hello, we’re hi, hello
how we work
Our work lives at the intersection of intuition, collaboration, and craft. Every project is unique, but the process never changes.
1. define
Inside every brief is an opportunity to tell a compelling story.
We love to dig in, understand the business problem and find that nugget to inspire the creative solution.
2. build
Create with the intent to separate from the competition.
We tell stories with visuals instead of words, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse ultricies scelerisque dictum.
3. express
The final product enters the market
The design is refined to a single direction, making sure to stand out from competition, attract the consumer and reinforce the brand.
who we are
Hi, Hello is made up of three founders, each with 25+ years experience in brand design.
Katie Heit Gardner
Creative Director
Katie’s sweet spot is building brands—whether from the ground up or by evolving or expanding upon what already exists. She loves seeing the big picture while also digging into the details to ensure every element works seamlessly.
Always rooting her work in brand strategy, she has led brand experience projects across identity, packaging, spaces, publication design, and digital.
Nathan Hinz
Creative Director
There’s a decent chance you encountered something Nathan made today. Maybe it was the badge on the grill of a semi truck, the salsa you’re eating for lunch or the whiskey in your Old Fashioned. He brings a high level of craft and strategic thinking to brand design, with long stretches of his career dedicated to brand identity, packaging and digital design for brands like BMW, Coca-Cola, Jack Daniel's and Sonos.
Michael Murray
Managing Director
Michael is an Effie-winning agency leader, brand strategist and marketer with 20+ years of experience at some of the most notable branding shops in Minneapolis and beyond. (See LI for all the deets.) In his free time, Michael goes to a lot of concerts, continues to buy way too much vinyl and loves spending time with his wife, three sons and two cats.
what we do
We design brands at all key consumer touchpoints, making us ideal for a focused project or a comprehensive overhaul.
strategy
Design is strategic at its foundation. Whether we work with existing information or shape the thinking ourselves, the business challenge drives the creative solution.
- brand architecture
design thinking - design brief creation
visual territories - competitive audits
brand archetypes
brand positioning
naming
identity
Brands are visual, and they require the tools to stand out from competitors. This is our sweet spot, be it a light tweak or a full redesign.
- logo design
- brand identity systems
- brand evolution
- brand toolkits
- brand activation
- iconography
- brand illustration
- logo polish
digital
Screens are a brand’s most crucial touchpoint; a space to surprise, delight, educate, and ultimately convince. We build digital to be flexible for the future and easily usable for the consumer and client alike.
- UX/UI
- website design
- website development
- social media templates
- pitch decks
- presentation templates
- motion graphics
packaging
Done well, design can drive someone to pick up a product, or make unboxing a special experience, or help someone reconsider an entire category.
- retail packaging systems
- alchohol + spirits
- food + beverage
- hardlines + softlines
- point-of-sale
- vessel design
- paper, glass, aluminum, food-safe plastics, etc.
Sometimes the biggest impact comes from a real, tactile, printed piece your customer can hold in their hands and is worth keeping.
- business systems
- collateral
- books
- magazines
- posters
- out-of-home
- direct mail
- production file creation
spaces
Branded envirionments are an opportunity to create experiences to see from afar, walk through and engage in memorable ways.
- retail spaces
- pop-ups
- environmental graphics
- trade shows
- launch events
- architect collaboration
- corporate offices
clients
We see ourselves as collaborators, partners and advocates for our clients interests.
We’re a relationship-based company, and our leaders are directly involved in every project, which means the person doing the work is likely the person you're talking to. We believe this is a more efficient and personable way to do business. And every client benefits from the wide range of business categories and brands we have experience with, be it small startup or global multi-national.
category experience
ag-tech
alcohol + spirits
entertainment + culture
food + beverage
healthcare
business-to-business
civic + social causes
food + beverage
healthcare
hospitality
insurance
retail + home goods
science + technology
sports + lifestyle
travel + leisure
career client list
Below is a range of brands the partners at Hi, Hello have touched in their careers
3M
Abbott Medical
adidas
Allen-Edmonds
Alter Eco
Ann Taylor / Loft
Archdicose of NY
Artic Zone
Asics
Athena Health
Barnes + Noble
Best Buy
BMW
Briggs + Stratton
California Wine Institute
Cannondale
Cargill
Caribou Coffee
Childrens Theatre Co.
Chronicle Books
Cisco Systems
Citi
Coca-Cola
Code 42
AonAgra
Covidien
Culligan Water
Curtis Stone
Del Monte
Dialpad
Dultuth Trading Company
Dunkin' Donuts
Finlandia Vodka
Freak Flag Organics
Gazebo Health
GE
GT Bikes
Harley Davidson
Harvard Business School
Herman-Miller
Hewlett-Packard
Hormel
Hunter-Douglas
International Trucks
Invisalign
Jack Daniel's
Jostens
K2 Snowboards
Kleen Kanteen
La Boulangerie SF
Land O' Lakes
Lowes
Mentos
Miller Life
Minneapolis Parks
Modern Luxury Magazines
Mohawk Paper
Mountain Hardware
MSNBC
Nestle-Purina
Numi Tea
Oakland A's
Odwalla
Organic Valley
Pasolivo Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Peets Coffee
Phillips 66
Pilsbury
Purina
Redwings Boots
Reebok
Reflexion
Replogle Globes
Ring
RingCentral
Seagate
Securian Financial
Sennheiser
Sonos
South Eastern Grocers
Southern Comfort
Sprite
Sunoco
Target
Teva Footwear
The Bahamas
The North Face
Tract Manager
Under Armor
United Airlines
Utne Reader
Virgin Mobile
Weill Cornell Medicine
Woodford Reserve
