Katie Rou Design

Katie Rou Design Branding & packaging design that rebels.

For small businesses, craft breweries, and canna brands ready to break the rules, make noise, and build something unforgettable.

She’s trendy 💅🏼 I’ve been loving this trend from and seeing all the amazing designs people have made over the years. I ...
05/01/2026

She’s trendy 💅🏼

I’ve been loving this trend from and seeing all the amazing designs people have made over the years.

I had fun digging through my own design files to pull out these logos from over the years.

Some of these are the final client chosen logos, some are ones that didn’t make the cut but I still love, and some were just for funsies.

My favorite part of my job is getting into someone’s head to figure out what their vision is.

Branding breakdown for Hot Stove Circuit 🧑🏻‍🍳Hot Stove Circuit is a premium culinary experience based in Tucson, Arizona...
04/01/2026

Branding breakdown for Hot Stove Circuit 🧑🏻‍🍳

Hot Stove Circuit is a premium culinary experience based in Tucson, Arizona. Their goal is to connect chefs directly with their audience through immersive, hands on events and master classes.

To bring this brand to life I worked directly with Rye, the founder of HSC, to create visuals that felt premium without being exclusive.

I created a brand that felt structured and precise using a grid system and geometric imagery to create balance, clarity and visual hierarchy.

The brand is minimal yet warm with neutral typography and contained logos, paired a limited color palette. No frills or unnecessary elements to distract from the messaging.

Refined and functional layouts blend elegance with utility, which root the HSC brand in both experience and ex*****on.

Are you a small business owner who’s ready to have a brand that fits you? Send a DM and let’s get started 💪🏼

Last week in Seattle 🌲🍺🙌🏼I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, seeing your designs in person will never get old. Last...
03/31/2026

Last week in Seattle 🌲🍺🙌🏼

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, seeing your designs in person will never get old.

Last week I got to go visit in Seattle, Washington with the team. As much as I love being able to work remote, there’s something special about getting teams together in person.

I’m so happy to be part of this team that’s creating amazing work, the talent is seriously unmatched (and the people are pretty rad too 😎).

Some love to some of my fave illustrations I’ve done over for Reuben’s Brews 🍻 Making illys for beer cans will never get...
03/18/2026

Some love to some of my fave illustrations I’ve done over for Reuben’s Brews 🍻

Making illys for beer cans will never get old for me.

Also, very excited to see the Reuben’s crew IRL soon for my first trip of 2026 🙌🏼

Client:
Agency:

DNA Surprises is a podcast for NPEs, late-discovery donor-conceived people and late-discovery adoptees. In other words, ...
03/16/2026

DNA Surprises is a podcast for NPEs, late-discovery donor-conceived people and late-discovery adoptees. In other words, people who found out that their “dad” is not their “dad.”

Alexis, who started this podcast after experiencing her own DNA surprise, came to me last year and was looking to re-establish her brand to something that truly reflected its vibe. She was going into her fourth year with the podcast and I was so excited to help her level up.

With this re-brand we wanted to take the design and transform it from a template into a unique and modern identity while still preserving its vibrant personality.

I was able to create a bold, versatile brand and a cohesive series of social media templates for her to confidently take her podcast and business into the next stage 💜

I’ve always done things my own way (sometimes that way is the hard way but we’re not talking about that right now 🙃).I’m...
03/04/2026

I’ve always done things my own way (sometimes that way is the hard way but we’re not talking about that right now 🙃).

I’m so glad I kept doing the weird s**t. This life I’m building is pretty damn great.

02/03/2026

It’s never too late for a 2025 recap… right? 😅

I may have unintentionally taken a slight 2 month break from social media. But breaks are needed!

We just started February 2026 but I’m still recovering from 2025.

This is a quick snapshot of some of the highlights from last year, but there are so many designs that got made it was so hard to narrow it down to these!

In 2025 KRD got to…
✈️ Travel to 8 different states (3 of which were new to me)
🗂️ Designed 10 new brands
💻 Created 100s of social graphics for clients
🍺 Made dozens of beer can labels
😵‍💫 Had a handful of self-induced panic attacks
📚 Completed a 3 month business class
🥤 Drank too many Diet Cokes to count
💤 Opted for lunch time naps over food (which probably isn’t great so don’t follow my lead on that)
✨Continued to work with amazing clients, connect with amazing creatives, and kept building towards that dream life.

Shout out to the clients I worked with and teams I’ve been apart of last year:
io_

/


/ Hot Stove Circuit

marketing
/

2026 has already brought in some great projects and I can’t wait to see what else happens 💜

Let’s talk mood boards.Mood boards are so important for branding. This is where we can quickly explore different creativ...
12/02/2025

Let’s talk mood boards.

Mood boards are so important for branding. This is where we can quickly explore different creative avenues to better direct the brand design.

Think of these as a vibe check that we can refer to throughout the design process to make sure everything stays aligned.

Mood boards should include things like...
➡️ Typography. How are you wanting to use type in the design?
➡️ Photography. What style or color grading are you using?
➡️ Colors. Are you wanting to use cool or warm tones?
➡️ Patterns & Textures. How will these add dimension?

A mood board should be able to give you a quick snapshot of what the aesthetic of a brand is.

I’m accepting clients for January and February 2026.

Let’s kick off the new year with a brand tailored for your and your customers!

11/28/2025

Earlier this month was my 2 year anniversary of taking Katie Rou Design from side gig to full time.

Year 1 was about the hustle.
I said yes to everything.
Boundaries went out the door.
So many late nights and long days.
I was fueled by the fear of failing. That making the change from working at agencies to working for myself was going to be a flop.

Thankfully that didn’t happen and year 1 ended up one of the best years of my career in a long time.

Going into year 2 I wanted to nurture what I was building.
I started saying no to things.
I started bringing back and enforcing boundaries.
I took time off when I needed it.
I invested in myself.

All of that has allowed me to focus on projects and clients that truly lit me up and aligned with what I really wanted to do.

Year 3 is all about growth.
Expanding my clientele.
Fine tuning my processes and templates.
And continuing to be selective with who I work with.

Thank you so much to everyone who has continued to be a part of this journey! And cheers to another year 🍻

I swear I blinked and October is over. October was a busy one for me this year. I didn't mean to have so much planned bu...
11/10/2025

I swear I blinked and October is over.

October was a busy one for me this year. I didn't mean to have so much planned but that's what ended up happening.
✨ I turned 35 🎂
✨ Andy and I celebrated my birthday early with a weekend in Denver and survived all 3 days of the Great American Beer Festival (GABF)
✨ I got to spend time out in Pittsburgh for a brand design conference and hang out with co-workers
✨I spent a week in NYC with my brother and sister-in-law, saw Spiderman repel off a building on Halloween, cheered on marathon runners, saw a broadway show and laughed at a comedy show

I got a taste of the travel/work life and I gotta say, it's not something I want to do again anytime soon 😅 I am incredibly grateful for the life I've been making for myself and that I've been able to take these trips while also maintaining work, but I'm ready for my stable schedule at home.

Heading into the last few weeks of 2025 I'm on a whirlwind of emotions. Happy. Anxious. Nostalgic. Proud. Worried. Grateful. Excited.

I'm ready to close out the year strong and keep building up KRD in 2026 💜

There's a special something about a cool lookin' graphic tee.Over the years I've been able to work on some pretty awesom...
11/05/2025

There's a special something about a cool lookin' graphic tee.

Over the years I've been able to work on some pretty awesome t-shirt design projects. Being able to wear something I've designed is one of my favorite parts of my job.

I would love to design more of these so if your biz is looking for some new bad ass t-shirts for the new year, hit me up and let's get it started 🔥

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