# Rune Web Design > Rune is a web design and development studio in Chico, California. We build fast, custom websites, e-commerce stores, and web apps for local businesses across the North Valley. Free quotes. Custom software for growing companies, and websites for contractors and trades, anywhere in the United States. ## About - Founder: Erik Mellum. Rune is Erik Mellum, born and raised in Chico. He has a Computer Science degree from Chico State and teaches Web Development and the Capstone course at Butte College, so the person building your site is the same one who trains new web developers. - Location: Chico, California. Serving Chico and 67 more communities across Northern California, plus remote work nationwide. - Contact: hello@rune.design, (530) 519-3092 - Book a call: https://cal.com/rune-design/free-intro-call - Pricing: every project is fixed-price and quoted up front for free. No public price list. - Ownership: clients own the finished site, its code, and its content. ## Services - Websites: Fast, modern marketing sites and web apps that load in a blink and rank well. - E-commerce: Storefronts that convert, with smooth checkout, payments, and subscriptions. - Mobile Apps: iOS and Android apps that feel native, from a single codebase or fully native. - Desktop Apps: Cross-platform desktop software for Mac, Windows, and Linux. - Custom Software: Internal tools, APIs, dashboards, and automations tailored to how you work. - Marketing & Growth: Brand, SEO, and analytics to turn a great product into a growing business. - Skal CMS: our own visual editor, so owners edit their own pages without a developer or a page-builder subscription. ## Service-area pages (web design) - Oroville, CA: https://rune.design/web-design/oroville - Paradise, CA: https://rune.design/web-design/paradise - Durham, CA: https://rune.design/web-design/durham - Gridley, CA: https://rune.design/web-design/gridley - Orland, CA: https://rune.design/web-design/orland - Willows, CA: https://rune.design/web-design/willows - Red Bluff, CA: https://rune.design/web-design/red-bluff - Corning, CA: https://rune.design/web-design/corning - Redding, CA: https://rune.design/web-design/redding - Shasta County, CA: https://rune.design/web-design/shasta-county - Yuba City, CA: https://rune.design/web-design/yuba-city - Marysville, CA: https://rune.design/web-design/marysville - Auburn, CA: https://rune.design/web-design/auburn - Grass Valley, CA: https://rune.design/web-design/grass-valley ## Service-area pages (custom software for companies) - Sacramento, CA: https://rune.design/web-design/sacramento - Roseville, CA: https://rune.design/web-design/roseville ## Industry pages - Contractors & trades (nationwide): https://rune.design/industries/contractors ## Key pages - Home: https://rune.design/ - Service areas: https://rune.design/web-design - Custom software: https://rune.design/custom-software - Skal CMS: https://rune.design/skal - Work and case studies: https://rune.design/work - Long-form version of this file: https://rune.design/llms-full.txt - Sitemap: https://rune.design/sitemap.xml ## Case studies - Homeschool.fit (Web App): A full SaaS platform for homeschool families: curriculum planning, scheduling, progress tracking, and community. On the web and in both app stores. https://rune.design/work/homeschool-fit - FlemDog Science (Web App): A course-style home for a 200,000-subscriber science YouTube channel: 180 videos filed by subject and unit, lab sheets for every age behind a membership, and an owner who edits from the page itself. https://rune.design/work/flemdog-science - NorCal Surfaces (Site + CMS): Pickleball courts, Rubber Stone pool decks, and epoxy garage floors across Northern California, with an interactive court planner and 29 pages built to win local search. Runs on Skal. https://rune.design/work/norcal-surfaces - Willard Fence Co. (Site + CMS): A licensed Chico fence contractor with its own metal shop, from backyard fences to twelve-foot court enclosures. Drawn fence elevations instead of stock photos, and 29 pages built to win local search. Runs on Skal. https://rune.design/work/willard-fencing - Streamline Fencing (Site + CMS): A warm, photo-led site for a Chico fence and gate contractor - now running on Skal, so the owner edits his own pages on a visual canvas. https://rune.design/work/streamline-fencing - Yeti Launch (Desktop App): An Electron desktop app for ZURB that turned setting up a Foundation project into one click - no terminal, no toolchain wrangling. https://rune.design/work/yeti-launch - SP3-SiteHazards (Custom Software): A seismic hazard platform for Haselton Baker Risk Group: address in, engineered PDF report out. The complete system - data model, API, auth, CLI, PostGIS - estimated at 250 hours and delivered on time. https://rune.design/work/sp3-sitehazards - Skal CMS (Product): Our own content management system. A visual canvas that edits the real page, so a custom-built site stays editable by the person who owns it. https://rune.design/work/skal-cms - KeyQuest (Game / Web App): A Pokemon-inspired RPG where you catch songs by playing them on a real piano. Practice comes first, the adventure comes second, and a grown-up holds the key. https://rune.design/work/keyquest - Beginner to Web Master (Course Site): A high-conversion landing site for a web development course, with animated storytelling and a 90+ Lighthouse score. https://rune.design/work/beginner-to-web-master ## Frequently asked questions - How much does a website cost in Chico? Every project is fixed-price and quoted up front, so you know the full cost before we start - no hourly surprises. A simple marketing site, an online store, and a custom web app each sit at different tiers. Tell us what you need and we will send a firm quote for free. - How long does it take to build a website? Most small-business marketing sites go live within a few weeks. Larger e-commerce stores and custom web apps take longer. You get a realistic timeline with your quote, and we ship fast - several sites in our portfolio were live within days. - Do you work with businesses outside Chico? Yes. Rune is based in Chico and builds for businesses across Butte County and the North Valley - Paradise, Oroville, Durham, Orland, Red Bluff, Redding, Yuba City, and Marysville - and takes on custom software projects for growing companies in Auburn, Roseville, and Sacramento. - Will I own my website and code? Yes. The site and its code are yours to keep. There is no proprietary page builder locking you in, and no monthly ransom to keep your own website online. - Can you help my business get found on Google? Yes. Every site we build ships with local SEO baked in - fast pages, clean structure, structured data, sitemaps, and Google Business Profile guidance - so you show up when Chico customers search for what you do. - What kinds of websites do you build? Custom marketing sites, e-commerce and online stores, booking and lead-capture sites, and full custom web apps. If it runs in a browser, we can build it - all hand-coded, fast, and mobile-first.