How Natasha Navasardian is helping brands find their voice

Natasha Navasardian is a graphic and digital designer from Russia who is now based in NYC and London. She’s also a passionate photographer, and in this interview, she shares how her design work and photography feed her creativity.

Natasha talks about how she helps brands find their unique voice through design, what inspires her from traveling and people-watching at coffee shops, and how her photography skills influence her design process. She also gives us a peek into her creative journey, explaining how she stays inspired, what she loves most about branding, and the trends she enjoys (and those she thinks are overdone). Through her story, we learn about the connection between design and photography, how to keep creativity fresh, and the importance of emotional connection in branding.

I’m a graphic and digital designer based in NYC/London, born and raised in Russia. Besides being a designer, I’m also a photographer (as they say, design fulfils my bills, and photography fulfils my soul). Photography has always been my passion, and it’s an inseparable part of me. This is how I speak to the world and show the art of noticing life and, most importantly, telling a story.

1.   How do you approach helping brands find their unique voice through design?  

The main thing is to see the whole picture first and answer questions like what’s this brand, who they are, why they’re doing what they’re doing, and for whom. After getting this foundation, I can start to think about the best way to represent the brand both visually and emotionally, creating a general mood board and adding some unique features that align with a vision to make it outstanding. It’s important to consider how customers/users see it – not only from a design perspective but also from an emotional side and create the right “vibe”. For example, if we want to create a friendly and approachable brand, we won’t use dark and muted colors, sharp shapes, etc.

As a creative type, I always need some new emotions and spaces to boost my process.

Natasha Navasardian

2.  What inspires your creativity—your travels, coffee shop explorations, or something else?  

Traveling definitely gives me a lot of inspiration since I can see different perspectives and cultures, and it gets me out of my routine. I feel like, as a creative type, I always need some new emotions and spaces to boost my process. Besides that, coffee shop explorations help me a lot as well – for me, it’s the best way to get to know the city and people and explore the spaces. I just love sitting there with a cup of coffee and people-watching (and maintaining my coffee addiction, of course). Speaking of people, they are another thing that inspires me! I’ve met so many amazing people, and they all have different stories, personalities, jobs, and hobbies; it’s just incredible how different we are but the same at the same time.

3.   How does your photography background influence your work as a designer?

I think these two mediums are pretty much intertwined. Photography gave me a good eye for color, composition, and emotional perspective, which are fundamental in design and art as well. It also helps you gain good creative observation and skills, which can be reached only through experience.

4.  What’s your favorite part of the branding process, from concept to final identity?

Honestly, I like the whole process from start to finish, but my favorite parts are the exploration, where I’m researching, having fun, creating a mood board, and shaping the branding, and the part where I already have approved the art direction and start searching for unique features and elements. And of course, it’s always amazing to see it live as a final result!

I’ve met so many amazing people, and they all have different stories, personalities, jobs, and hobbies; it’s just incredible how different we are but the same at the same time.

Natasha Navasardian

5. How do you stay creatively inspired while balancing different design disciplines? 

Oh, that’s a good question! I’m trying to practice all disciplines, whether it’s branding, web design, or photography, look at other artists’ work to get inspiration, and just keep myself on track with trends and changes in the fields. It could be tricky, but sometimes one discipline can give inspiration for another and it’s good to have a wide range. For photography, it’s always been my Instagram account, where I just post simple everyday life from my point of view, and other accounts with amazing photography and content.

6.  What’s one design trend you love and one you think is overused?  

The one I love is combining, at first glance, not, compatible elements like serif and san serif typography or editorial style with more tech and friendly ones, etc. And for the overused trend – using way too much web animation so you can even hear how your laptop is suffering to load it. And in my opinion, it makes it really hard to process everything.

Natasha Navasardian’s work stands out for its design, photography, and emotional storytelling blend. She combines her skills across disciplines to craft unique and meaningful visual identities for brands, always staying inspired by the world around her. Natasha’s passion for creativity and her ability to draw inspiration from diverse experiences offer valuable lessons for anyone in the creative field. As she continues to evolve, we can expect even more powerful and visually captivating work from this versatile designer and photographer. To learn more about Natasha, click the following links to visit her profile.

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