Services Art Direction Brand Identity Concept Development Creative Direction Graphic Design Visual Design
Hello! I am a creative director + visual designer with a passion for building design systems, brand identities, and creative campaigns. I balance strong analytical and conceptual thinking with a keen, hands-on design sensibility. I have worked at local creative firms, a global corporate in-house agency, and currently run my own design studio—NakagawaCo. For over 25 years, I have delivered brand, print, and digital solutions across a variety of industries, for organizations ranging from startup to Fortune 50 and nonprofit to corporate, including 3M, American Cancer Society, Boeing, Employees Community Fund, Qualcomm, Recovery Café, and Target.
NakagawaCo, Principal / March 2020 – Present Co-founder of this independent design studio that specializes in developing brands for a range of businesses and community organizations to help them stand out and express who they are and what they stand for. We deliver solutions for brand, print, and digital expressions from ideation to execution through production and launch. In addition to our own clients, we partner with brand strategists, creative agencies, and in-house marketing teams on project-specific and ongoing engagements.
Boeing, Creative Services, Creative Director / May 2019 – June 2021 Provided creative leadership, planning, oversight, and support—at the campaign and project level—for the creative team, partnered with account planners, project managers, and communicators, led the Design Community of Practice (CoP), served as studio brand focal, wrote creative briefs, moderated brainstorming sessions, and delivered persuasive presentations to senior manager-to-executive level business partners.
Key accounts: Global Brand Management, Boeing Global Engagement, Employees Community Fund of Boeing
Boeing, Creative Services, Associate Creative Director / May 2016 – May 2019 Provided creative leadership for the design team, led projects through both hands-on and direction to deliver on-brand, print, and digital solutions for multiple business partners across the enterprise.
Key accounts: Global Brand Management, Boeing Global Engagement, Boeing Global Services
Digital Kitchen, Creative Director / January 2015 – January 2016 Provided creative direction, big-picture thinking, and design strategy, functioned as hands-on lead designer on multiple projects, oversaw design quality assurance, managed direct reports, and worked with strategists and account directors to assess existing and new client opportunities.
Key clients: Avery Dennison, Boeing, Coca-Cola
Methodologie, Design Director / March 2013 – January 2015 Managed design staff, functioned as hands-on lead designer on multiple projects, provided creative direction, big-picture thinking, and design strategy, oversaw quality assurance, worked with business development, strategy, and account teams to assess new and existing client opportunities, directed photoshoots, participated in recruiting and hiring, and collaborated with the chief creative officer on firm-wide creative initiatives, design processes, and innovation.
