Strategic design for what's next

Your brand shouldn’t hold your business back. Let's build the one that carries it forward.

Strategic brand & graphic design services so you can confidently move forward.

Featured Work

Howdy Homemade Ice Cream Brand Identity

A beloved ice cream brand with a mission worth scaling had outgrown the identity built to launch it. Howdy Homemade needed a brand that could carry the weight of where they were headed.

Show & Tour Brand Refresh

As an established real estate media delivery service, Show & Tour had outgrown the brand they launched with. They needed a presence that matched their ambition—not one that held them back.

Unison Worship Collective

A group of Japanese worship artists set out to create something their churches had never had: original worship music written by and for their own people. To launch it, they needed a brand and a home for it online.

More Work

Ready to build the brand that carries you forward?

If you feel your current brand is holding you back, let's talk.

A free 15-minute call is the first step: no pressure, just clarity on whether there's a fit and what the path forward looks like.

Tohlen Creative is an independent design studio in Kansas City, Missouri led by Jared Tohlen.

I’ve been designing for over 16 years—brands, identities, print, digital, art direction—but the thing that actually defines how I work isn’t a credential. It’s a tendency.

I’m a chronic improver. I can’t sit in a restaurant without noticing the flow issues. I can’t board a plane without mentally redesigning the process. When something isn’t working as well as it could, my brain won’t let it go until I understand why—and what the better version looks like. That’s not a design skill. It’s just how I’m wired. But it turns out it’s exactly what brand work requires.

Good brand work starts with understanding, not aesthetics. Before any design decisions get made, I need to know what you’re building, who it’s for, and what’s keeping your brand from carrying your business forward. That clarity is what makes the difference between a brand that looks good and one that actually works. I’ve spent 16 years learning that — and I bring it to every project.

Services

Every engagement starts with a conversation about where you are, where you’re headed, and what’s standing between the two. From there, the right next step is usually clear.

Strategy Consult

For when you know something’s off with your brand but you’re not sure what—or you want expert input before committing to a full project.

Includes a 60-minute strategy session, a brand audit covering both messaging and visuals, and a written observations and recommendations report.

Two-week timeline
$750

Brand Transformation

For businesses that have outgrown their current brand and are ready to build one that carries them forward.

Includes brand positioning and messaging, logo design, color palette, typography, graphic elements, brand style guide, and brand templates.

8–12 weeks
Estimate provided after discovery call

Creative Support

If you have a brand but need strategic design help to support and apply it across channels so you can confidently move forward.

Could include design of marketing materials for print or digital, campaign creative, product launches, sub-brands, and more.

Pricing and timeline dependent on project deliverables

Print Design

When you need your brand to show up in the physical world and be consistent and intriguing.

Could include strategic design of print-ready files for business cards, flyers, direct mail, booklets, book design, reports, posters, signage, event materials, and more.