Most brands know how they want to look. I help them decide how they want you to feel.
Two decades turning feeling into color, story and product, for brands, founders and the leaders who run them.
Observation becomes inspiration.
The lens
My work has moved through product, color, media, film and life design. The rooms changed. The lens never did.
Read
Anthropology first.
I watch how people actually live. What they keep, what they quietly let go of, what they reach for at seven in the morning. Culture shows up there long before it shows up in data.
Feel
Every strong brand starts with a decision.
The brands people return to have decided how they want someone to feel, and they protect it. Look can be copied. Feeling can’t.
Make it visible
Color, design and story.
People choose a feeling in color long before they can name it. I turn that feeling into the palette, the product and the narrative that carry it.
Many rooms
Different rooms, same lens.
Product and retail
Colorist and textile designer at Nordstrom, chasing the cultural why behind trends. Then my own licensing brand, carried by Nordstrom, Bloomingdale’s, Target and HomeGoods. Featured Elle Decor, Real Simple, HGTV mag, etc.
Color and culture
Fronted Shaw Floors’ Color of the Year.
Author of Color + Pattern.
Media
Design expert on TODAY, HLN, etc. Guest judge on American Dream Builders with Nate Berkus.
Narrative and film
Executive storytelling and documentary production, including the Schwinn documentary.
Advisory
Principal Advisor, Brand & Narrative Strategy - Solliance
Life design
Founder of Center of Gravity.
Selected clients and partners
Nordstrom · Bloomingdale’s · Target · HomeGoods · West Elm · Shaw Floors · Better Homes & Gardens · TODAY · NBC · Apple · Microsoft · Accenture · Pfizer · 3M · Snowflake · Blue Yonder · Marigold · Safe-Guard · Solliance
Work with me
For brands and leaders who need the feeling behind the strategy found, named and made visible.
kah@KhristianAHowell.comBrand and creative strategy
Positioning, platforms and the brief beneath the brief.
Color and design direction
Palettes, product and visual language, built from the feeling out.
Executive narrative
The story a leader tells, shaped and produced.
Advisory and board seats
A creative strategist in the room where decisions get made. Currently advisor to Solliance.
Speaking
Color, culture and designing for feeling.
“It’s just paint. Don’t be afraid to paint over it.”
Governing philosophy
Center of Gravity
My life design practice and course. It teaches people to separate a life that looks right from one that feels right. Brands have the same gap. It is the work I find most interesting.