A Field Guide to Creative Agencies Working Across Brand, Culture and Technology

Day Job: brand thinking carried into products and launches

Day Job’s published work spans brand strategy, identity, packaging, websites, and launch work. Its 2025 project pages include David Protein, Fly By Jing, Recess, Loisa, and Spotify Podcasts. Business Insider reported in December 2025 that the studio, founded in 2018, had a team of about 20 and had worked with hundreds of brands; the report attributed a 2025 revenue and headcount increase to its cofounder. I am drawn to the way a distinct point of view can keep working across the product, the package, the website, and the launch.

Sources: Day Job public work ↗ Business Insider profile, 8 December 2025 ↗

Base Design: a network of studios working across cultures

Base describes itself as one network with five studios and a practice that turns cultural difference into enduring brands. Its current index calls out 25 years of building brands with cultural impact, and its public project descriptions include strategy, identity, digital experience, signage, and retail. That combination is close to the work I have done across MoMA in New York and Japan, founder-built Countercult, and the brand-to-digital-to-physical system I led at a venture-backed hard-tech company.

Sources: Base Design about and studios ↗ Base Design project index ↗ MoMA case study ↗ Countercult founder and product case study ↗

COLLINS: company change, not just a new coat of paint

COLLINS publicly describes work across brand transformation, product-brand integration, retail experience, and organizational change. That upstream remit matters to me. At VC-backed startup I was CMO and Senior Creative Director, working with the CEO on company positioning and investor materials while carrying the system through UX/UI, website, marketing, retail, and customer touchpoints. The work helped the company raise millions, without making creative work the sole cause of that result.

Sources: COLLINS about its practice ↗ VC-backed startup case study ↗

Instrument: brand and product teams in the same conversation

Instrument presents brand and product as connected capabilities, including brand strategy, design systems, digital experiences, and product design. I value that adjacency because a company’s identity and interface are both part of how people understand what it does. My own digital product work includes UX/UI and website leadership at VC-backed startup, plus the product, software, and data architecture I built for Countercult.

Sources: Instrument brand capabilities ↗ Countercult founder and product case study ↗

Gretel: identity that has to work across real experiences

Gretel’s public work includes identity systems, brand launches, and experience design. Its case studies show why a strong identity is not a logo file: it has to adapt to the channel, audience, and operating conditions around it. I have carried those decisions into retail systems for Tommy Hilfiger, including production documentation for more than 500 U.S. storefront touchpoints, and into customer-facing digital experiences.

Sources: Gretel selected work ↗ Gretel company and practice ↗ Tommy Hilfiger retail rollout case study ↗

What I bring to this kind of studio

I can join a studio as a senior creative leader, a founder-side product and technology partner, or a focused project lead. I have worked across brand, digital UX/UI, product, go-to-market, retail, cultural programming, and production. I prefer remote work and can work across the United States and Europe. My strongest contribution is taking responsibility for how those parts connect, then carrying the decisions through the team and into the world.

How to assess fit quickly

A useful first conversation names the live client or business problem, the decisions I would own, the people I would work with, the time commitment, the budget or compensation range, and the next decision date. My portfolio and CV are available below. For a specific opening or brief, send the scope, timing, decision-maker, and working arrangement, and I can respond with the most relevant evidence rather than a generic introduction.