Art Meets Brand.
Artist-led.
Immersive.
Human.
Identity Brought to Life.
I approach a brand as something people experience — through art, imagery, language, atmosphere, and design.
My background as both a creative director and fine artist allows me to bring structure and clarity together with the visual character, emotion, and sense of place that make a brand distinctive, memorable, and alive.
brand.reveal.
art.create.
space.become.
brand.
From research and strategy to identity design, visual systems, and guidelines — across print, digital, and physical environments — activating brands through space, events, audience experiences, and merchandise.
art.
Figurative, story-driven artwork that draws from a brand’s history, identity, and sense of place. From original oils and editions to site-specific installations — across lobbies, suites, spas, retail, and gathering spaces.
space.
Creating places that feel more human, distinctive, and connected. From art-led placemaking to environmental graphics and wayfinding — across branded, hospitality, and cultural spaces.
Featured Projects
-
Persona Brand Activation
Qdoba Mexican Eats
Translated Qdoba’s Quentessa into a physical world through original artwork, custom wallcoverings + environmental design
-
Building a Brand that Expands
Red Touch Media
Brought a technology and entertainment brand into the physical world with a visual language strong enough to move beyond headquarters.
-
A Brand to Bridge the Future
City of Wheat Ridge
An award-winning municipal identity forged through community engagement, from print though wayfinding, and civic spaces.
-
Creating a Place to Belong
Sebastopol Center for the Arts
Built the organization’s first unified brand identity and marketing system in its 40-year history — carrying it across exhibitions, physical + digital platforms.
Michelle Carnes, founder of Carnes Creative
For more than 25 years, I’ve shaped distinctive identities, campaigns, and environments through a practice grounded in both creative direction and fine art.
I’m drawn to what makes a brand, place, or story singular — the character, history, and point of view that can’t be replicated. My process begins by uncovering what’s already true before deciding how it should look.
From there, I build a visual language with its own personality, atmosphere, and sense of place.
What I love most is turning identity into something tangible — creating a world people can recognize, enter, experience, and remember.
Selected Clients + Collaborators
Good work starts with a good conversation.
Let’s see what we can create.