Corkboard with various colorful posters, papers, and swatches pinned on it, including an ad for wrist blood pressure monitors, a promotional poster for weekly farmer's market, and a sample fabric swatch with a yellow and white geometric pattern.

Strategy & craft, from someone who's been in the trenches.

Yellow leaf with white outlines and text surrounding it that reads "Perking Creative • Persevering • Creative" on a black background.

I work with small businesses, nonprofits, creatives, founders, and passion-project people who need real design thinking… not a template, not a shortcut, and definitely not an AI logo that looks like everyone else's.

After 15+ years building brands for scrappy businesses (including a few of my own), I know what it takes to create something that holds up in the real world and grows with you.

I’m Janelle!

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Designer, artist, tinkerer, crossword puzzle-doer, passport stamp collector, lover of good bourbon and bad reality TV.

Person arranging color swatches and artwork on a corkboard wall with various textiles, jewelry, and art pieces displayed.
A woman with brown hair and a black shirt smiling and holding a small brown and white Cavalier King Charles Spaniel dog in a sitting room with colorful pillows and a brown leather couch.
Blank white rectangular piece of paper or fabric with a small tear on the upper right corner.

In 2009, I graduated from Pratt Institute's Communication Design program. As soon as the cap was in the air, I knew I wanted to spend my career helping businesses and passion projects find their visual identity… I was just pretty fuzzy on the details.

Over the last 15+ years, I've worked with agencies, nonprofits, small businesses, and makers of all kinds, and built more than a few ventures of my own along the way. I've launched product lines, co-founded a social enterprise, traveled to 77 countries, and downloaded a whopping 2,832 typefaces in my never-ending search for the perfect font. What I've learned more than anything is that I love helping passionate people turn the thing they care about into something real. Every project is a puzzle waiting to be solved and a story looking for the right pen.

my approach

Illustration of a human head with a brain inside, a yellow gear symbol, and a pencil across the face, representing mental processes, thinking, and creativity.

I THINK FROM THE 30,000-FOOT VIEW & BUILD FROM THE GROUND UP

I'm a strategy-first designer. That means I want to understand where you're going before I start making anything look pretty. Once I see the big picture — where you've been, who you're for, and how you want to grow — I can build something practical and flexible enough to get you there.

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I THINK ABOUT THE WAY SMALL BUSINESSES ACTUALLY WORK

I'm not a big firm and I'm not pretending to be. I've built my own businesses from scratch, launched products, worked with budgets that required creativity to stretch, and learned what actually matters when you're doing it all yourself. That experience is what I bring to every project.

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I MAKE THE COMPLEX FEEL APPROACHABLE

Brand strategy sounds abstract until someone breaks it down for you in plain language. Part of what I do is help you understand the thinking behind every design decision, so your brand never feels like a mystery you have to ask someone else to decode. I want you to feel confident talking about your own brand.

Find me elsewhere

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A laptop screen displaying a website homepage for Janelle Hugel, featuring a slogan 'A creative life is messy, but it doesn't have to suck.' and an arrow pointing to a red button with the text 'Here you'll find resources, tools, and encouragement...'

janellehugel.com

My personal little corner of the internet — free resources, assets, and tools for designers and creatives who are figuring it out as they go.

MEET ME THERE

Youtube

Where I share my design process, creative business advice, and real client projects from start to finish. If you want to see how I think, start here.

MEET ME THERE
A computer screen displaying a website titled 'Kilometer Sixty Six' with a menu bar and a background image of a hand holding a steering wheel during sunset. The website features a large text overlay asking, 'Can we convince you that the cool gene didn’t skip you?' and additional text below.

Kilometer 66

A passion project I run with my mom about living an adventurous life at any stage. Good conversation, good company, and the occasional far-flung destination.

MEET ME THERE

Ready to build something great?

LET'S TALK!

EMAIL DIGEST

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Between Projects

My bi-weekly roundup of all the stuff I’d share over coffee.

Want to stay in touch? Drop your email to hear my occasional mini essays, open tabs, and things that spark new ideas while I’m procrastinating between deadlines.‍ ‍I hate super polished marketing emails so this is more like a studio visit, but in your inbox. And with snacks, ideally.