Interview: Behind the Mark with Iconic Designer Hana Ortiz

About Hana: Hana Ortiz has led identity work for technology brands and cultural institutions. In this interview she discusses process, the role of craft, and what she believes makes a logo endure.

Q: What's your first step when a new identity brief lands?

A: 'I start with questions. Not visual questions — behavioral ones. Who interacts with this brand? At what moments? A logo must solve for recognition and emotion in the right contexts. So I build a map of brand encounters before I sketch.'

Q: How do you balance originality with functional constraints?

A: 'Originality often comes from constraints. If a client must use a single color on small packaging, the design choices shift to gesture and silhouette. Function reduces the swimming pool of possibility and often surfaces a more honest idea.'

Q: Do you use generative tools in your ideation process?

A: 'Yes, but as a brush for exploration. AI can give you many variations quickly, but the designer's role is editorial. We choose and refine. The craft is in the restraint, in pulling a coherent narrative from the noise.'

Q: What technical practices do you obsess over?

A: 'Pixel preview is vital. I also obsess over counters in typography and the way a glyph reads when rendered as a 1x favicon. Too many designers deliver beautiful big-scale marks that break at micro sizes.'

Q: What's an identity mistake you see repeatedly?

A: 'Over-decoration. Designers sometimes add textures, gradients, and illustrative detail without asking whether the process will be reproducible for production teams. An identity should be pragmatic.'

Q: Advice for junior designers?

A: 'Learn the rules and then break them thoughtfully. Practice building identities for constrained canvases: a 32px avatar, a 72px app icon, physical signage. Also, learn how to write a simple usage brief — half of adoption problems come from unclear guidelines.'

Q: How do you measure success in an identity project?

A: 'Adoption and recognition. If teams use the assets correctly and customers can pick out the brand faster in a lineup, that's success. Metrics don't need to be fancy — simple A/B recognition tests and adoption rate across marketing materials work well.'

'An identity that is loved but never used is just art. An identity that is used but not loved is a missed opportunity.' — Hana Ortiz

Closing thoughts

Hana's emphasis on pragmatic design — thinking through encounters, simplifying for production, and testing for recognition — offers a valuable guide for identity designers at every stage. Her work is a reminder that craft and systems thinking go hand in hand.

For designers: try Hana's suggested exercise — redesign an existing local brand with only two colors and three size constraints. You'll learn more about prioritization than any course can teach.