Retail

The Creatives: Kate Harmer

By John Levesque July 17, 2015

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This article originally appeared in the August 2015 issue of Seattle magazine.

Kate Harmer
Founder and creative director, Hum Creative
Pioneer Square; humcreative.com

FOCUS: Hum Creative is a full-service design studio specializing in branding, strategy, packaging and web design. Weve worked with Sellen, Cornish College of the Arts, Forterra and Cupcake Royale. Currently, were enjoying working with South Lake Union Block Party, Mindy Kaling and KEXP.

CRAZIEST THING IVE DONE: When the Seahawks came back from the dead during the NFC championship, we got swept up in the excitement. In two days, we designed, audio-engineered and developed an interactive site called SpeaksMode, featuring an illustrated soundboard of Marshawn Lynchs brilliantly brief quotes to the media. Within two days of its launch, SpeaksMode had generated 20,000-plus unique visitors and had been featured on SB Nation, SeattleTimes.com, Reddit, SportsNet, Oregon Live, Seahawks.net and FanCred.

WHAT I WISH I CAME UP WITH: I wish wed gotten to design Hillary Clintons campaign logo. The multifaceted audience and messaging goals create an enticing challenge to solve. What a thrill to design a system that is both overarching and nuanced, has to work seamlessly across a plethora of platforms and spans so many divides. Of course, Id also love to have a part in potentially putting a woman in the Oval Office.

VACATION LOCATION: My husband [Nick Harmer] is often on tour with his band, Death Cab for Cutie, so I try to sneak away for quick weekends with him when I can. I love tagging along when they play television shows. This winter, I got to sit at David Lettermans desk!

OUTSIDE MY WINDOW I SEE: Bertha crawl past, Sounders fans rally, the ferries coming and going, and the most incredible pink and orange sunsets.

HOW I WOULD BRAND SEATTLE: I can imagine a video or photography series chronicling everything from an epic Saturday bike pub-crawl around Ballard to the trials and tribulations of a South Lake Union startup. Social channels would allow everyone to contribute stories Vines of a pottery wheel spinning, Instagrams from a home garden. The Seattle brand should reflect the bold and vibrant energy of our endless opportunities.

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