I have a simple belief: every color, line, and word should move something—a system, a story, a sense of belonging. Design tells a story that shapes how people understand purpose, how they see themselves in that purpose, and how they connect to one another. When done with empathy, design can turn a mission into a movement.
As Creative Director at Collaborative, this belief guided The Collaborative Way, our 25th anniversary rebrand. The goal wasn’t just a refreshed identity, it was a reintroduction. We wanted our design to mirror the spirit of the firm itself: purposeful, human, and boundary pushing.
This year, our team at Collaborative Communications was honored with two Davey Awards for excellence in Brand Identity—for the Early Learning Nation Collective and Search Institute.
The recognition is meaningful not just because it celebrates design, but because it validates a principle that drives my work: design is not decoration, it is direction.
For our design team, creative and branding isn’t a layer added at the end of strategy—it is strategy made visible. It’s how we help organizations show up in the world with authenticity, clarity, and care.
Design as Translation
I think of design as translation. It’s how we take a mission, a value, a human story and turn it into something people can feel, remember, and rally around.
1. Listen for the EmotionDesign starts with empathy. Before any palette or typeface selection, I listen for the emotion we want to evoke. Emotion anchors meaning.
2. Find the MetaphorEvery brand has a heartbeat. Once found, that metaphor becomes the framework for everything: visuals, tone, and movement.
3. Build for BelongingIdentity is an invitation. When a brand invites people to see themselves in its story, it builds trust and that’s where real connection begins.
Design Is Where Story Meets System
Design is where art meets purpose. In a digital world ruled by algorithms and immediacy, design remains one of the last universal human languages—a language built on empathy, memory, and meaning.
That’s why every visual choice carries weight. The colors we select, the shapes we repeat, the fonts we choose—the design systems we build all signal who belongs.
For organizations working to clarify their identity or engage audiences more deeply, my guidance is always this:
Start with how you want people to feel.
The most effective designs don’t just communicate; they connect. They create experiences people believe in and return to.
Design in Action: From Framework to Impact
For Search Institute, a 60-year-old organization rooted in youth development research, the challenge was evolution—designing a modern, refreshed identity that carried forward its legacy of trust while embracing new energy. The refreshed brand expresses connection and humanity, grounding decades of data in the warmth of purpose.
When we helped launch the brand for the Early Learning Nation Collective, we weren’t just creating a logo, we were designing a shared identity for local leaders and national partners across the country. We were connecting their collective story. The result was more than a visual identity system; it was a framework for belonging.
In both projects, design served as connective tissue, linking past and future, vision and voice.
Beyond Aesthetics
Awards like the Daveys remind me that design is not a side note to strategy, it is strategy. When creativity and purpose align, design becomes an engine for impact.
As our founder, Kris Kurtenbach, often says, “Our job is to help mission-driven work show up in the world with clarity and power.”
That’s what I love most about this work. Design doesn’t just make organizations recognizable, it makes them believable. It helps them lead with purpose, not polish.
Designing the Future
At Collaborative, our creative practice connects emotion and evidence, vision and voice. We work alongside leaders who believe that communication should not only inform but it should inspire.
If you’re building something that matters—a movement, a message, a new way of seeing—design can help make it tangible. That’s what we do best at Collaborative, we turn mission into movement.
Awards are milestones. The real measure of success is when design becomes a living reflection of the people it represents. That’s what it means to design with empathy. That’s what it means to design The Collaborative Way.
