5 Key Things to Know About Me Before Hiring a Brand Designer
Hiring a brand designer to create your brand identity is a big decision. Finding a designer with the right skill set is an important part of your search. However, to ensure the best results for your brand identity design, you need to take your search a step further. You need to find a graphic designer whose approach aligns with your vision.
As a designer, I believe a strong client-designer connection is the foundation for creating a meaningful and impactful brand. Your story, your purpose for starting your business, and the genuine reasons you want to help your clients all play a crucial role in shaping your brand identity. Your designer needs to be in tune with the heart of your brand—your reason for being.
The relationship between you and your designer will influence the brand identity design process. Working with a compassionate designer who cares about your story and truly understands your business will produce the best results for your brand identity design. But it’s not only about the qualities of your designer. Your personality and values play a pivotal role in the design process as well and help to foster a successful collaboration.
In this post, I’ll share the five qualities and values that influence my work. This may help you decide if I’m a good fit for your project when it comes to hiring a brand designer.
The 5 key things
1. My design philosophy
The Internet is saturated with over a billion websites—that’s almost three websites for every American citizen! Even if you have great products or services, it’s getting harder to make your website stand out. How do you attract clients? Simple design helps your brand stand out in a crowded digital world by enhancing clarity, recognition, and functionality.
My design approach is deeply rooted in the Japanese aesthetic principles of simplicity, refined uniqueness, and the beauty of imperfection.
My goal is to create more than just simple and beautiful designs. I eliminate the nonessentials to reveal what truly matters, allowing your authentic brand identity to shine through. This focus on simplicity and clarity ensures that your brand's unique values and personality take center stage, making it easier for your ideal clients to find you.
2. My brand design process
The beginning of the design process lays the foundation for a successful brand identity design. In my experience, relying solely on words to describe our ideas for the project won’t produce the best results. So, we start our design project by collaborating with brand visual mood boards. Then we meet over Zoom for a clarity session to ensure that my client and I are aligned visually.
This step is essential because "simple" can mean different things to different people. For example, your "simple" might evoke bold geometric shapes in black and white, while mine conveys a natural and organic aesthetic that feels clean and uncluttered. A brand visual mood board bridges these gaps and sets a clear foundation for a smooth design process.
Once we establish the visual direction, the workflow becomes more efficient. After gathering the necessary information from my client and conducting thorough research, I take a step back to let creativity flow naturally.
I find that stepping away from the computer and creating space for inspiration—whether through running, yoga, or walking my dog —helps recharge my creative energy and spark fresh ideas.
Recently, I was mentioned in a Rent.com article about hobbies that enhance creativity. To learn more about creativity-boosting hobbies, check out the featured article:
Recently, I was mentioned in a Rent.com article about hobbies that enhance creativity.
3. My design experience and expertise
Over 18 years ago, I began my career as a graphic designer using my skills to support the marketing and brand development at large corporations. These early experiences taught me the importance of elevating branding to a professional level, ensuring consistency, and building trust with audiences.
One insight I gained during this time was that overly complex brand guidelines can make it difficult for non-designers to use their visual elements effectively. This lack of clarity often results in inconsistent branding, undermining trust and recognition.
Today, I use these skills to help small business owners enhance their brand presence. I focus on creating simple designs that inspire confidence and drive growth. While I’ve done extensive graphic design work to help mid to large-sized corporations maintain brand consistency, my true passion lies in designing brand identities for small businesses.
Small businesses, especially those led by solo entrepreneurs, often have unique stories, purposes, and visions. Working with them allows for more creative freedom and a personal approach, resulting in truly one-of-a-kind brand identities. This individuality is what I love most about crafting brands for small businesses.
4. What sets me apart
What makes me unique is my ability to combine strategy with aesthetics. My designs are inspired by nature and minimalism, resulting in timeless, fresh visual identities.
Additionally, my fluency in both Japanese and English allows me to work effectively with diverse clients and bridge cultural and linguistic gaps.
I place a strong emphasis on individuality to ensure that every brand identity design I create is one-of-a-kind and tailored to reflect the client’s unique story and values.
5. How I communicate
Clear and open communication is at the heart of my process.
I find that an essential but frequently underappreciated skill for a graphic designer is listening. At the start of every design project, I listen carefully to your story and the challenges you face as a small business owner. I need to fully understand who you are and who you want to connect with because design is a communication tool and clarity about your target audience is critical for success.
I keep my clients informed every step of the way, offering regular updates and opportunities for feedback. Whether through emails, video calls, or other collaborative tools, I ensure you’re never left guessing about the project’s progress.
I believe a successful partnership relies on mutual respect and collaboration. I value clear feedback, timely communication, and an open mind during the design process.
By working together and staying aligned, we can create a brand identity design that exceeds your expectations and truly reflects your vision.
“I had the pleasure of working with Natsumi to create logos both for my Feng Shui and my Human Resources business, and I couldn't be more satisfied with the results.”
The challenge was to create two independent logos with a common denominator for both business areas. From the very beginning, Natsumi demonstrated a clear understanding of my vision and the essence of either branch of my business. She was able to capture the energy and message of my brand that I wish to resonate perfectly with my target audience.
The logo she designed is not only visually convincing, but also reflects my brand identity in a subtle yet powerful way. The colors, fonts, and overall arrangement are exactly what I had hoped for—elegant, professional, and aligned with my brand values.
Located in NYC, she worked closely with me (located in Germany), throughout the entire process despite of the different time zones and also bridged our different cultural perspectives.
If you're looking for a branding specialist who combines creativity, professionalism, and a natural intuition for her clients’ aspirations, I highly recommend Natsumi.
She comes with my heartfelt recommendations.
Sabine Kullak, Founder of Self Element, Berlin in Germany
Conclusion
Your success is my priority. I’m dedicated to helping you achieve a brand identity design that is not only professional but also leverages your visual elements to effectively promote your business and connect with your ideal clients.
I approach every project as a partnership, where we work together to create a design that helps your business thrive and grow.
Hiring a brand designer that is the right fit for you, can make a significant difference in how your brand is perceived. I hope these insights give you a clearer understanding of who I am and how I approach my work. If my values and process resonate with you, I’d love to discuss how we can bring your brand vision to life.
