Welcome.
I’m Kevin Patnik—a brand strategist, writer, and creative director.
Over the past two decades, I’ve worked with organizations across the nonprofit sector, philanthropy, education, health care, social services, arts and culture, media, Alaska Native corporations, and many more.
I’ve helped them find clarity, instill humanity, and bring life to their brand storytelling.
Prior to agency life, I was a marketing and advertising professional in media, and for arts and cultural organizations. I believe much of what I learned in those formative years has shaped my worldview and “workview” to this day.
I began my career as the first-ever marketing and promotions director at The Stranger, Seattle’s seminal alternative weekly newspaper, which helped define the culture and character of the city in the 90s and early aughts.
I was at the paper for nearly ten transformative years, where I had a hand in shaping The Stranger’s enviable signature brand. What I learned about my trade in those years is this:
What matters most about building and sustaining great brands is that people feel part of something special—that they feel a sense of belonging to a community of fellow travelers.
Since entering agency life, I’ve worked with two of the Pacific Northwest’s most respected, mission-driven branding shops—Pyramid Communications and Phinney Bischoff—where I partnered exclusively with purpose-forward clients.
In 2013, I was part of a team brought on to build and run a brand practice within one of the West Coast’s largest public affairs firms. While being part of that machine had its professional upshots, I often felt like a fish out of water. So I left in 2025 to become a consultant, where I could refocus my time and attention on the parts of the work I love the most.