Design Kompany is Akira Morita and Dipika Kohli.
After several years in Cork, Tokyo and Seattle, we’ve become known for our clean, simple design.
We started DK in 1995 in Raleigh, North Carolina. Our first projects were posters for North Carolina State University, which is where and how we met.
Professional backgrounds
Since our start, we’ve worked for several dozen businesses and organizations as media, design, and marketing professionals. We have 25 years of combined experience in communications and consulting.
Dipika’s experience as a newspaper reporter plus training in engineering bring logic and inquiry to DK. Her first international travel was to Switzerland at age 2, and she’s since also been to Kyoto, Copenhagen, and Prague to find creative inspiration in architecture and modern design. In 2009, Smashing Magazine featured Dipika’s designs, and three Seattle galleries showcased her Sharpie artwork.
In 2009, Akira coordinated Blitz, a revamped art walk in Seattle for which DK designed a brand identity, poster, and postcard designs. For several years, Akira also ran the World Beer Festival in Durham, NC, for which DK also created a logo and poster design.
For DK’s clients, Akira asks the big-picture marketing and strategy questions. What single outcome is most desirable to achieve? What would your business look like if you were wildly successful?
Together we do the work of DK: tap the best of what you have to offer the world, and make this substance at once compelling and clear. Design creates impressions. Impressions make people feel. Today more than ever, a sense of connection is what drives sales.
Testimonials
Read what our clients say about the process of teaming with DK.
Personal interests
The people we connect with are those with shared interests: traveling, looking at art, cooking, going to shows, taking pride in doing good work, asking questions, making films, getting friends together, jazz, other kinds of engaging music, and getting inspired in general.
Interns and collaborators at Design Kompany
In 2005, graphic design student Alex Hage called and said he wanted to be our intern. We said, “Really? Well, of course yes.” Alex stenciled these t-shirts. Later that year, web design intern Miki Kobayashi studied user interface design from DK.
In 2006, Jace Krause wrote for DK as our in-house copywriter. Aaron Barker drew for us, inspiring us with personally drawn and found samples of hand-drawn art.
Graphic design student Angela Tomson became our third intern in 2007, showing us how to enjoy the art of comics for the first time since Tokyo. In 2009, graphic design intern Victor Ng sweated out the hottest Seattle week we’d experienced. Record 103F temps—and many of us without A/C. Eesh.
Thinking about design
Smart brand identity design is a process. It works best when we “get” each other.
This work is about communication. Really clear thinking. Our job is to take you from a blank sheet to a brand identity design and package that hits the exact right note.
Finding your authentic voice is the soul of DK.
