The best advice that Ina Oakley, Creative Director, Communication Designer, and unofficial mental therapist, has ever heard is ‘always take the time that is necessary.’ Living in different parts of Germany has taught her to be dedicated, focused, and put in the effort. “A big influence for me was working in Munich for BMW Magazine. The look was fine minimalist, super high-quality design. It had to invoke pure aesthetics and emotions, and you could feel the sense of power, dynamism, and subtlety in every story. I learned an incredible amount there and often read and designed late into the night.”

Oakley's personal philosophy is simple: get the job done. “Just do it,” she says. “I tell myself that very often. Before I philosophize about things for a long time, I just do them.” Oakley realized that she was destined to design at a very early age. “I took part in many painting competitions, and it was already clear to me at ten years old that I would become a designer,” she says. “My father gave me my first SLR camera, and I loved to capture everything that touched me. I often painted the photos simply for the joy of it. Some of those pictures are still hanging in our house today.”

Oakley believes that trust is one of the most important aspects of the client/designer relationship. “For the designer to create a real and true design, the client has to be able to open up. Otherwise, we designers can’t feel it,” she says. “A good design requires many conversations in advance and good, precise, preliminary work about the vision and values.”