Anna Lawrence
Brand Designer / Illustrator
San Diego, CA / CO / NC
www.annalawrence.design
instagram @annalawrence.design
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Q What do you do?
“I’m an artist, surfer, solo traveler, and brand identity designer based in San Diego.”
I help founders translate their hospitality or lifestyle business into a brand that reflects their lived experience, local culture, and natural surroundings.
Q What steps did you take to get to where you are now?
Where I've lived has shaped my design career more than any class or job title.
I grew up in the coastal town of Wilmington, North Carolina, then spent close to a year in Byron Bay, Australia, freelancing between surf sessions. After that, I moved to the mountains in Colorado Springs, where hiking and camping and rock climbing (and unexpectedly, country dancing) became part of my routine. Now I’ve settled in San Diego, and my surfboard and cowboy boots live in harmony.
The career moves happened alongside the adventure: a graphic design degree from NC State, a fast-paced startup role with a luxury travel company, a freelance collaboration with an agency in Byron Bay, and eventually the decision to build my own studio from that foundation.
Every opportunity provided a different visual language to work from: coastal, mountain, luxury, organic. Together they gave me insight into the kinds of places and experiences that hospitality and lifestyle brands are built around. Years working with hotel brands and designing menus, collateral, and visual identity systems gave me the technical foundation…the rest came from actually living in those worlds.
Q How do you stand out in your field?
I travel as much as I can, and I’m always looking for what makes a place feel like itself: architecture, colors, patterns, typography, nature. This habit of noticing is what sets my work apart. I look for the specific, meaningful details that characterize a brand’s story, and amplify them through design. When other designers start with the question “what could I make this brand look like?” I spend more time thinking “what makes it truly unique?”
Sketching by hand is how I naturally think through ideas, so every project evolves from an artistic exploratory phase. Complementing that is the discipline I’ve built through years of working with luxury brands, where precision, sophistication, and intention are non-negotiable at every step. The result is work that balances hand-crafted originality with thoughtful execution.
Q What are you working on right now?
I'm working on growing my studio in a way that doesn't compromise the parts I care about most. I genuinely love this work…not just the design itself, but the whole process. Connecting with clients, studying their world, filling pages of my sketchbook, and finally delivering something that embodies their business (and excites them too). An important part of that is getting more specific about who I am as a designer and who I enjoy working with. The more clarity I have around that, the better the work gets.
Q What’s your style?
My perspective has been shaped by solo travel, surf culture, and weekends in the outdoors. Retro-inspired typography, earthy palettes that remind you of somewhere, grain and texture that feels lived-in. But I also have a strong grasp of typographic hierarchy and negative space, so my designs have room to breathe without feeling empty. My approach is really a commitment to intention and authenticity…making sure that every detail has a purpose, and the aesthetic is crafted uniquely for each brand.
The design for Beach Break Surf is a good example. It's a surf school in Wilmington, NC (my hometown) so I knew the identity needed to feel rooted in that specific coastline without defaulting to generic surf clichés.
Q Out of all your slashies, which one do you wish you could do more often?
It’s hard when your full-time job is visual design…but I would love to dedicate more of my creative energy to art (like the good old days). Printmaking is one of my favorite mediums, but I also enjoy working with conté crayon, gouache, and pen & ink. I’ve kept a travel journal for almost a decade, and I love capturing the memories of each trip through pages of illustrations, hand-lettering, and collage.
Q What is frustrating you right now?
The gap between being really good at something and being consistently discovered by the right people. I have a unique perspective, a process I care deeply about, and clients who are always glad they found me, but building the kind of consistent online presence that attracts the right leads (without it feeling like a second full-time job) is something I'm still navigating.
Q If you could hire someone for $20/hour, what would you have them do to make your day easier?
Content creation. I have ideas about what to post, but I care too much about how everything looks, which is exactly why I can never keep up with it. Someone who could take what’s in my head and get it out into the world while I focus on client work would be a dream.
Q What do you wish you could have told yourself, when, and why?
I wish I'd known sooner that running a studio is a completely different skill from being a good designer, and that mastering the business and marketing side is just as important. For a long time I said yes to everything because stability felt more urgent than alignment. But I learned that the projects I took on just because they felt safe rarely moved anything forward, and the ones I made space for because they really excite me ended up attracting the kinds of clients I actually want. Looking back, I would tell myself that being intentional about the work you take on isn't just a privilege you earn once the business is stable, it's actually how you get there.
Q If you could talk to an expert to gain more insight on something, what would it be about?
Sustainable growth as a solopreneur. Specifically, what it actually looks like to build a studio that stays creatively fulfilling at every stage, not just at the beginning when everything is new. I'd want to talk to someone ten or fifteen years into running their own design business and ask what they'd do differently, what they'd protect, and what they stopped worrying about.
Q What kind of opportunities/projects are you looking for?
The clients I'm most drawn to are hospitality and lifestyle founders building something rooted in a specific place, culture, or way of life. From coastal cafés, luxury retreats, and boutique hotels to adventure-born outdoor and travel brands, I love translating a brand’s story into something visual. On the project side, I'm looking for full brand identity work: logo systems, brand guides, menus, packaging, collateral…the kind of project where we get to explore the whole picture together.
Q Describe your ideal job/client/collaboration.
My ideal client checks the surf report before they check their email, or spends their vacation at a national park. They have the kind of insight that only comes from doing something for years and caring deeply about it, and they're ready for their brand to finally reflect that. During the project, they’re someone who shows up as a true partner: trusting me to lead the creative process and providing thoughtful feedback along the way. And when everything finally comes together, we're both stoked about it.
Q: What is your rate?
My branding projects start at $1,500 for a foundational logo suite, $2,500 for a full identity system, and $5,000 for a complete brand experience including collateral. Custom packages and services are available upon request.
Q How should someone approach you about working together?
Reach out through the project form on my website. Or if you'd rather start by saying hello, an email works too. Include a brief intro to your business, your goals for the project, and your estimated timeline and budget.
Q Who is a creative you admire?
Ewelina Olechowska, founder of Studio Domka, is such a talented brand strategist! She’s encouraged me so much on my own branding journey and helped me unearth so many valuable insights about design and business.
Also, Jenna Johnson from White and Salt…her marketing insight for designers has been so encouraging.
Q Oh! and… how do you stay creative?
Explore new places, make art, and surf (as often as I can).
This member profile was originally published in August 2024, Updated June 2026.