Vision and Work
I am Olena Zaitseva, a Creative Director, brand strategist and award-winning graphic designer based in Charlotte, North Carolina. For more than a decade I have helped founders, marketing leaders and creative teams transform raw ideas into clear, memorable brands. My approach combines brand strategy, storytelling and contemporary graphic design, creating identities that not only look beautiful but also perform in the real world.
Working across technology, luxury hospitality, fine art and consumer products, I have built visual systems and brand platforms that scale globally. From high-growth AI start-ups to Michelin-level restaurants, my projects prove that design becomes powerful when it is anchored in strategy.
Every engagement begins
with the same question:
What action should your brand inspire?
Signature Clients
Over the years I have collaborated with ambitious brands and cultural leaders across multiple continents.
BRAND IS A VERB™ Framework
To make strategy actionable I created BRAND IS A VERB™, a proprietary framework for behavior-first branding.
This methodology helps teams align vision, language and visuals with the actions a brand must take every day.
It has been formally published as a peer-reviewed preprint on Figshare, providing a public and citable reference for entrepreneurs, creative leaders and academics.
BRAND IS A VERB™ distills more than a decade of practice into a system that any company—from early-stage start-up to global enterprise—can use to connect strategy and design.
It is both a design philosophy and a practical toolkit, guiding how identity lives through every interaction.
Awards & Recognition
My work in brand strategy and graphic design has been recognized internationally.
I received the Red Dot Design Award for excellence in visual communication and am a multiple-time Pentawards laureate, an international competition often called the “Oscars of packaging design.”
My projects are also published in TASCHEN’s The Package Design Book, one of the leading global references for outstanding packaging and branding.
These achievements highlight a design practice that combines aesthetic excellence with strategic impact and is acknowledged worldwide.
Location & Collaboration
I am based in Charlotte, North Carolina, and work with clients worldwide. Whether remote or in-person, I adapt to different time zones and team structures to ensure seamless collaboration.
From start-ups seeking their first visual identity to established brands ready for a strategic refresh, my process stays the same: clarity first, creativity second, measurable impact always.
Through graphic design, brand strategy sessions, and high-impact consultations, I help founders and creative teams turn complex ideas into clear, scalable visual systems. I also create digital products—templates and guides—for entrepreneurs and designers who want proven frameworks without a full agency engagement.
Contact me to start your project or visit the shop to access tools and templates that help you build a brand with confidence.