Today we’d like to introduce you to Hanna Göransson.
Hi Hanna, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
After graduating high school in Stockholm year 2011, I was eager to travel and explore the world. My friend and I saved up some money and traveled around South-East Asia for a couple of months until our money ran out. By the end of this trip, I was hoping I would have figured out what I wanted to do with my life and what I wanted to study. But, I still had that travel urge inside me, so I found a way to travel and work abroad to make a living. I became a Kitesurfing Instructor.
I worked as a Kitesurfing instructor in Langebaan, South Africa, Hua-Hin in Thailand, and Melbourne, Australia. After two years of bouncing around and living the beach life, I was ready to start a new chapter in my life.
In 2015, I got accepted into Berghs School of Communication in Stockholm, where I did a pre-semester in Graphic Design before moving to San Francisco, where I started my Bachelor’s in Graphic Design at the Academy of Art University.
I had always been a visually creative person in many ways, but I wasn’t sure how I would make a profession of it. A Bachelor’s in Graphic Design was a perfect balance of design thinking, being creative, and learning the digital tools.
I graduated in August 2019, and by October, I started working as a Designer at Hybrid Design in San Francisco. Hybrid Design had been a big inspiration for me as a student, so I was more than excited to be part of the team.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Living abroad comes with many struggles. First, being so far away from family and friends has been challenging. I try to contact as many friends as possible and do weekly calls with family and close friends to stay up-to-date with everything back home.
Studying abroad has always been an economic struggle. Going through school wasn’t cheap, so I would fly back home for a couple of weeks during our summer and winter semesters, where I worked as a case handler at a credit management company. It was a perfect job to get some extra cash.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I started my studies at Berghs School of Communication in Stockholm, Sweden. After a preparatory semester at Berghs, I moved to San Francisco to study at the Academy of Art University where I earned my Bachelor’s degree in 2019. Post-graduation, I joined Hybrid Design, where I have worked with both local and global brands— focusing on print, branding, typography, and art direction. Clients include Nike, Stanford, Mohawk Paper, Sonos, The North Face, Youtube, and Indeed.
Being part of a small design team at Hybrid I’m creating engaging design solutions which include: Branding, identities, illustration, campaign development, publication design and production, retail and environmental, advertising, digital/websites, presentations, and packaging.
My strongest side in design is branding. I’m known for coming up with multiple design directions and solutions, and not just one. The project I’m the most proud of is the YouTube Standards 001 Book I designed together with an Art Director and Creative Director from Hybrid.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Never give up and keep pushing.
The annoying, but also beautiful thing about design, is that it’s never completely finished. But, the more you keep pushing the better the outcome will be.
Contact Info:
Image Credits
Kennett Mohrman—Photographer https://www.kennettmohrman.com/
