I took this photo in Baleal, Portugal, during a month I spent learning to surf—and getting tossed around like a spin cycle in the process. I like to describe that trip as “playing in the ocean for a month.” Days spent fighting high winds and fumbling in the water (mostly underwater) slowly gave way to a quiet connection with the ocean. It had no mind for me—just an effortless, immeasurable rhythm.
My most laboured goal is to create work that feels innate. Paradoxical? Maybe. But doable.
That time in Baleal, and the moment held in the image above, informs how I approach creating today. Much like design that flows freely on the surface but is grounded in intent, this wave fills the frame abstractly, but works because of something unseen: a clear, decisive gust. That balance between expression and structure is key to how I’m positioning gumwrk, but I digress…
While it is nice to stretch the poetic edge of design, how I actually think through, build, and direct design systems distills into three principles: inquiry, function, and consistency.
Like a thought precedes speech, inquiry precedes design. Here, I focus on framing the question, ensuring my design answers for the brand. That early curiosity is where everything begins.
Research is treated as a creative, strategic, and collaborative process. I’ll be sharing early thinking with clients, sketching freely, ideating with generative AI, and collecting references that might help give context to our concept. The art is noticing and curating, not creating (not yet).
Above all, I listen. Functional design is my response.
Every element in a functional, scalable design system can justify its presence. I believe in creating only what has purpose. The most expressive work is held together by a thread, communicating exactly what it needs to with no extra pieces.
Intentional design can impact the trajectory of a brand. More than just adding to an asset library, I’m interested in finding ways to meaningfully extend and enrich a brand’s identity. Whether that lands as a colouring book for a journalist or a cookbook series for a clothing store (coming soon), I’m after originality through inventive, functional brand strategy—directions that are often unexpected yet intensely relevant.
Aesthetic choices can come from instinct, but they must connect to a larger goal. I trust my gut, but I expect it to explain itself.
Let’s build systems that succeed with time. Specifics like type rules, logo variants, and imagery styles need to be prepared to flex across different projects and brand decisions. This comes easier with care for the previous two principles, but how I hand off work to clients is a critical final step.
To be an effective designer today requires wonderful communication skills and empathy. A client equipped with a branding kit is a start, but a client aligned with their brand vision is strategic. I go out of my way to tailor how work is delivered and comprehended, so any collaborator can make decisions that not only complement my designs, but reinforce their story.
This is the quiet work that holds everything together. Consistency gives the system a pulse and helps guarantee longevity.
© 2025 Jordan Gumuchian
Archive