I enjoy working with companies to build corporate visual identities from the ground up. Successful designs combine the right visual language (symbolism, typeface, colors, tone) with layers of subtle meaning that customers can uncover to create a stronger bond with the brand. My design process includes strategic brand positioning through delivery of a style guide and beyond, depending on your needs.
Some of my recent identity work:
Tera is building the most comprehensive online resource for sustainability — encouraging people to combine lifestyle and consumption changes with activism to save our planet from global warming.
“Working with Kristen is like working with an experienced start up business partner. She has a great business acumen, a deep understanding of consumer behavior, and she translates your vision into beautiful and efficient design in no time.” Founder, Tera
Zola is an early-stage technology startup developing a robotic device to enable independence for those with limited mobility. The “Z” mark has an active, upward feel while symbolizing both freedom of movement (left/right arrows) and artificial intelligence (two angle brackets).
Kapono is a social network built around privacy for close family groups. The “face” created around the lock can also be used as a separate visual element within the identity system.
WhatBench is a platform that matches underutilized talent at top tech services firms with open client projects. See related product and marketing work >
“I feel fortunate to have met Kristen, who has so much design and business experience to offer. We have worked together on branding, user experience and numerous design iterations. She is one of the hardest working and most intelligent advisors I’ve had the pleasure of working with.” Co-Founder, WhatBench
INLT (pronounced “inlet”) is the next frontier in customs brokerage, offering cloud-based solutions for importing goods into the U.S. (INLT was acquired by Amazon in 2019). See related product work >
As part of the incubation process at Idealab, my team ran name brainstorms and established brand identities for new companies. Here are some of the logos we designed for startups both inside and outside of Idealab.
Branch helps to solve the everyday financial challenges faced by America’s 78 million hourly workers and is redefining the future of work.
Factual is the location data company trusted by the world’s most valuable brands and technology companies to understand and intelligently grow their businesses.
Duolingo is the world’s most popular language learning platform. The logo (and owl mascot named “Duo”) that we designed for the company’s initial launch and subsequent growth phase remained in use until a late 2019 rebrand.
Kaleo is a B2B company that optimizes knowledge base content by providing automatic bite-sized answers to trending questions. See related marketing work >
Sygnal improves people’s lives by monitoring stress levels with a wrist device and smart software. See related marketing work >
WhiteCoat brings high-quality health care to everyone, through on-demand house calls. See related product and marketing work >
Mount Wilson Ventures specializes in building early-stage startups, especially those based in the hard sciences.
Idealab designers: Jason Atzert, Rodger Tanaka
