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I’m a Vancouver-based creative director, art director, and musician with 20+ years of experience building brands, visual systems, and emotionally resonant creative work. I’m interested in the space where image, sound, mood, and story begin to shape a world people can feel. As a musician myself, I understand that an artist’s visual identity is not just packaging. It is part of the language of the music.…I’m a Vancouver-based creative director, art director, and musician with 20+ years of experience building brands, visual systems, and emotionally resonant creative work. I’m interested in the space where image, sound, mood, and story begin to shape a world people can feel. As a musician myself, I understand that an artist’s visual identity is not just packaging. It is part of the language of the music.

Nathan Kolke

Art Director, Creative Director, Graphic Designer, +2

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I’m a Vancouver-based creative director, art director, and musician with 20+ years of experience building brands, visual systems, and emotionally resonant creative work. I’m interested in the space where image, sound, mood, and story begin to shape a world people can feel. As a musician myself, I understand that an artist’s visual identity is not just packaging. It is part of the language of the music.…I’m a Vancouver-based creative director, art director, and musician with 20+ years of experience building brands, visual systems, and emotionally resonant creative work. I’m interested in the space where image, sound, mood, and story begin to shape a world people can feel. As a musician myself, I understand that an artist’s visual identity is not just packaging. It is part of the language of the music.

Available to hire

I’m a Vancouver-based creative director, art director, and musician with 20+ years of experience building brands, visual systems, and emotionally resonant creative work. I’m interested in the space where image, sound, mood, and story begin to shape a world people can feel.

As a musician myself, I understand that an artist’s visual identity is not just packaging. It is part of the language of the music.

Skills

Experience Level

Expert

Expert

Expert

Intermediate

Intermediate

Intermediate

Work Experience

Takt Creative Director at Takt

January 1, 2025 - January 1, 2026

Shaped creative direction across digital, social, experiential, and campaign work for multiple client engagements. Translated briefs and business goals into clear creative direction, visual frameworks, and scalable systems. Partnered with strategy, account, content, and studio teams to align creative decisions with business objectives. Built modular design systems and guidelines that helped teams produce consistent work across channels. Led creative reviews, refined concepts, and mentored designers through critique and execution. Presented creative direction and rationale to senior stakeholders with a focus on clarity, craft, and strategic value.

Sr. Art Director / Creative Lead at Monks (San Fran-based team, remote)

January 1, 2022 - January 1, 2025

Worked across Google Ads, Search UX, Travel, and Customer Solutions, guiding brand, campaign, and product storytelling at scale. Created visual systems, presentation frameworks, and communication tools for complex digital and product-adjacent initiatives. Helped translate abstract product ideas into clearer visual narratives, layouts, diagrams, and storytelling systems. Partnered with strategy, copy, UX, marketing, production, and engineering teams across fast-moving workstreams. Built reusable design systems and assets that supported consistency across distributed teams. Guided motion and product storytelling through storyboards, pacing notes, visual direction, and collaboration with production partners. Mentored designers and supported concept development across multiple teams and deliverables.

Sr. Art Director at Modern Furniture Retailer

January 1, 2016 - January 1, 2022

Helped shape brand, marketing, retail, digital, product, and content work as the company scaled. Led visual direction for campaigns, launches, email, social, print, retail, internal communications, and brand initiatives. Created campaign systems, presentation materials, content frameworks, production-ready assets, and customer-facing creative. Worked with marketing, product, photo, video, content, and leadership teams to align creative work with business priorities. Supported photo, video, print, and vendor production from concept through final delivery. Mentored designers and helped raise standards for typography, layout, concept development, and craft.

Founder / Creative Director at Kolke Creative - Digital Branding Agency

January 1, 2005 - January 1, 2016

Built and ran a small agency supporting 70+ clients across brand, marketing, digital, print, and communications. Worked directly with founders, executives, marketing teams, and business owners on strategy, messaging, identity, and client-facing materials. Developed brand identities, websites, proposals, sales materials, pitch decks, print collateral, campaigns, and digital experiences. Supported real estate, development, health, retail, nonprofit, and B2B clients with clear brand and communication systems. Managed projects from concept through production, including vendor coordination, print-ready files, budgets, timelines, and final delivery. Built long-term client relationships through clear communication, reliable execution, and high-quality creative work.