Brand designer in Saratoga Springs
I'm John Bolster, an independent brand identity designer and art director based in Saratoga Springs. For more than two decades I've helped businesses, schools and nonprofits build brands that are clear, distinctive and built to last, and I'd love to do the same for yours.
Local, in person
Working with someone nearby still matters. I meet clients in Saratoga Springs, Ballston Spa, Glens Falls, Albany, Troy, Schenectady and across the Capital Region, whether that's a kickoff over coffee on Broadway, a walk through your shop to see how customers experience your brand, or a review of printed proofs side by side.
Recent Capital Region work includes social campaigns, motion and a logo for Siena University in Loudonville, and a full rebrand for King Brothers Dairy, a family dairy in the Capital Region, built around one idea: Drink like a King.
What I can help with
Brand Strategy
Strategy comes before design. Positioning and differentiation, audience definition, and the voice, mission, vision and onlyness statements that give a brand something real to stand on.
Brand Identity
Logos and the full visual system around them, built to hold up over time and work everywhere the brand shows up.
Art Direction
Campaign concepts and the imagery that carries them, from photo direction to the look and feel of a launch.
Brand books, brochures and collateral with type set with care and details people feel even when they do not notice them.
Web and Digital
Websites, social media design and digital assets, plus presentation design for pitches and leadership teams.
Who I work with locally
Restaurants, farms and food brands, schools and colleges, healthcare practices, nonprofits, professional services firms and growing local businesses that are ready to look as good as they are. I also partner with Capital Region marketing and advertising agencies as a freelance art director.
Not local? No problem
I also work with clients across the US, from national litigation firms to healthcare brands. The process works just as well over video calls, and you get the same attention either way.
Selected work
- Alliance 180: Brand strategy, visual identity and web design for Alliance 180, a peer to peer program for veterans and first responders.
- King Brothers Dairy: A crown, a point of view and a brand people remember. Brand strategy, identity, packaging and environmental design for King Brothers Dairy.
- DLG: A bold black and white rebrand and a hardcover brand manifesto for national litigation firm DLG, designed by John Bolster.
- SAINT: A science forward healthcare brand identity for SAINT, a breakthrough treatment for treatment resistant depression.
- Siena University: Social media campaigns, motion graphics, a logo and a campus banner for Siena University, designed by brand identity designer John Bolster.
- Finish Line: Creative direction and a recruitment brand book for Finish Line, built to attract a new generation of talent across 700+ stores.