About 43˚ North DesignFigure it out Make it work
I’m Jeff Hirschmann, the designer behind 43˚ North Design, an independent graphic design studio in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
I’ve spent more than 25 years working in design, creative and production environments, including directing production design studios at Milwaukee-area advertising agencies. Along the way, I’ve worked across brand identity, logo design, advertising, print, digital and the production side that has to make all of it actually work.
These days, I bring that experience directly to small and midsize businesses. Fewer layers. Direct conversation. And a lot of time spent figuring out what the real problem is before deciding what needs to be designed.
Experience Without the Speech
Twenty-five years teaches you that the first problem usually isn’t the real one.
A business may come in thinking it needs a new logo when the bigger problem is inconsistency. A brochure may look dated, but changing the layout won’t help if the information itself isn’t clear. Sometimes everything does need to change. Sometimes very little does.
Experience helps me tell the difference.
It also means I’m thinking beyond what something looks like on my screen. How will the logo reproduce? What happens when it gets small? What happens when it gets very large? Can the next person who touches the brand actually use what I’ve built?
The assignments change. The goal doesn’t: understand what the work needs to do, then make it do that well.
Only What the Project Needs
I don’t believe every project needs to become a bigger project.
Some businesses need a complete brand identity. Others need a better logo, stronger sales materials or a handful of pieces that finally look like they came from the same place.
And sometimes part of what’s already there is worth keeping. The work starts by sorting that out. What’s working? What isn’t? What has value? What’s getting in the way? Then we fix what actually needs fixing.
No extra layers just to make the scope sound more important.
Why 43˚ North
The studio name comes from where I live and work. The 43rd parallel runs through this part of Wisconsin, so 43˚ North felt like a natural place to start.
It’s local. Simple. Grounded here.
The mark takes its cue from a fly reel. Fly fishing is one of the ways I get away from the desk. Probably not by accident, it rewards many of the same things I value in the work: patience, focus and paying attention to the small stuff.
You’ll Work Directly With Me
43˚ North Design is intentionally small. One studio. One designer.
When we talk about your business, I’m the person listening. I’m also the person doing the design, presenting the work, making the refinements and preparing the final files. There isn’t an account person in the middle or a handoff to someone who wasn’t part of the original conversation. For me, that makes the work better. Things don’t get lost between the conversation and the design, and you always know who you’re working with.
you don't need to have all the answers
That’s part of what you’re hiring me for.
Tell me what’s changing. What feels disconnected. What you’re trying to launch. Or just show me the thing that hasn’t been working and you can’t quite put your finger on why.
We’ll sort through it from there.
