Process & Content

We’re committed to creating purposeful designs that emotionally connect brands to audiences. Our ideas generate action and build smart foundations from which brand stories grow. We listen to our client’s needs, invite them into our creative process, and value the power of collaboration because it leads to stronger solutions.

Smart Solutions

We specialize in providing smart design solutions, not specific design executions. Katie Barcelona Design was founded because we saw a need to fuse the legacy of building brands with a need for people to experience them. We have chosen to be multidisciplinary because the future of brands live in many different ways.

Plus, we're good people

We are communicators who tell visual stories, and we’re really good at what we do. But at the end of the day, you should work with people you want to sit across the table from. The relationships we have with our clients and the creativity they inspire are the reason we’ve been able to make great design.

Our Work

We do a lot of stuff, and it varies greatly from client to client, but here’s a basic list of our capabilities.

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Advertising
Branding
Environmental design
Infographic design
Logo design
Motion design
Naming
Package design
Publication design
Strategy
User interface design
Website design
Writing

News + Newness

News +
Recognition

New project sneak peak

In addition to continuing our work at Katie Barcelona Design, we have a new budding project we want to share. We’ve relocated to Ensenada, Baja California, about 1.5 hours south of San Diego just over the border. A lot of folks know Ensenada as a booze cruise destination for fratty spring breakers. While it’s that too, it’s also getting international attention for its gastronomy and viticulture scenes. That’s right, Mexico produces wine, and turns out it’s pretty damn delicious. We want to spread the word by opening a boutique hotel in Mexico’s wine country for curious people who like good wine and pretty sunsets.

Right now we’re looking to secure our second round of funding, and our aim is to open by early to mid 2019. Learn more about our project and how to get involved by checking out our new website: holabaja.mx.

Barcelona by Barcelona, now up on Medium

Get a taste of what’s to come: introducing part one, two, three, four, and five of Barcelona by Barcelona, featured on Medium this month. Barcelona by Barcelona will be a printed short book documenting five profiles of Barcelona residents in the food or beverage industry. Each profile includes a portrait, narrative introduction, transcript from an interview, and finally a tangential Barcelona recommendation by Katie Barcelona inspired by their perspective. These five profiles are the heart of the project, but there are also various tips, tricks, recipes, and local flavors dispersed throughout the booklet. See project here, and fill out our contact form below to get your very own.

And we’re live!

A long time coming, the new and improved Katie Barcelona Design website is finally live. Huge thanks to Justin Korn and Josh Visick at KornDev for making the process so smooth.

yök opens in Barcelona

After a year of construction and restoration, yök is finally open for business! And so is the website. Katie Barcelona Design was lucky enough to test out yök’s accommodations first hand and is pleased to report that all expectations were not only met but exceeded. Congratulations co-founders Petz and Mari for creating a uniquely Barcelona experience for visitors. We highly recommend a stay at yök for all you travelers Barcelona-bound.

KBD designs series for The Luxe Project by moo

The Luxe Project is a design initiative that teams creatives with Luxe by MOO – and helps good causes as well. Designs are showcased for limited time, with 100% of net proceeds going to the designer’s charity of choice. KBD was asked to contribute a series of cards to the project, among the ranks of other contributors such as Debbie Millman, Sean Adams, Sagmeister & Walsh, and Jessica Hische. Our designs were inspired by Katie’s lifelong passion for travel. KBD stumbled upon a box of vintage cigarette papers in a flea market in Barcelona, then transformed them into greeting business cards. See full project here.

Enve + Lope wins the FPO Awards

The FPO Awards is a judged competition organized by UnderConsideration, celebrating the best print work from around the world during 2012 – 13. The FPO Awards reward the most successful combinations of design and print production. We are thrilled to announce that the paper promotion we did for Mohawk Fine Paper, entitled The Story of Enve + Lope, was awarded in this prestigious design competition.

Principal Katie Barcelona invited to teach at alma matter

Founded in 1907, California College of the Arts (CCA) is noted for the interdisciplinary and breadth of its programs. It offers studies in 21 undergraduate and 10 graduate majors in the areas of fine arts, architecture, design, and writing. Katie will join the ranks of the school’s internationally acclaimed adjunct faculty to teach Graphic Design to third year students.

L’Artusi nominated for James Beard Award

Our work for L’Artusi Restaurant in Manhattan’s West Village has been nominated for a James Beard Award for Graphic Excellence. Pellegrino Artusi was the author of the famous Italian cookbook La Scienza in Cucina e l’Arte di Mangiare Bene (The Science of Cooking and the Art of Eating Well). Writing only two decades after the unification of Italy, Artusi was the first to include recipes from all the different regions of Italy in a single cookbook. He is often credited with establishing a truly national Italian cuisine for the first time. L’Artusi Restaurant opened in Manhattan late 2008 and strives to pay homage to Artusi by reuniting Italian cuisine once again.

 

Music newness
What we’re listening to

Only Us Beacon

Double Talk Jaakko Eino Kalevi

Spoke the Words Wolf Tide

Kline – Radio Edit Speelburg

Patiently Folded Like Fabric

A Retelling Kindness

Blame Denai Moore

Open Book – yMusic version José González

Open Book José González

Let It Carry You – Dino Soccio Remix José González

Let It Carry You – Holy Ghost! Remix José González

Let It Carry You – Live José González

Let It Carry You José González

With the Ink of a Ghost – yMusic Version José González

With the Ink of a Ghost José González

Broken Arrows José González

Save Your Day José González

Hints José González

Stay in the Shade José González

All You Deliver José González

Deadweight on Velveteen José González

Crosses José González

Heartbeats José González

Lovestain José González

Remain José González

Photo Newness
What we're looking at

About

Principal

Katie Barcelona

Katie Barcelona

Katie has worked with internationally-renowned firms and focused her practice on branding and identity design over the years. Her last role before starting Katie Barcelona Design was Associate Partner at Pentagram Design in New York, working under Michael Bierut. Over the years her client list has included Harley-Davidson, The Cook Inlet Tribal Council, H&R Block, audible.com, The University of California Berkeley, and Saks Fifth Avenue. In addition, Katie has designed various notable restaurants, including a graphic program for L’Artusi Restaurant that was nominated for a James Beard Award.

Katie’s work has been shown internationally and collected numerous other design accolades, including publications Communications Arts, Step Inside Design, Print, The Type Director’s Club, and The Art Directors Club. She is also a design educator and has taught at Parsons, Stanford, and her alma mater, the California College of Arts and Crafts.

Katie currently works with clients from all over the world and is a master at time zone math.

Katie Barcelona

First job:
Whitewater rafting guide in Oregon, USA

Weird fact:
Her last name Barcelona is not Spanish nor Catalan. Her family immigrated to the US from Italy. And yes, it’s just a big weird coincidence that she ended up living in Barcelona.

Favorite beverage: Pappy Van Winkle’s Family Reserve bourbon. Bring a bottle to our first meeting and receive a design discount.

Collaborator: Motion

Lindsay Daniels

Lindsay Daniels is an Emmy award-winning designer and storyteller. She works with major corporations, television networks, production companies and design studios to define, design and creative direct content for broadcast and digital platforms. Her design studio is located in Seattle but her clients reside all over the United States. Her work has been recognized by organizations such as Communication Arts Design Annual, The National Addy’s, The Art Director’s Club and The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Lindsay and Katie have been working together every chance they get for nearly a decade.

Collaborator: Development

Justin Korn, KornDev

Partnering with businesses of all sizes, KornDev is a small development firm that specializes in utilizing WordPress to it’s full advantage. Justin Korn and his team at KornDev partner with us to build solutions that help our clients succeed. In addition to mastery in front-end and back-end coding skills in: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, MySQL, ASP.NET, and SQL, they offer hosting and management services as well so our clients never feel abandoned.

Collaborator: Writing

Mark Sheehy

Mark Sheehy provides positioning, messaging, and creative strategies to nonprofit and education institutions. In his own practice, as well as in his 12 years as a writer and creative director at mStoner and Lipman Hearne, Mark has led a wide variety of communication projects for an equally wide variety of nonprofit and higher ed clients. Mark has been awarded numerous accolades for work with clients such as the University of Chicago, Northeastern University, the College of William & Mary, Brown University, and the University of Cincinnati.

Client List

Contact

You have things to say. We have ideas. Let’s talk. You can fill out this handy form here, or shoot us an email at hello@katiebarcelona.com.