I’m a Midwest-born designer with a passion for creating impactful work—or, at the very least, something so awesome it blows my mind. Either way, you can bet I’m designing something cool. While my expertise lies in visual brand identity, I love exploring different areas of graphic design. I believe having a well-rounded skill set not only keeps things interesting but also makes me a better designer. Plus, who doesn’t love shaking things up now and then?
From 2016 to 2020, I studied graphic design at Iowa State University. My first year was a humbling experience—I quickly realized I didn’t know nearly as much as I thought I did. But that lesson stuck with me: there’s always room to learn and grow. Simple, right? But it’s a game-changer. That mindset drives me to keep pushing my work further, always aiming to outdo my last project.
So why did I go by a different name for my portfolio? Simply, it's because I have a common name, Brandon Johnson. You can google Brandon Johnson Graphic Design and get dozens of different Brandon Johnson's who are graphic designers. Getting a domain is almost impossible with my name unless I wanted to add a bunch of numbers to it, which I didn't. So I decided the best way to stand out was to create an identity for myself. I've spent the past four years of my college career trying to think of a different name. I've changed it a dozen times and rebranded myself and hating every version of it. So I took a step back from it for a while.
I ended up hanging out with a few of my design friends one day, and one of them said...
"That's pretty on-brand for you."
That got me thinking after hearing those two words, on-brand. I took it as my name, just taking the last two letters and putting it out front. I knew then that On Brand was the correct name for me, and that I found a domain that I could use with no numbers in it, and the rest lead on from there.
2020 - Silver Winner
2020 - Named top 15 of my graduating class
2018 - Full-tuition scholarship for two years
2015
2020 - Helped develop and brand the senior show, as well as helped lead
the committee.
2020 - Created the name of the show, designed the poster, and developed/created the online exhibition.
