“Content precedes design.
Design in the absence of content is not design, it’s decoration.”

JEFFREY ZELDMAN

A unique brand you and your clients will love

Let’s play a little game for a second. Imagine you’ve been slacking on your gym routine and you’ve been eating pretty unhealthy stuff too, lately. You’re looking for a health coach to help you get back on track. You stumble upon two coaches in a Facebook group and start by exploring their websites. Now, which one do you hire?

COACH 1

Once her website finally loads, it looks messy, old-fashioned and unprofessional, and you’re having trouble finding the crucial information you’re looking for.

COACH 2

Her website immediately clicks with you, and as you read on about her you start to feel like you already know her and that she has shared your struggles.

Finding the crucial information about her services is easy, and the whole package oozes professionalism but there’s also something underneath all that, that little something extra that makes you tick.

I'm going to take a wild guess...

...and say you would hire coach #2. And why? Because of the first impression she made on her well-built, professional website, but also because she had that elusive, hard to define characteristic that made you tick. That little extra, is her core brand.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could have a website like hers that does the work for you, just because you had the courage to be yourself and the knowledge to define your brand and use supporting visual language?

Here's the sad truth

Most designers focus only on the superficial package, and design things that look pretty.

Well, that isn’t really gonna help you.

The thing with branding is... that it’s really about a lot more than fonts and colors. It’s about the essence of your business.

...but I am not "most designers"!

With my Diamond Design Framework, we start by pulling out that elusive essence and putting it to work!

When the foundational work is done, the visual part follows easily. And when you have done the strategic work upfront, not only will you have a beautiful website and marketing materials, your brand will guide you and make every decision so much easier!

Without it...

You’re left stumbling in the darkness and shooting out messages that look just like your competitors’ messages and do not attract anyone.

This ismy story

It all started about 30 years ago, in a land far far away…

More precisely Finland, and the year was 1986 or so when I was a toddler. As soon as I was able to grab hold of a pen and put it to paper, I considered myself an artist. I was also different from other small girls: wearing dresses was a nightmare, and I never played “home” or anything else overly girly. I was a rebel already at that young age.

In my late teens I decided to make art my career. In a quick pace I got a Bachelor's Degree in Graphic Design, almost a Bachelor's Degree in Art History, a budding career in media and corporate branding, and then I suddenly packed my bags and went on a six-month backpacking trip to Central America, alone. After that trip, I knew I was running from a job that wasn't me, and I wanted to work with something I truly enjoyed and was great at.

Fast forward a couple years and I found myself in South Florida with my two cats and serious confusion about where I was headed. Being in a new environment forced me to look inside and find what it is I truly enjoy doing, and then I started my design agency Pop Zebra.

Throughout my career, one thing kept repeating itself: whatever I was designing, it just didn't look like what other people were doing at that moment. I was always going against trends, and couldn't help but create visuals that were distinct and challenging.

I had always been fighting an internal fight, trying to adapt myself more and become more like other designers. I tried copying what was trendy, and pushed my own unique personality away. The struggle lasted for about a decade and resulted in nothing but great inner torment and feeling like a complete fake.

So, I decided to

Screw all that

and embrace my quirks

instead of trying to suppress them!

That’s when a heavy burden was lifted from my shoulders, and everything started to flow.

I was doing what I naturally loved, and working with people who came to me because they liked my style and way of doing things.

THIS IS THE ULTIMATE REALIZATION I WANT TO OFFER MY CLIENTS:

Embrace the freedom to be yourself. Use your unique personality and your own story to help your business!

As you probably guessed by now, I like to work with misfits, rebels and passionate people who are doing what they do out of love, not necessity or money.

I like to use my gift and expertise to create brands and visuals that help them step into their boss shoes and become revolutionaries in their own niche.

clientlove

Petra very quickly and clearly identified specific areas for improving my website. With her guidance about what information a website should contain, Petra helped me refine the content to address what my clients were actually looking for when going to my website. She also was very specific about how the colors and images of my website did not communicate or align well with my business personality. The clarity and insight I gained by working with Petra – not only about my website, but about my business as a whole – has been invaluable.

SUSAN MICHELE

RESONANCE Brand Consulting Group

Petra's illustrations have been an important asset in developing our magazine's brand. Petra is a creative, versatile, fast and reliable illustrator. We look forward to working with her in the future!

PETRI LAHTI

News Editor of Urheilulehti, Finland

Throughout the years, Petra has designed several products for our organization. Working with Petra is easy and everything is always delivered on schedule. Her graphic style is fresh and up-to-date. As she works outside our organization, we appreciate her good ideas that give us new points of view. Strong recommendation!

ANNA KARI

Corporate Secretary, Pop-Tiede

Petra took the artistic lead with confidence, courage and a rarely seen creative edge. She transformed our stale visual look into something almost magical, and her organizational skills when it came to handling all the moving parts of the branding project tasks made sure that everything progressed on schedule and in the most beneficial way.

I cannot recommend her enough for any creative work or large project that requires not only an impeccable visual eye but also scrupulous organization and time management skills.

EIJA-LEENA RUOHO

Marketing Manager, Laurea University of Applied Sciences

It's time to manifest your passion!

If you’re ready to stir the soup, put on your jet pack and skyrocket your brand into new heights, then schedule your free consulting call below! I only do a few of these life-changing sessions each month, so be sure to book yours now.

Schedule call

When you click the button below, you will be directed to complete a short survey about your business and your current needs. After that, we will send you a link to Petra's calendar so that you can book a slot that's convenient for you.

Want to ask me a question or clarify something? Send me a message below!

“Content precedes design. Design in the absence of content is not design, it’s decoration.”