BEing: Anna Faber-Hammond

What do you do at KHJ?

I am a senior graphic designer here; I work on print and digital assets for our clients. As a designer, a huge part of my job is understanding a client’s brand and then taking that to a level of creativity that they aren’t expecting. I work on more day-to-day projects, like brochures, and on more high-level branding. That can be things like art direction and photo direction, and from there logo development and overall brand design.

What got you into this business?

I started designing in high school, maybe even middle school, with little things like PowerPoint. It sounds so silly, but I would love making the presentations look good. I worked so hard on them and they always looked awesome, even if I was lacking the actual content that I was supposed to be presenting on. I took my first graphic design class in high school, but I didn’t figure out that was really what I wanted to do until college, and then I was all in.

What brought you to KHJ?

I was actually friends with Austin, another senior designer here! I had worked internally at a few companies but wanted to try my hand at an agency setting, and Austin thought that KHJ would be a good fit for me. I came in and met with the team and Adam, our Creative Director, and I just felt like this was a place I could see myself at, and the rest is history!

What is your favorite project you’ve worked on here at KHJ?

One of the projects I am working on right now is actually really cool! It’s for Cronin Development, on the St. Regis Residences development. Brands like St. Regis and Marriott already have their own brand designed, but where we push that outside the box a little bit is on the art and photo direction. Right now, I am applying those photos to the web design for the project. It’s been really interesting to work on such a high-end real estate development project. It’s a different consumer base than any other job I have worked on, and we are working with the best of the best when it comes to materials, so that’s very exciting!

What is on the top of your bucket list?

I really want to go to Japan. In college I took a Japanese Architecture class, and I have wanted to go ever since. It was one of my favorite classes I took at BU, so I would love to go and see everything I learned about in person. That, and eat sushi.

If you could have lunch with anyone dead or alive, who would it be?

I feel like I have to pick two people. First Beyoncé, because she’s Beyoncé and that would be so awesome. I can’t even describe how excited I am for her Netflix documentary. And second, Jonathan Van Ness. I am currently obsessed with his podcast, Getting Curious. I listen to it on the way to work, and I always end up laughing out loud. He is hilarious, and I feel like he would break the ice with Beyoncé and make me feel less awkward.

What fashion trend do you hope never comes back in style?

I hope that low-rise jeans never come back – I am team high-waisted pants all day. Also the ugly/dad sneaker trend – I am really not into it. I feel like the Kardashians or Kanye had some part in it because they are involved in everything, but I’m not here for it at all.

What is the most-used app on your phone?

Definitely Instagram. I think that it is a really great tool for getting inspiration when you are in such a visual role like I am. I save a lot of stuff that I see from design firms, illustrators, ceramicists, whatever sparks my creativity.

What’s your favorite ad/ad campaign?

This is such a hard question, but I think I would have to go with Glossier’s recent BodyHero campaign. I love their entire brand, and the power that comes from their simplicity. But I especially loved that they used real women to highlight their new body products throughout the entire campaign. Everything was beautifully curated and cohesive, from the product shots to the media placements – they just hit it out of the park with the whole campaign.