A Look Back at the Year – Ravenwood Design Group

A lot happened this year.

This was the year I put Ravenwood Design Group out into the world. I’ve been a communication designer for a long time, but for most of that time I didn’t have a clean answer when people asked what I did. The honest answer was usually “a little bit of everything.” That wasn’t wrong, but it also wasn’t very helpful.

This was the first year I spent real time thinking about how I run my practice, not just the work that comes out of it. What I learned surprised me. Choosing a focus didn’t feel like narrowing my options. It felt like finally committing to the kind of work I’d been circling for years. Work that’s more complex, and more consequential.

It also helped me see my generalist background differently. Instead of something to explain away, it became a deep library of experience that I could use to create a reliable, repeatable design process. That breadth of experience now helps solve clients’ communication problems and gives them a clearer understanding of how design can work for them.

As Ravenwood Design Group, I worked with longtime partners and new collaborators, took on larger and more challenging projects, and kept returning to the same idea: good design helps people understand what matters, make better decisions, and build trust over time.

Looking back, this year didn’t feel like a reinvention. It felt like things finally clicking into place.

Client Feature: Kinship Community Food Center

Capital Campaign

In support of Kinship’s capital campaign, we developed a cohesive, cross-media toolkit designed to help campaign supporters reach donors in whatever format suits them, while reinforcing why Kinship is a brand that can be trusted.

The campaign sub-brand functions as a distinct initiative, with its own tone and emphasis, while remaining firmly rooted in Kinship’s existing visual language. Typography and color choices were intentionally aligned to create continuity between the campaign and the broader brand, allowing the work to feel focused without feeling separate.

Annual Report

At RDG, we put a lot of thought into making sure the materials we create are genuinely useful for our clients over time.

In the case of Kinship’s annual report, we designed an editorial piece with longevity in mind. Rather than reinventing the wheel each year, Kinship invested in a strong foundational template three years ago. Each year, we make a targeted refresh to the content, allowing the report to stay current while preserving consistency. This approach spreads the value of the initial design investment over multiple years and reduces ongoing production burden.

Urban Farm Signage

The goal for Kinship’s urban farm signage was twofold: maximize visibility from the highway and clearly connect the site back to Kinship as an organization.

We designed for a limited window of visibility, accounting for the speed of highway traffic, while making recommendations around legibility within the brand’s color palette. We also explored sub-brand marks to clarify the relationship between the urban farm and the Kinship parent brand.

RDG worked closely with a signage partner to ensure appropriate materials and installation methods that would hold up over time, all within a nonprofit budget.

Mission Internship Sticker

For Kinship’s internship outreach, we tapped the talented merch artist David Arnevik to illustrate a custom sticker concept, working within the mission sub-brand’s specific visual style.

This was a case of calling on the right collaborator for the job. The result was something simple, tactile, and easy to share, designed to spark excitement among potential interns while staying true to the brand.

Building Branding

As plans for Kinship’s new facility took shape, RDG worked at the intersection of brand and architecture, serving as a translator between Kinship leadership and the architecture team at HGA. Our role was to represent Kinship’s brand interests within the interior environment, advising on finishes, furniture, and material choices, while also supporting exterior activation through signage and mural concepts.

We developed a set of design principles to guide decision-making across the building’s interior and exterior, giving both teams a shared framework as details evolved. In parallel, we explored murals and other storytelling elements to help create a space that feels welcoming, expressive, and clearly connected to Kinship’s mission.

Client Feature: Thriving Wisconsin

This year marked the launch of Thriving Wisconsin, a strategic rebrand for a statewide backbone organization supporting early childhood systems.

The project started off with small adjustments to refine the existing brand, but turned into a rebranding effort that involved clarifying relationships, correcting a perception gap, and visually defining collective impact across a complex network. Our work focused on building a brand that feels trustworthy, grounded, and clearly connected to the organizations it serves, while visually reasserting Thriving Wisconsin as a credible statewide leader.

Ravenwood Design Group

Alongside client work, this year was spent strengthening how the practice operates.

Ravenwood Design Group developed a diagnostic approach to identify where brands lose cohesion, clarity, or functionality, and to understand the context in which design decisions are being made. This work establishes a shared foundation for decision-making, so design choices are grounded in real conditions rather than preference or assumption.

The studio also deepened its work around brand architecture, particularly with organizations that operate across networks, programs, and audiences. That experience sharpened how RDG approaches consistency at scale and how design systems support complex, statewide work.

This year included sharing RDG’s work more openly through case studies, conversations, and a public presence that makes it easier for the right organizations to find this kind of support when they need it.

While much of the focus this year was on building clarity and foundation, there are already ideas and collaborations taking shape for 2026, growing directly out of the work and relationships established here.

Beyond the studio

Outside of RDG, I stayed busy with a mix of personal projects and client work. Highlights included developing award show entry materials for the experiential marketing campaign that supported Hundreds of Beavers’ theatrical release and rise to instant cult-classic status, attending SXSW, and giving a talk on graphic design for indie film to a design class at University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, covering everything from pitch decks to tour materials to Blu-ray menus.

Looking ahead to 2026

This year reinforced something I’ve long believed: the most effective design work doesn’t just look good, it helps organizations move forward with clarity and confidence. In 2025, that principle shaped both my client work and the way Ravenwood Design Group operates. I am proud of what was built, grateful for the collaborators who made it possible, and excited for what’s next.