This year has been about finding a rhythm. Balancing curiosity and experimentation with laser-focused productivity and shipping.

As a working mom with a toddler, I worried at first that limited hours would throttle my creativity, but in practice they sharpened my focus. I went from feeling "I HAVE to say no projects" to "I GET to say no to projects". That's a nice, and definitely privileged, position to be in.

I worked with a small group of ambitious founders who see brand design as leverage; and lot of them trusted me enough to shape the briefs together. I had two long‑term retainers and balanced that with blazing fast brand design sprints. The routine of switching between deep, ongoing partnerships and fresh, exploratory projects has kept my energy up.

One of the biggest lessons for me this year was learning to write my own briefs. Instead of waiting for clients, I started pitching the ideas I actually wanted to work on. When a client says yes to that, the whole dynamic shifts — you’re no longer just executing, you’re building something together. It’s a small change, but it makes the work feel much more energising and meaningful.

Working with early-stage startups also reminded me that you often have to be the one who really cares. When you’re the only designer, there’s no one else to push for clarity or protect the quality of the work. You have to step up, define the problem, make it YOUR problem, suggest direction, and do the work. I enjoy that.

I also touched wildly broad type of design this year: web design, brand identity, packaging, logos, colour palettes for hardware, art directing and planning photoshoot, conference booths, branded merch, AI‑generated brand image library; and even designing press‑on nails!

Some of the projects are live now and I can share them here, while others remain under wraps.

This was by all means a great year.
Grateful.