-level security · auth (magic link + Google) · memberships, events, RSVPs, applications
• Automations — Resend + React Email for invitations, RSVP confirmations and reminders
• Deployment — Vercel · Plausible analytics, no Google tracking

the result

A founder who can announce an evening, approve members and see who's coming without touching code or a spreadsheet. A community whose first impression is a considered place, not a group chat. And a system that started small on purpose — payments, member-to-member invitations and post-event notes are on the roadmap, built when there are members to want them.

status

Client project, 2026. Brand and platform delivered; the first evening opens autumn 2026.