Chronicles is a repository of articles, client projects, creative musings and products. All content is copyrighted by MKN Design. Reproduction without express written consent is prohibited. To license a specific illustration or design, please contact me via email.

 

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Developing a Visual Strategy for Your Brand

↑ This graphic highlights the research phase (input) and the design phase (output).

Article
August 2025

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Developing a Visual Strategy for Your Brand
Bold, simple illustration systems can do more for your brand than you think. It’s not just decoration—it’s a visual strategy. Clean, memorable forms can make your brand instantly recognizable, adapt seamlessly across mediums, and connect with audiences in a way that feels authentic. That’s why I design custom illustarated visuals tailored to your brand’s personality, tone, and story. Built as a scalable system, they work seamlessly across your website, print materials, and social media graphics.

Visual strategies range from literal to conceptual, simple to complex, and extend across iconography, illustration, and environmental design.

The result? Illustrations that not only look great, but also communicate your brand, connect with your audience, and stand the test of time—just like the iconography system I developed with Monotype for Riot Games. View the project here.

To create a strong visual system that delivers real impact, I start by understanding your brand messaging framework and visual identity—what I call input. This includes researching your history, vision, and competitors to uncover what makes your brand unique. From this often-chaotic mix of insights, my role is to distill, clarify, and translate them into an authentic, distinctive, and cohesive visual system—the output. This stage takes time and care, often involving multiple revisions, refinements, additional concepting, and your feedback to ensure it aligns perfectly with your brand’s vision.

If your brand is ready for that kind of impact, let’s talk!

Why Visual Systems Strengthen Your Brand:

1. Instant Recognition
Bold, simplified illustrative forms are easier for people to recall and recognize across different contexts—whether on packaging, digital ads, websites, or a small app icon.

2. Strong Brand Personality
They convey confidence and clarity, giving your brand a distinctive visual voice that can feel approachable, playful, or modern depending on the style.

3. Scalability & Flexibility
Simple illustration styles hold up at any size—from a billboard to a tiny social media avatar—without losing detail or impact.

4. Cross-cultural Accessibility
Clean, universal forms often transcend language barriers, helping your brand connect with diverse audiences more effectively.

5. Consistency Across Mediums
Simple illustrations are easier to adapt for web, print, merchandise, motion graphics, or environmental branding while staying on-brand.

6. Emotional Connection
Even pared-down visuals can carry warmth, humor, or storytelling—making your brand feel human and relatable in ways photography alone sometimes can’t.

7. Modern, Timeless Appeal
Bold, simple illustrations can feel contemporary while avoiding overly trendy details that might age quickly.

8. Cost-effectiveness in Production
They’re often less expensive to reproduce, print, or animate than complex imagery, especially in multi-channel campaigns.

 

↑ A small glimpse into my chaotic artboard, filled endless icon variations and subtle adjustments.

Strategy Requires Creativity

Article + Client Projects
July 2024

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Strategy Requires Creativity
I remember when all creative concepts were hand-drawn. I honed this skill during my college years studying illustration and design, and continue to use it to this day. Nowadays, most clients don't see my sketches, as presenting 'polished' work has become the norm. Nevertheless, my sketches are what made the project.

For me, sketching is essential for visual problem solving and connecting ideas. It continues to help me to create strong visual concepts not only requiring a skilled hand and a good eye, but also empathetic, critical, and conceptual thinking.

If you're seeking human insight, creativity, and thoughtfulness, I can help your brand craft strategic, compelling and unique solutions based on your business objectives, your brand, and your consumers.

 

KitchenAid, Packaging an Icon

 

Client Project
August 2022

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KitchenAid, Packaging an Icon
When KitchenAid approached me, they weren’t just looking to refresh their packaging—they were looking to reimagine how their iconic products could better connect to consumers, stand out on store shelves alongside competing brands, and reflect the modern, design-forward brand they had become. At the same time, they wanted to ensure that any evolution stayed rooted in the heritage that made KitchenAid a household name—especially with their globally recognized stand mixer.

After examining the design of their existing packaging, it became clear that the aesthetics no longer aligned with the expectations of today’s consumers. In a market shaped by bold simplicity, clean visual storytelling, and modern minimalism, the packaging felt dark, cluttered, and outdated.

The design challenge was clear—reimagine the packaging in a way that honored KitchenAid’s heritage, spoke directly to today’s consumers, and embraced a more modern visual language. Working closely with the internal KitchenAid team, we began by diving into consumer insights, packaging trends, and design systems across related industries, while also bringing our own creative sensibilities and perspective to the table. From that research, we developed a series of concepts that introduced a refined visual language—using custom iconography, simplified illustrations, and thoughtful layout systems. We explored how this new approach could be applied across product lines and packaging sizes, reinforcing the brand while prioritizing clarity and consumer engagement.

The final result was a flexible, strategic packaging system that scaled across all product tiers—unmistakably KitchenAid, while reinforcing the brand and putting clarity and consumer engagement at the forefront.

Original KitchenAid Packaging ↑

While the developed concepts were never launched due to COVID-related budget cuts, the work continues to be valuable, providing clear visual and strategic guidance for future KitchenAid packaging.

 

  • + Packaging Design

  • + Research (competitive, consumer, trend)
    + Concept Development
    + Sketching & Ideation
    + Graphic Design & Layout
    + Iconography
    + Instructional Illustrations
    + Product Illustrations
    + Mockups

  • This project was a joint endeavor involving numerous individuals from both the KitchenAid design team and external independent contractors, such as Heather Tucker and myself.

Ancestry DNA

Client Project
April 2019

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Ancestry DNA
Ancestry DNA offers a fascinating journey into one's past, using cutting-edge DNA technology to uncover ancestral origins and connections. By analyzing a simple saliva sample, Ancestry DNA provides individuals with detailed insights into their genetic ethnicity, connecting them with distant relatives and unraveling the mysteries of their family history. I worked closely with Ancestry DNA to develop a visual design system for their online products.

I led a comprehensive initiative to shape and establish a visual language for Ancestry DNA products. Employing an agile methodology, we navigated through stages of empathy, user interviews, research, illustration and iconography. The resulting visual design system adopted a conceptual and minimalist approach, enriched by overlaying the visual language on diverse human-centric photography.

  • + Visual Design System

  • + Concept Development
    + Illustrative Direction
    + Qualitative & Quantitative Research
    + Sketching & Ideation
    + Graphic Design
    + Illustration
    + Iconography

  • The image college shown is a representation of a 6-month coalesce of project artifacts.

SpartanNash

Client Project
November 2016

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SpartanNash
Headquartered in Byron Center, Michigan, SpartanNash distributes food to independent grocers, military commissaries, and corporate-owned retail stores in 44 states. I worked closely with SpartanNash to direct, develop and design the thirty-six page corporate responsibility brochure.

Using a guided design approach, I explored SpartanNash's key environmental impact areas of Social and Environmental Responsibilities, delving into each segment to narrate their entire sustainable journey. Through the strategic use of storytelling, we intricately wove together their core values, showcased their diverse capabilities, highlighted community engagement efforts, and underscored their unwavering commitment to environmental responsibility. This narrative was brought to life through a blend of design elements, compelling visuals, and informative infographics, culminating in a comprehensive sustainability report.

  • Brochure Design & Layout

  • + Creative Direction
    + Project Management
    + Qualitative Research
    + Concept Development
    + Sketching & Ideation
    + Graphic Design & Layout
    + Photography Art Direction
    + Infographics
    + Illustration

Acton Institute

Client Project
November 2016

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Acton Institute
The Acton Institute for the Study of Religion and Liberty is named after the English historian, John Acton. He is best known for his remark: “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Inspired by his work on the relation between liberty and morality, the Acton seeks to articulate a vision of society that is both free and virtuous. They achieve this by offering seminars and publishing various books, periodicals, and articles. Because their publications were outdated, they contacted me to modernize their look from a branding and editorial layout standpoint.

This project was a six-month initiative involving the rebranding and comprehensive system design Acton Institute quarterly magazine, Religion & Liberty. I led this design effort that encompassed extensive planning and research, aiming to create a magazine that not only embodied the refreshed brand but also resonated with Acton Institute vision and their readership. The outcome featured forty distinct editorial layouts that served as a foundational framework for their editorial process. Additionally, a thorough design and layout toolkit was crafted to simplify layout decisions and maintain a consistent and coherent visual narrative across all future publications.

  • Branding, Magazine Design & Layout

  • + Creative Direction
    + Project Management
    + Qualitative Research
    + Concept Development
    + Sketching & Ideation
    + Graphic Design & Layout
    + Photography Art Direction
    + Infographics
    + Illustration

  • View the design and layout toolkit. This was developed to simplify layout decisions and maintain a consistent and coherent visual narrative for all future publications.