Branding today is all flash, no feeling.

Logos are made in minutes, campaigns fade in days, and companies that swear they’re “disrupting the industry” end up looking just like everyone else.

Irene Arteaga refuses to let brands disappear into the noise.

She doesn’t just design identities. She gives them a pulse. A story. A feeling you can’t shake.

She started in advertising, where quick wins and short-lived campaigns ruled. It was high-energy and fast-moving, but something was missing. She wanted to build brands that meant something. Brands people could connect with.

She craved something deeper. Brand identity and art direction became her canvas, leading her to start her own studio and, eventually, to New York—a city where creativity thrives and competition never slows.

Now, as an art director at Savvy Studio, she’s shaping the look and feel of some of New York’s most exclusive bars, restaurants, and galleries and has collaborated with wonderful creatives. She’s also pushing the boundaries of editorial design with Danish design powerhouse &Tradition, proving that branding is something you experience, not just something you see.

Her story is one of reinvention, risk, and refusing to settle for design that’s just pretty.

From Fast-Paced Advertising to Meaningful Design

Arteaga started her career in Costa Rica, juggling design studies with agency life. It was fast-paced and exciting, teaching her how to grab attention, spark emotion, and make an impact.

But the excitement was short-lived. Campaigns came and went, vanishing as quickly as they appeared. She was pouring her heart into projects that disappeared within weeks.

It left her wanting more.

She moved to Buenos Aires, chasing a deeper creative purpose with a postgraduate degree in Art Direction and Creativity. It was there that everything clicked. She didn’t just want to design campaigns. She wanted to create brands that told stories, evolved over time, and felt timeless.

She realized that branding was more than just visuals. It was about crafting identities that could last.

The Corporate Years: Designing for Giants

Joining Gensler, one of the world’s leading architecture and design firms, was a leap into high-stakes branding. Arteaga found herself working on global projects that demanded more than just good design—they needed identities that could speak in boardrooms and come alive in digital spaces.

It was a world where every detail mattered, where brand worlds were built to inspire, connect, and endure. But she began to feel the limits of the corporate world and the weight of working with such massive clients. The layers of approvals, the rigid structures. It all felt too restrictive.

Arteaga wanted more freedom to experiment, to follow her instincts, and to design more intuitively. She felt the need to break out of the mold and explore her creativity on her own terms.

Going Solo: Building Her Own Studio

For four years, Arteaga ran her own design studio, taking on projects that let her follow her curiosity and break the rules. She worked with clients in Costa Rica, the U.S., and Canada, crafting brands that felt alive and full of meaning.

One of her first big projects was for a food company inspired by the blue zones lifestyle—think honey, tea, and coffee with a story to tell. She dove in headfirst, weaving together graphic design, illustration, and art direction. Nature guided every choice, from the colors to the textures, letting her bring the brand’s story to life in bold and unexpected ways.

Running her own studio was creative freedom in its purest form. She wasn’t just a designer. She was a storyteller, a strategist, and a visionary. She experimented fearlessly, blending illustration, photography, and print techniques into branding.

She took on projects that challenged her, excited her, and made her think differently. If a brand didn’t have a story worth telling, she didn’t touch it.

She was designing with purpose and trusting her instincts every step of the way.

Landing in New York City

Arteaga moved to New York City for what was supposed to be a short stay. Years later, the city is still home.

Moving to New York was a leap into the unknown. The city moves fast, and everyone is chasing something—but Irene found herself drawn to its energy.

There was no safety net, just her creativity and a desire to carve out her own space in an industry that never stops evolving.

She found her place at Savvy Studio, founded by creative director Rafael Prieto, where bold ideas run wild.

Now, she’s leading branding projects for New York’s most exclusive spaces

• Four of the city’s top restaurants such as Al Coro, Mel’s, Holiday Bar, and The Lambs Club
• Two private nightclubs, where the branding is as stylish as the crowd
• Luxury hospitality and art projects, blending classic elegance with modern design

Her work doesn’t just catch your eye. It draws you in, lingers, and leaves a mark you can’t shake.

It begins in stillness, in the quiet act of noticing. She studies what others overlook—the rhythm of a manifesto, the quiet history etched into aged wood, a tablecloth softened by years of shared meals and conversation. Every detail holds a story waiting to be told.

For Arteaga, design is not just about form. It is memory, material, and emotion woven together, shaping something that feels inevitable, as if it was always meant to be.

New York pushed her to the edge, made her bolder, and turned every win into something worth celebrating.

Beyond Branding: Art, Photography, and Storytelling

Arteaga’s creativity doesn’t stop at branding.

For over a decade, she has been taking a photo every single day at the same time. What started as a personal ritual has become a visual archive of time, space, and movement.

She experiments with cyanotype printing, collage, and mixed media, bringing an artist’s perspective into her design work.

One of her dream projects at Savvy Studio was designing two books for Danish design brand &Tradition. Unlike branding, books require a different rhythm and a more intimate kind of storytelling. It was a challenge she embraced, pushing her creativity in new directions.

For Arteaga, branding isn’t a formula. It’s a language told through art, photography, and cultural identity.

A Name You Should Know

Arteaga’s work has been recognized in La Tina, a book celebrating Latin American women designers.

For her, this recognition is deeply personal. As a Latina in the design industry, she knows firsthand how hard it is to be seen, to have your voice heard.

Her inclusion in La Tina isn’t just a career highlight. It’s a statement. Latin American women belong in the creative industry, and they deserve to be recognized on a global stage.

She also had the incredible honor of collaborating on a project that celebrates Christiana Figueres’ remarkable career and legacy.

But she’s not here for awards. She’s here to create.

What’s Next?

More risk. More reinvention. More breaking the rules.

Arteaga is diving into the space where branding, photography, and editorial design collide, creating work that lives somewhere between art and commerce.

She’s not chasing trends. She’s setting them.

This is where branding is headed. And Irene Arteaga? She’s just getting started.

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