I’m Grace Reese—a Long Beach-based graphic designer, visual storyteller, creative problem-solver, and lifelong collector of interesting things to look at.

I’ve always been a little obsessed with the visual world around me. A strange bit of typography on a storefront. The way afternoon light hits an old building. A perfectly imperfect handwritten sign. A color combination that shouldn't work but somehow does. A fleeting moment on the street that makes you stop and look twice. I notice these things. I collect them. And somewhere along the way, they tend to find their way into my work.

For more than 15 years, I’ve made a career out of turning ideas into visual experiences. Much of that time has been spent in the fast-moving world of wine, beer, and spirits, where I’ve had the opportunity to work across an unusually broad creative landscape—branding, publications, catalogs, digital marketing, social media, photography, motion graphics, event materials, campaigns, and all the visual details in between.

It has been a career built on versatility.

I’ve never been the designer who wants to do just one thing. I like moving between projects, disciplines, ideas, and challenges. I can be deep in typography and layout one minute and thinking through a photography concept, digital campaign, production problem, or last-minute creative curveball the next. I’m comfortable wearing multiple hats, collaborating with different personalities and departments, and jumping into unfamiliar territory when a project calls for it.

In fact, some of my favorite creative challenges are the ones that don't come with a perfectly written roadmap.

I’m naturally curious and quick to adapt, and I genuinely enjoy learning my way into something new. New industry? New audience? New technology? New design problem? Bring it on. I’m bright, resourceful, and comfortable figuring things out as I go. Years of experience have given me a strong creative foundation, but they’ve also taught me something just as important: good design requires flexibility. Sometimes you follow the plan. Sometimes you throw the plan out the window, grab a coffee, and find a better one.

My experience has also taught me that design rarely happens in isolation. Some of the most rewarding work comes from collaboration—the conversations, unexpected ideas, problem-solving, and occasional controlled chaos that happen between designers, marketers, photographers, writers, sales teams, vendors, and clients. I enjoy being part of that process. I like understanding the why behind a project, not just the what, and I’m happiest when I can help take an idea from that first “what if?” all the way to something tangible and meaningful.

Visually, I’m drawn to work that feels alive. My style is influenced by street photography, nature, contemporary culture, bold graphic elements, typography, and the beautiful weirdness of everyday life. I love layering photography and design to create visual stories, playing with scale and composition, and finding the unexpected detail that gives a piece its personality.

But after all these years, I’ve learned that good design isn't simply about making something beautiful.

It’s about communication.

It’s about knowing when to make something loud and when to let it whisper. It’s about creating a visual language that makes people pause, connect, understand, remember, or feel something. It’s about giving a brand a personality, giving a story a little more life, and giving an audience a reason to care.

That’s what keeps me excited about design after 15+ years: there is always another story to tell, another problem to solve, another visual rabbit hole to fall into.

I’m still curious. Still learning. Still collecting interesting things to look at.

And I’m always up for the next creative adventure.

Pretty is nice. Purpose is better. Curiosity is everything. And if we can have a little fun along the way, even better.

View Grace’s resume here