Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Holt.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
After a nearly a decade working full-time as a freelance graphic designer (or as I used to joke, “one-woman design studio”), I began to miss the camaraderie that comes with working as a part of a small team day in and day out. Nothing tops being able to bounce ideas around with people you trust (and have sidebar slack conversations in between!). At the start of 2024, I co-founded Offhand Studio with a beloved colleague who shares my people-first approach to design. I’m now leading the studio forward with the support of a team made up of amazingly talented women. We’re a creative studio building brands with style, substance, and staying power.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Ha, yes and no. Thankfully, the actual work side of things has always been relatively easy. We’re lucky in that most of our work finds us, whether it’s through organic search or word of mouth. It’s important to me that our design process feels more like a relationship than a transaction, so we take on a limited amount of projects per year so we can really get to know our clients and dig deep with their goals and vision.
Business-logistics? That’s a whole other beast. I thought I knew what I was doing after 10+ years of freelancing in some capacity, but it turns out that there’s a whole slew of new things to navigate when you’re in charge of other people’s W-2s and 1099s. I learned a lot our first year and have found help where we needed it, but I definitely gained a few grey hairs during tax season.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Offhand is a small-but-mighty branding studio building truly original brands out of your truly original idea.
Our process creates strategic, custom visuals that speak to your ideal customers while clarifying goals and building a solid foundation for growth. We’re not the people you go to for “just a logo” – we offer a much more in depth process, full of heart and a lot of research. We empower our clients, ensuring they walk away with confidence and clarity about where they are headed in their business. From sustainable clothing lines to venture capital firms, we’ve done a little bit of everything. Our favorite clients? Industry disruptors, outside-of-the-box thinkers, and stick-it-to-the status-quo-ers.
We love building brands from the ground up just as much as we adore working with established businesses who are ready to change things up for their next phase of growth. Our services include brand strategy and naming, messaging and copywriting, visual identity design and print collateral buildout, illustration, packaging and publication design, web design and development for service-based and e-commerce sites, motion graphics, and video production. Basically, there’s a good chance we have someone on our team who can rock whatever comes our way.
Any big plans?
Looking forward, I’m excited to keep working on cool stuff with cool people and growing brands!
This year, we’re hoping to carve out the time to spend a little more time on our own processes, website, and social strategy. In true “cobbler’s kids have no shoes” fashion, it’s tricky to make time to work on your own business when you’re busy working on everyone else’s!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://weareoffhand.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weareoffhand
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/offhand-studio
Image Credits
Portrait by Kaitlin Green
