We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Katt. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Katt below.

Katt, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Some of the most meaningful projects I have worked on have been projects that help tell a story, and you will actually find a lot of storytelling in all of my creative projects from web design, branding, and even work I do on production crews a producer and technical director. One of the first that comes to mind is the website I built for Northfield Acupuncture & Alternative Medicine, this is a clinic local to my area and not being in a big city near me like Dallas TX or Little Rock AR its not the type of thing you normally see, but during the discovery call for this project I found out that people come from all over the county for treatment, so being able to craft a story of this destination clinic in a small town with a doctor that has studied internationally and has multiple publications, really resonated with my passion for storytelling. All of my projects have a story, but its not to often that I find these rare hidden stories that I can bring out in branding and content creation that really help bring a brand or business to life . They are often big projects that take a lot of time and planning, but they are so rejuvenating for my creativity and reminding me why I love what I do.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I grew up in the small town of Ashdown, AR, so I never dreamed anything in the creative services world would be a career for me, certainly not in the early 00’s when I was first learning thing like photography, graphic design, and web design, so it really started out as projects in my high school EAST program, but I developed a real love for media production. After finishing high school I spent a few years in the area going to community college, trying to figure out what I wanted to do professionally so in that time I worked production for local churches, and doing other freelance work while working other jobs. Then in 2013 I made a move to the Parisppany / Morris Plains NJ area to be closer to where my now husband was working at the time and continued doing freelance work there but this was probably the defining time for my work. Coming from a small town in AR, I really had doubts about if I had what it takes to be competitive and pursue creative work in a larger market, but I took a chance and put my self out there and things have fell into place from there I started with photography, then videography as being my main services, Then around 2015 I started working on production crews, so to balance that schedule I leaned heavily into graphic design and web design for my freelance work, which really ignited during COVID which allowed me to transition from doing freelance work to starting my own studio business. While getting my studio off the ground and going I took a role as morning news and lifestyle tv producer for a NBC affiliate station which took my skills to the next level and helped me develop the element of storytelling that helps me stand out. From here I started really focusing on helping brands tell their story, not just advertising or having a website that shows what they do, but highlights who they are, why they do what they do, what types of problems they solve for their clients etc. Taking that a step further in 2022 I started my M.Ed for Educational Technology and Instructional Design, which might seem like an interesting choice for someone designing websites and branding, but its helped me offer some unique strategies to designing for my clients, In this program you learn a lot about the psychology behind how people learn and consume information and how to strategically take someone on a learning experience or journey that ends with the desired outcome. This has helped me stand out in my work in that beyond your typical marketing by helping me take my clients website visitors on a journey that strategically uses both text and audio/visual storytelling that is not just aesthetic, but accessible, and also scalable which are huge elements in having an effective website. Through this journey of building my skills in various areas I can offer clients a total package depending on their location I can do the website, logos, branding photography, promotional videos, and for my educational based clients helping design self-pace e-learnings. This journey as whole, is what I’m most proud of, I have been able to find my niche within the creative services area, and I finished my M.Ed being in my 30’s married with three kids, and I can now do the creative things with strategy and purpose to offer my clients a cohesive branding experience that helps them meet their brand goals without having to have them outsource different components of the branding which I believe results in higher-end designs and branding for the client and takes out a lot of the frustrations clients may have especially the ones that do not have in-house marketing, or don’t know where to start with their branding. One thing I want fans, potential clients, and followers to know is that I really put my hear into my work, and what I do, which is why I focus so much on being able to offer that full experience, so that is why I only work on one project at a time, which I think is also different than what most designers are doing, but it allows me to keep my studio a place that is always focused on the client and how we can work together to achieve their goals, because at the end of the day my clients goals are my goals. And to anyone just starting, or still finding their footing in the creative space, keep showing up, keep learning, and don’t be afraid to venture off the traditional route to get where you want to go, the journey is hard but the experience is always worth it.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

The biggest thing that always comes back to me is the clients I turned down, especially early on. This may seem counter productive but when I run into a project that maybe I could do and figure things out, but I knew were a little out of my league, I would just tell the client that I think you need a more experienced designer, or I’m happy to give it a shot but we may have to work out some kinks along the way. Doing this I had some clients that for time or whatever the reason let me know they appreciated my honesty and they moved on to work with someone else, or they were okay with me learning along the way on their project. In both situations I have had clients I turned down still recommend me for work, a few reached out for smaller projects, and some became clients down the road. Doing this has helped me build trust with my clients, so I have clients that basically give me free reign with their brand now and that is amazing, but even with other creative professionals its created an opportunity for me to learn from others and also share my skills and I think that comes from being willing to learn and being honest with yourself and your clients about where you are with your skills. I don’t think anyone expects someone to know it all or be able to do any and everything, but being willing to learn and being honest about what you know and what you don’t will help you build a good reputation and help get you were you want to go with your work.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

I get asked a lot by non-creatives about the evolution of my skills particularly starting in photography and hat now being the thing I do the least, and now I mostly do web design and branding. Some insight I would share on this is evolving your creative skills and moving on to different paths doesn’t diminish the first thing someone learned or that they don’t love that thing anymore. Often the journey for creatives is progressive, as you learn and develop new skills one may pick up while another takes off and it can be very fluid, but often I find those that have a few different experiences under their belt are well-rounded in their work and it can greatly strengthen other areas because so much of creative work is interconnected. I always love to explain it as being like a puzzle, most of the time you see the finished work and think of it as being on skill such as web design, but within that their are a lot of pieces like copywriting, some photo editing, using color theory, creating visual balance, etc. So the little nuggets of knowledge and experiences you pick up in one area are always valuable in another.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://khdesignstudio.co
• Instagram: khdesignstudio.co
• Facebook: khdesignstudio.co
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khornaday/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@khdesignstudio
• Other: My socials are sad, I know. I have never really had to rely on social media for business, but I’m working on it.. lol

Image Credits

Michael Westbrook and Adam Dozier