Today we’d like to introduce you to Taylor Misukonis.
Hi Taylor, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My path into design wasn’t exactly what I expected. Growing up, I always admired my dad, who was an art and design teacher, and for a long time I thought I’d become an art teacher too. When I started college, that was my plan. But as I took more graphic design courses, I realized the work felt incredibly natural to me. I loved not only creating visual work, but figuring out how design could solve a problem. It became clear that graphic design was where I was meant to be.
Looking back, I think part of that came from growing up around two very different ways of thinking. My dad brought the creative side, while my mom was more analytical, building her career in IT before moving into leadership. Being around both creative and analytical thinking made it feel natural to appreciate each perspective, and over time I realized I didn’t want to choose between them. I wanted to combine them.
I studied graphic design at Lindenwood University and started my career in the footwear industry shortly before graduating. Working at a smaller company gave me the opportunity to wear a lot of different hats early on. I wasn’t just designing. I was involved in branding, social media, e-commerce, photoshoots, and campaign development, which gave me a much broader understanding of how a business and a brand operate.
What really accelerated my growth, though, was curiosity. I don’t just want to know ‘what’ we’re creating. I want to understand ‘why’. Why was a shoe designed this way? How is it crafted? What are customers saying about it? What’s the history behind the brand? What business objectives are we trying to achieve? The more I understand, the easier it becomes to connect the dots and create work that feels authentic instead of forced.
Today, I’m a Senior Digital Brand Designer at The Frye Company, where I work across e-commerce, campaigns, lifecycle marketing, and creative strategy. What I love most about working in fashion is seeing how creative can directly influence business outcomes. Every product tells a story, and I enjoy bringing together craftsmanship, brand heritage, customer insights, and business goals to create work that resonates with people while helping the brand grow.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely hasn’t been a completely smooth road, but I think every challenge has shaped how I approach my work today.
One of the biggest challenges has been learning to trust my curiosity. Early in my career, I wanted to understand everything, not just the design itself. I wanted to know how products were developed, why certain business decisions were made, what customers were responding to, and how every department functioned. I wanted to be in the rooms where decisions were made, not necessarily as a key player, but to learn from the people who were in those rooms. There were times when it felt like I was asking too many questions or stepping outside the traditional boundaries of a design role. Looking back, though, that curiosity became one of my greatest strengths. It’s what allows me to connect ideas across disciplines and create work that’s grounded in both creativity and strategy.
Another challenge has been growing into responsibilities that outpaced my title. As my career progressed, I found myself driving creative strategy and brand direction while contributing to business conversations and exploring new technologies like AI, often while still being viewed primarily as a designer. Those experiences pushed me to recognize the value I bring and, just as importantly, learn how to communicate it.
I’ve also found that you can’t rely on a job title to communicate your value. Especially in creative fields, titles rarely capture the full scope of what someone contributes. I’ve had to learn how to articulate not just what I create, but how I think, how I solve problems, and the impact that work has on the business. I’ve realized that creating valuable work is only half the job. The other half is helping people understand the value behind it.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m currently a Senior Digital Brand Designer at The Frye Company, where I work across e-commerce, campaigns, lifecycle marketing, and creative strategy. While my title says “designer,” my role is really about connecting creative thinking with business goals. I enjoy bringing together customer insights, brand heritage, product craftsmanship, and business strategy to create work that not only looks beautiful, but also performs.
If I had to describe what I specialize in, I’d say it’s seeing both the big picture and the details that make it successful. I like to say my job is to connect the dots. I love understanding how all of the different pieces of a business fit together and translating that into creative solutions. Whether I’m redesigning an e-commerce experience, developing a campaign, building scalable brand systems, or using AI as a creative tool, I’m always asking the same question: *How can this create a better experience for the customer while helping the business grow?*
One thing people who work with me know is that I’m just as interested in how creative performs as I am in how it looks. My director still jokes about a conversation we had where he complimented a piece of creative I made. Instead of simply saying, “Thank you,” my first question was whether it performed well. Of course I care about creating beautiful work, but for me, success comes when great creative also changes customer behavior and helps achieve the business objective.
That’s probably what sets me apart. I look at creative through both a design and business lens. I want to understand not only why something looks the way it does, but whether it actually solved the problem it was created to solve.
What I’m most proud of is creating work that has a measurable impact. Whether that’s improving the customer experience, influencing how people engage with a brand, or helping drive business results, those are the moments that stay with me. It’s incredibly rewarding to see an idea move beyond the screen and genuinely connect with people. Over my career, my work has evolved from executing creative assets to influencing strategy, building creative systems, art directing campaigns, and introducing new workflows that help teams work more effectively. Seeing those ideas contribute to measurable business results continues to be the most rewarding part of what I do.
One project that captures that philosophy particularly well was a social campaign I created called **”In My Campus Era.”** I saw an opportunity to tap into a cultural conversation while introducing a younger audience to one of Frye’s most iconic products. What made it especially rewarding wasn’t just launching the campaign. It was watching what happened afterward. Customers started naturally using those same phrases in the comments on our organic social posts. Seeing people adopt language that started as a campaign idea reminded me that the best creative doesn’t just communicate with an audience. It becomes part of the conversation.
Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I’ve found that the best creative inspiration doesn’t always come from design resources. More often, it comes from understanding people, businesses, culture, and the stories that connect them.
One of my favorite places to find inspiration is actually thrift stores. I love that I can walk through one space and discover fashion, furniture, books, old packaging, artwork, and objects from completely different eras all at once. Whether I’m looking for something for my condo or simply taking in what’s around me, those unexpected discoveries often spark new creative connections. I especially enjoy finding design, fashion, and culture books because they offer a glimpse into the visual language of another era and remind me that while trends evolve, thoughtful design has a way of lasting.
When it comes to podcasts, I find myself coming back to **The Diary of a CEO** and **The StoryBrand Podcast**. I enjoy hearing how successful people think through challenges, leadership, and decision-making, while StoryBrand has had a big influence on how I think about messaging and communicating ideas clearly. Both have shaped the way I approach branding and creative strategy.
Beyond that, I also find inspiration in fashion, architecture, museums, and simply paying attention to the world around me. Some of my best ideas come from stepping outside the design world and understanding where people, culture, and everyday experiences intersect.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.taylormisukonis.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taylormisukonis/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taylor-misukonis-93220a194/
