The very unexpected road back to where I started

There are some career moves you plan carefully, with goals and timelines and very sensible spreadsheets.

Then there are the ones you could never have predicted.

Becoming the owner of KT Design the studio where I began my design career, was definitely the second kind.

Where it all began

I started working at KT Design when I was still a fairly new designer. Katie became an incredible design and business mentor, and I soaked up everything she had to teach me.

The standard of work mattered. Everything needed to be carefully considered, consistently applied and properly proofread. We checked alignment with style guides, sweated the details and made sure every piece felt like it belonged to the same brand.

That might sound obvious, but it shaped the way I still approach design today. A logo is never an isolated item. A brand needs to work as a whole, whether it is appearing on a website, in a 200-page publication or on the side of a building.

One of my biggest milestones from those years was designing Waikato Diocesan School’s centenary book.

I had worked on books with Katie before, but she had developed the creative concepts and I had helped carry them through production. This was the first time I created the concept myself and took the project all the way through to completion.

I was back at the school recently and saw the book sitting on a table. It still looked fantastic, which was a pretty special full-circle moment. 

Leaving something I loved

I always loved working with Katie, but after I had my son, travelling to Hamilton no longer made sense for our family. I wanted to be present while he grew up, and I needed work to fit around that.

So I started Indigo Ink.

It was the right decision, but I still missed KT Design. What I never imagined, not even in my wildest dreams, was that I would eventually come back as the owner.

Coming home from a different direction

When I returned, some of the studio’s long-standing client relationships were still there.

Naturally, some of the people within those organisations had changed, but there was something very grounding about working with familiar brands again. It felt like coming home.

KT Design was never simply a business name to me. It represented an important part of my career and a person who had given me a huge amount of confidence. Katie trusted me, encouraged me and helped me believe I was capable of more than I initially thought.

That kind of mentorship changes you and is an immeasurable gift.

The next chapter

Eventually, KT Design and Indigo Ink came together to become Brand Refinery.

The new business carries pieces of both histories, but it is not simply two studios stitched together. It represents what we have become: a strategic design studio that helps businesses uncover what makes them different, communicate that clearly and show up with confidence.

Looking back, the path makes sense. The discipline and attention to detail I learned at KT Design are still fundamental to our work. Indigo Ink gave me the freedom to develop my own creative voice, processes and approach to strategy. Brand Refinery brings those things together – along with the skills and perspectives of the wider team.

I certainly didn’t plan to return to where I started.

But perhaps that is what makes it feel so right.

If your business has grown, changed or outgrown the way it currently presents itself, talk to us about refining your brand.,