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.

Needle stitching the pieces together

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.

Arrow hitting the bulls eye

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.

Stylized illustration of a bird flying from an egg

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 headshot

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.

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Nathan Hinz headshot

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. 

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MIchael Murray headshot

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.

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what we do

We design brands at all key consumer touchpoints, making us ideal for a focused project or a comprehensive overhaul.

strategy

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

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

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

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.
print

print

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

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.

Pinterest Logo
Fairview Health Services Logo
Coinbase Logo
Brow Forman Logo
Arbor Logo
United Healthcare Logo
Fluent Freshwater Insights Logo
Postknife Logo
Check My Ads Logo
Toro Logo
Reddit Logo
Nrgene Logo
Minnesota Public Radio Logo
Leage of Women Voters Logo
Calyxt Logo

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

Google

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