Designing for a better world.

I help purpose-driven businesses, organizations, brands, products, and services make a positive impact on the world.

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Featured Design Projects

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Branding & Visual Design

Savor

A warm and organic brand and mobile-focused website for a conscientious whole foods restaurant.

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Visual Design

The Chart Guys

A new web presence for a community-focused trading training company.

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Branding

BoulderNet

Branding project for a volunteer organization focused on job searching support.

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About Me

Hi, I'm Hari!

I'm a purpose-driven creative based in Boulder, Colorado.

Over the last 15 years, I have developed a strategic, collaborative, and empathetic approach to graphic design, web design, and brand strategy that has not only resulted in excellent high-quality design deliverables and assets, but has also helped my clients get more customers, increase their revenue, and maintain more consistent and sustainable marketing efforts.

My biggest motivation is using my craft to help purpose-driven organizations positively impact the world.

I fell in love with web design at the age of 12 when I volunteered to learn to design and code so that I could help my parents attain a much-needed website for their small business. I really enjoyed learning how to code and design things, as it allowed me to be both creative and analytical, and consider how to most effectively communicate the information to the users who would eventually interact with the website. I have since been fascinated by the intersection of art, technology, psychology, and human behavior. As a committed lifelong learner, I have continually honed and updated my skills over the years. I hold a Bachelor's Degree in Graphic Design and certifications in Web Design, UX Design, Agile Methodologies, leadership, management, DesignOps, and am currently learning about trauma-informed design, humane technology, life-centered design, and nonmanipulative/ consent-based marketing and sales.

I grew up inside the remaining 12% of one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet juxtaposed with the sprawling largest city in South America, São Paulo. I was deeply impacted by seeing the natural world continually encroached upon by human activity, which was made even worse by deep social inequality. I'm passionate about continuously learning and endeavoring to address the increasingly complex landscape of human effects that result from our continued development in my work. I believe that designers have the responsibility and power to help to create a more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and sustainable society. I am a proud member of Climate Designers and a Denver/ Boulder Climate Designers Chapter Co-Leader.

When not helping clients, I love spending time with loved ones, cooking, making music, swimming, and basking in the sun (preferably on a beach).

Hari Baumbach's Headshot

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Resume

Work Experience

2022-present

Founder, Creative Director & Principal Strategist
Essencify Design
  • Helping purpose-driven companies positively impact the world with essential high-quality design solutions.

2021-present

Art Director & Senior Designer
Freelance
  • Consulted directly with clients on determining the best design solutions for their needs and developed successful and lasting relationships with them.
  • Effectively collaborated with cross-functional teams and managed projects of varied scales for diverse industries and purposes.
  • Successfully developed and presented creative design solutions, meeting business and branding goals, while exceeding delivery expectations.

2014-2021

Art Director & Lead Designer
PowerUp Productions
  • Independently created design solutions, from concept to execution, exceeding business and branding goals.
  • Successfully managed multiple simultaneous projects, adapting to changing requirements while exceeding delivery expectations.
  • Presented design concepts and solutions to a wide variety of audiences and stakeholders.
  • Collaborated and managed projects with a team of professionals in varied roles and backgrounds.
  • Created high-quality deliverables in a variety of mediums, including digital (logos, branding, websites, social media, apps, landing pages, email), print (stationery, flyers, publications, posters), and video (editing, motion graphics).
  • Designed a highly effective approach for complex projects that streamlined procedures and improved outcomes.
  • Co-developed a discovery process for new projects that could be efficiently tailored to the different scopes and budgets of prospective clients which resulted in increased revenue for the company.

2010-2014

Media & Communications Coordinator and Climate Action Team Member
The Environmental Center at Fort Lewis College
  • Co-designed, planned, facilitated, and coordinated logistics for the first Campus Sustainability Summit at Fort Lewis College, which successfully created opportunities to foster conversations about sustainability on campus in the years to come.
  • Co-planned, facilitated, and designed materials for the first clean commute event on campus in collaboration with city officials which increased awareness of the alternative modes of transportation available to students, faculty, and staff.
  • Worked on several campus sustainability efforts; which included campaigning and designing graphic materials for the Real Food Challenge program, which encouraged campus community and administration support, and resulted successfully in the official endorsement of the program.
  • Managed communications and marketing outlets such as social media, online calendars, website, and blog for the non-profit organization.
  • Coordinated the production of the organization's publications, including a bi-weekly newsletter, press releases, articles published in the college's magazine, and graphic materials.
  • Managed the production of a weekly radio show on a local community radio station.
  • Audited, reorganized, and redesigned the organization's website utilizing web strategies to increase traffic and effectiveness in delivery of information.
  • Trained co-workers on technical skills, such as updating the blog and website.
  • Implemented procedures to increase efficiency of web-based systems utilized by organization.
  • Photographed events and acted as copy editor and copywriter on many projects.
  • Managed the brand identity assets and designed all digital and print collateral needed for the organization's marketing efforts.
  • Managed and trained a team of work-study and volunteer staff.
  • Created the branding and graphic design assets for several successful fundraising events and programs.

Education

Foundations of Humane Technology
Center for Humane Technology

In progress

Trauma-informed Care
Indiana University

In progress

Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design
Fort Lewis College

2014

Summa Cum Laude

Certifications

Visual Design
General Assembly

2022

Leadership, Management & Design Ops
AIGA

2022

UX Design
HECMontrealX via edX

2022

Certified Scrum Master
Scrum Alliance

2022

Web Design
SENAC

2005

Skills

  • Agile Methodologies
  • Brand Design
  • Brand Management
  • Graphic Design
  • Web Design
  • HTML & CSS
  • Front-End Web Development
  • Photography
  • Project Management
  • Scrum
  • Social Media
  • UI & UX Design
  • User Centered Design & Design Thinking
  • Video Editing/ Post Production
  • Basic Motion Graphics
  • Fluent in Spanish & Portuguese
  • Experienced Choral Singer/ Vocalist

Tools

  • Adobe Creative Suite/ Cloud
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe XD
  • Figma
  • Adobe InDesign
  • Adobe Lightroom
  • Final Cut Pro
  • Adobe Premiere
  • Adobe After Effects
  • Adobe Animate
  • Google Workspace
  • Wordpress
  • Visual Studio Code
  • Miro
  • Canva
  • InVision
  • Sketch

Volunteer Experience

2022-present

Chapter Co-Leader
Climate Designers Denver/ Boulder

2021-present

Volunteer Facilitator
BoulderNet

2017-2022

Volunteer Singer & Board Member
Cantabile
  • Served on the marketing committee and co-led a process for the development of a marketing strategy and a mission-focused rebranding for the organization.

2016-present

Volunteer & Board Member
Edgestrider Academy
  • Served as advocate for the organization and provided support on a number of operational activities.
  • Co-developed and executed fundraising events and activities.

2011-2014

Member & Chair of Board of Directors
Fort Lewis College Environmental Center
  • Served as chair for one year and was responsible for preparing meeting agendas, facilitating meetings through a consensus process, and acting as the main contact for the board.
  • Served on recruitment and fundraising committees. Helped to double attendance and exceed fundraising targets at the organization's main fundraising event.

2010

Volunteer
Habitat for Humanity
  • Helped to increase the local store revenue by posting some of their products online and assisted with any other needed tasks.

My Design Philosophy

I grew up in a developing country, which helped me to become strikingly aware of the many social justice and environmental issues around the world that need attention. I'm passionate about continuously learning and endeavoring to be part of the solution of what makes the world a better place.

Designers often find themselves between policymakers and citizens; between producers and consumers; between humans and the planet—helping to shape the foundation of our societies, how we interact with each other, and how we interact with our natural environment.

This position is both one of responsibility and of power. Designers can potentially be the driving force to help create a more diverse, equitable, inclusive, and sustainable society or they can work against change by reinforcing current practices that cause many of those issues in the first place. Their creative problem-solving skills can truly be an asset to resolving many of the important issues humanity is facing.

As Mike Monteiro poignantly puts it, "ethics cannot be a side hustle." There's a principle of sustainability that says that healthy systems have limits. I believe this principle should be applied to the field of design as well. I too have found that I welcome the "freedom of a tight brief" from Ogilvy's maxim. Constraints drive creativity.

I believe in the power that design has to create a better world. This is why I design.

Testimonials & Recommendations

Kind words from clients and colleagues

Hari is an outstanding designer in all regards, an equally a wonderful team member and human being. I had the pleasure of working with her for 7 years and the whole time I knew we had one of the best designers out there. Not only is her quality of work top notch, she works across a multitude of mediums at a high level which makes her incredibly versatile serving clients. Also, in the world of designers I think she is unique in that she makes no assumptions about what a project should look like in the end, but instead lets the process with the client guide what needs to be done (versus imposing her artistic preference as some designers do). Hari has tons of integrity, good will, and is a delight to collaborate with. I can't recommend her enough.

Ryan Oelke
Ryan Oelke
Former Manager

As you can tell by a review of her portfolio, Hari is a great designer from a classical graphics sensibility and tools mastery standpoint. Possibly of greater importance however, is the depth of her efficacy at the critical skill at collaboratively working with clients to guide them through the process of distilling their core needs and organizational message into the graphical form that will drive their organization's future successes. She is fantastic at facilitating iterative, collective design discussions among team participants, each one bringing varying degrees of prior experience, viewpoints, and aesthetic sensibilities, which in the end ensures that the final results fully satisfy the organizational needs relative to both the time horizons for which the design products are required as well as the technology platforms and use cases upon which they are meant to be deployed. And, she is a delight to work with. She is punctual, accommodating, generous with her time, abundant skills and insights, and has a great temperament for the collaborative process of her services, which due to its nature, could become mired in unhealthy or non-productive group dynamics if not managed with finesse.

Trent Tucker
Trent Tucker
Client

I enjoyed working with Hari because of who she is - her patience, her ability to listen, and her ability to make a genuine connection virtually created a wonderful collaborative experience. She is professional, and at the same time warm and friendly. While working together her ability to listen for understanding made our values and desires come to life in a tangible way - it was easy to brainstorm with her and she was able to transform thoughts and feelings into something we saw and could experience from a logo and design of a website. We enjoyed working with her - so we did it again when we launched our second site!

Dr. Faith Drew
Dr. Faith Drew
Client

Hari is very professional and listens to the details of what you are trying to create. She is incredibly talented with a keen eye for design. It is always a pleasure working with Hari because we know we will leave the process with something better than we envisioned when we first started.

Karla Elbrecht
Karla Elbrecht
Client

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