Dave Hansow

I’ve spent the last decade leading creative for brands across fashion, entertainment, and music, as well as for the films, festivals, and mission-driven organizations I believe in. I work as an freelance creative director and graphic designer, partnering with a small number of clients each year on the projects that matter most to them. Some hire me to lead the vision. Others hire me to execute it. I do both with the same level of care.

What drives me is the bridge between worlds: bringing the rigor and craft of consumer brand work to mission-driven organizations that often haven't had access to it. The brief might change. The standard doesn't.

Every engagement starts with strategy, not deliverables. Before the first design, I want to understand the audience, the cultural moment, and what success actually looks like for you. The work that follows, whether identity, campaign, packaging, digital, or web development, comes out of that thinking.

I lead small, focused engagements end-to-end. That means fewer projects, deeper work, and a creative direction that holds across every touchpoint. For most clients, I'm both the strategic partner and the hands-on creative, which is why I take on a limited number of projects each year.

If you're early in a project and not sure what you need yet, that's often the right time to talk.

I work with a wide range of clients, from small startups and social movements that need creative direction from the ground up, to non-profits building their first real brand, to large established companies that bring me in as a hired hand to design at the level their work deserves. The size of the engagement changes. The level of craft doesn't.

My clients are based across the country, from Los Angeles to Nashville to Washington, D.C., and the work I'm most drawn to lives in mission-driven, social, film, and entertainment spaces. If you're building something in one of those worlds, or somewhere adjacent, we should talk.