Welcome.
I’m Kevin Patnik—a brand strategist, writer, and creative director.
Over the past two decades, I’ve worked with businesses and organizations across the nonprofit sector, philanthropy, education, health care, social services, arts and culture, media, Alaska Native corporations, and others to help them better connect with their communities through memorable brand storytelling and experiences .
Prior to agency life, I was a marketing and advertising professional in media and with 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 that sense of belonging unique to a community of fellow travelers who share a common point of view and purpose.
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 joined Strategies 360, where I was part of a team brought on to build and run a brand, advertising, and marketing practice within one of the West Coast’s largest public affairs firms. I left S360 in 2025 to become a consultant and focus on the aspects of my work I do—and love—the most.