Skills
Brand Strategy & Identity Design
Copywriting & Brand Voice Development
Creative Direction
Campaign Concepting & Execution
Photography (Styling, Shooting, Editing)
Motion Graphics & Video Production
Multi-Channel Marketing Strategy
Team & Freelancer Leadership
Project & Budget Management
AI-Integrated Creative Workflow (Claude, Midjourney, Adobe Firefly)
Adobe Creative Suite
Figma
Squarespace
Packaging Design
About
'm Josh McKenna, a brand strategist and creative director based in metro Detroit. I've been in design since 2011 and founded my own studio, Josh McKenna Design, in 2018. Fifteen years in, my focus has narrowed to coffee, beverage, and CPG brands, though the work spans further than that in practice.
My core belief is simple: most brands don't have a design problem, they have a direction problem. Strategy comes before execution, clarity comes before design. I build full brand identity systems, positioning, voice, packaging, and the visual language that holds a brand together across every place it shows up.
I work across the full production process myself. I style, plan, shoot, and edit campaign photography for clients rather than just directing from a distance, and I write the copy that carries a brand's voice across web, packaging, email, and social. I've led brand and content strategy across multiple simultaneous revenue channels, coordinating online, wholesale, and retail presence under one cohesive identity for clients like Cheeky Greens, and built out strategy across online, social, website, and boutique retail for ELIA.
I've also served as contract creative director for organizations that needed more than a one-off project, building the creative infrastructure, brand standards, and direction that other designers and freelancers work inside of.
Selected clients: ELIA, White Pine Coffee Roasters, The Found Co, Cxffeeblack, Cheeky Greens, Chase Oaks Church, Boulevard Christian Church.
Portfolio at createdbyjm.com.
Profile Photo
