Valdhi, portrait

Valdhi, in the studio

About

Trained as a
printmaker. Still
think like one.

I started in a screen-printing co-op with three broken squeegees and a landlord who hated the smell of ink. That constraint — limited colors, no undo button — never really left the work. Twelve years later I still design like every choice costs something.

These days that means brand systems for labels that don't want to sound like everyone else, editorial grids for magazines that still get printed on paper, and the occasional dark-mode interface for hardware that only gets touched at 2am.

I turn down projects that want to look "clean and modern." I take projects that want to look like something.

Practice

Identity

  • Brand systems
  • Wordmarks
  • Type design

Editorial

  • Grid systems
  • Art direction
  • Print production

Motion

  • Onboarding sequences
  • Icon animation
  • Title design

Product

  • Design systems
  • Dark-mode UI
  • Prototyping

Timeline

2024—Now

Independent Studio

Running my own practice out of Oaxaca, taking on 4–6 clients a year.

2020—2024

Senior Art Director, Palo Hondo

Led identity work for a roster of independent record labels and film festivals.

2017—2020

Designer, Cursiva Studio

Editorial design for print quarterlies and cultural institutions.

2013—2017

BFA Visual Communication

Universidad Autónoma, thesis on risograph reproduction as a design constraint.