Katie Toepp
Making information accessible.
Brand identity, web, and product design for organizations working on complex things.
About me.
Katie Toepp, designer based in Kentucky. Design Lead at Thimble studio and Art Director at Contrary Collective. Previously Director of Product Design at Newsreel and Senior Art Director at CLYDE. Fine-art background with an MFA from Kendall College of Art and Design.
Capabilities.
Brand identity systems, websites built in Framer, and product design work including UX, design systems, research, and accessibility. Most of what I take on sits somewhere between visual craft and information architecture.
Also building:
Preflight
open-source pre-release QA for web work: automated WCAG/axe-core accessibility checks, links, SEO, cross-browser
Matchbox
browser-based color tool built around contrast and harmony
Stack.
Framer
Web design + development
Figma
Design + prototyping
Adobe Creative Suite
Design
HTML/CSS
Frontend
Claude/Cursor
Development + iteration
Experience.
Brand Designer + Web Developer
The Eighth Dimension
2024 - Present
Independent brand identity and web work for mission-driven clients. Home for civic tools including Know Your Vote Kentucky and Matchbox.
Design Lead
Thimble studio
2026 - present
Design lead at a branding and web studio for small businesses. Brand identity, web development, and the systems that hold them together.
Contract Art Director
Contrary Collective
2024 - present
Embedded design and development support for agency clients across healthcare, pharma, and highly regulated industries.
Director of Product Design
Newsreel
2024 - 2026
Led product design for a news literacy platform used in classrooms, campus newsrooms, and libraries. Designed interfaces that help students navigate complex information and develop critical thinking skills.
Senior Art Director
CLYDE
2021-2024
Led brand and campaign design for agency clients in fintech, healthcare, and policy.
Testimonials.
Tobi Osobkola
Owner, Fritters & Roast
Katie is the best graphic designer I have ever met. Her work with Fritters & Roast over the past 2 years has been awesome. When I was about to start out, she spent hours listening to me about my vision for the company, about Nigeria, and our culture and food, as well as tasting my various samples. She also did a lot of research on her own and would discuss her findings with me to be sure she was getting unbiased information. By the time we started designs — logo first — she was able to adequately capture the essence of the company. She worked with Stephen Gould to finalize the packaging design for our yam chips, and for the various juice labels, she put a system in place that captured the culture. I highly recommend her for her awesome work.
