Brooklyn-based designer and illustrator Kirsten Holland has created gorgeous digital experiences for iconic clients like Google, The New York Times, and others.
Discover how she navigates the complexities of multidisciplinary design, finds inspiration in unexpected places, and brings storytelling to life in every project.
Stills: What defining moment in your career solidified your path in branding and design?
Kirsten Holland: It’s hard to pinpoint one defining moment, but moving to New York after design school and starting to do real client work—as opposed to student work—was impactful in solidifying my path.
At the time, I felt burnt out, uninspired, and unsure about my future. I knew I liked design, but didn’t know what I wanted to pursue.
Working in the field allowed me to meet some of my role models and see what a career in branding and design might look like.
When I was a student, it was hard to think about a career concretely, but starting to do professional projects and enjoying that work made me realize I was on the right path.
How do you balance design, branding, and editorial design?
A lot of my work incorporates all three.
Some projects have been branding-focused, some editorial-focused, and some UX-focused, but I feel like my skills for one “type” of design go hand in hand with the skills I have for another.
LearningWell—an online magazine about mental health in higher education—is a good example of a project I worked on with Decimal that required me to consider branding and editorial design equally. I was responsible for both the visual identity and the web design.
When I considered the visual identity, I considered how that would relate to the editorial content of the website and vice versa.
How do you bring storytelling into branding and editorial design to create resonating experiences?
When I start a project, I try to define its goal and its story.
Storytelling starts at the project’s beginning and drives a brand’s narrative.
Good design should effectively communicate a story, even if the work is less narrative-based.
I usually work closely with clients in the project’s beginning phases to discover what story they want to tell, which informs the work I decide to do.
How has your design process changed as you’ve evolved in your career?
My general process has stayed fairly similar. I usually start by gathering a range of references and ideas, iterating on those initial ideas, and refining them.
As I’ve evolved, the main thing that’s changed is that the beginning part of the project has gotten easier.
I feel less and less paralyzed when starting a new project, and my prior experiences have given me more of a jumping-off point.
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Is there a particular project that has significantly impacted your career?
A recent project I’m really excited about is the new website for Coming Soon. It’s an NY-based homeware and furniture store that has really vibrant colors and designs.
It is one of the first e-commerce sites I’ve worked on, and I learned a lot.
It feels like an important project to my career because it allowed me to have a lot of fun.
Coming Soon’s products are playful, and the store owners encouraged us to explore design directions that embodied that whimsical spirit.
The project taught me a lot about experimenting and enjoying the design process.
How does Decimal Studios’ design philosophy match up with your approach to creating impactful designs?
At Decimal, we use design and technology to create beautiful, well-considered digital products and brands.
Our work is thoughtful, with attention to detail.
Since most of Decimal’s work is centered around digital products, it’s also important that what we design is a good user experience in addition to looking pretty.
Function is just as important as form because a product that does not work cannot make an impact, no matter how beautiful.
That design philosophy matches up with how I feel about my approach.
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What design trends are currently inspiring you?
I try to avoid designing things that feel trendy, but I’ve been enjoying playing with brighter colors recently.
Neon colors, especially lime green, are having their moment this year after Brat Summer, and I’m here for it.
I’ve also loved some retro-inspired trends lately, especially with typography.
It’s fun seeing references to older typefaces and trends, especially those from the 1990s and 2000s.
I’ve always enjoyed nostalgia and love going down rabbit holes of weird vintage references on the Internet Archive and public domain image collections.
We can use a lot from the past to speak about the present.
What are your go-to strategies for tackling deadlines when you’re stuck in a creative rut?
When I’m stuck in a creative rut, I like to take a step back from designing.
It’s easy to get in my head when I feel stuck on something, which isn’t always the most productive. Looking at different real-life and online references can also help spark new ideas.
The existence of a deadline itself is also helpful for getting out of a rut.
Whether I want to or not, if something has to be done by a certain time, it will get done by that time. That pressure usually motivates me to push past any mental block and start designing.
Once I get the ball rolling, developing new ideas is easier, even if my first few ideas are bad.
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What advice do you have for designers pursuing a multidisciplinary career?
Pursuing a multidisciplinary career shouldn’t be forced but rather something that happens naturally when you pursue your interests.
If you make time to work on projects that you enjoy, the rest will follow. My best work has always been work that I felt excited about.
It’s also helpful to have lower-stakes creative outlets outside of your career. When I have the time, I like to draw and paint purely for fun.
While that isn’t directly part of my design work, what I learn about composition, color, and observation can and does inform my design choices.
How do you stay inspired and continually bring fresh ideas when working with your clients?
It’s not always easy, but spending time away from the screen helps me stay inspired.
I love going to museums and galleries, traveling, and even just walking around the city for inspiration. I try to stay curious—I want to be a lifelong learner. There are always new things I can see and do.
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What do you like about Stills? Why would you recommend it as a resource for brands and designers?
Stills is great because it is a well-curated collection of high-quality photos.
They don’t feel like generic stock images and have a lot of personality.
What I like about using Stills is how easy it is to use and navigate. It’s intuitive to narrow down options and find what you need quickly, especially when you have something specific in mind.
I especially love using the color picker filter to find images with similar color schemes. It’s so helpful when you want to stick to a certain color palette for a brand.
