My oh my, I have been waiting to write this article forever. Let me introduce you to someone who has shaped my vision, who pushes me to think bigger about what a brand can and should be. Meet Geraldine Hessler—a visionary creative director who brings culture, connection, and community to the heart of her work.
Listen, I’m not one to fangirl out loud (usually), but Geraldine Hessler? She’s that girl. The creative director. The design whisperer. The woman who makes me want to frame my to-do list just so it feels more aesthetic.
This woman is the Beyoncé of branding—a visionary who doesn’t just create for the culture but with it. And guess what? You’re about to fall in love with her just like I did.
Who is Geraldine Hessler?
Glad you asked! Let me tell you about her. Based in New York City, Geraldine Hessler is a renowned creative director and designer whose work spans magazine design, brand development, and fashion. She’s best known for her iconic editorial work, where her bold, edgy aesthetic redefined the visual identity of major publications. But beyond her impressive portfolio, there’s something deeper driving her work: a sense of culture, place, and purpose that sets her apart.
I had the honor of sitting down with Geraldine on a fine Monday evening—18th November 2024, (totally made me fall in love with Mondays after that) and we had an hour long chat about community and content.
When we think about Instagram and how we as business share content we normally, tend to want to put everything out there without much consideration-or simply we have considered everything a bit too much but something Geraldine said, shifted my perspective on how we view communication-especially in content or design
“Instagram is a curated forum.” She mentioned in between our conversation, “we rarely post how the sausages made.” In my understanding, we can either process our emotions and curate our chaos aka late night of overthinking or force people to understand what we refuse to share. We want to be real and share everything but sometimes what we can manage to share through the chaos is more than enough.
She went on further and explained that in any project, she needs to keep the vision, if she feels it then it’s good.
When you are starting on a new project, what’s the first question you ask yourself about the brand?
“Whom am I trying to reach?” Geraldine expresses that knowing the people in your community is so so important and you can see it in the way she curates and designs the brand’s experience towards her people. I told her I could easily tell with the previous brands she has worked with, you can tell who this brand is trying to sell to just by looking at the Instagram pages and retail spaces. A lot of people overlook this type of attention to detail when building or even marketing their brands and when I asked how she manages to do it, to explain the essence of the brand without saying anything she said that she lives by the “silent movie rule” as in if you turn off the volume, can you still get the message across, can you feel the synergy between the words and images?
This goes back to knowing what it is that you are selling then understanding who you are trying to sell to and then understanding the community your customers co-exist in and finally boiling down the essence of the brand in one single sentence. Sounds like rocket science I know but walk with me here… I said to her, something between the lines, “that’s like having to put a sentence on a tshirt that defines who you are as a brand or business, to have like-minded people stop and say, sick tshirt!” And she co-signed my statement. I was screaming the entire time.
“People have a short amount to process information so if you have an over complicated message, they’re not going to hear it.” She said to me, emphasizes on the fact that it’s not about watering down your content or who you are to make it simple, but being so clear on what you are passionate about, and then sharing exactly that results into someone feeling what you are trying to say without saying much.
And this only works if you keep what you are trying to say in front of your customers as many times as possible, because out of sight, out of mind. Ugh when she said this, it made me not want to go on a socia media hiatus ever again because I realized that there are so many ways of sharing what you have and what you are building without exhausting your passion.
“How do you translate a brand’s value into a space that feels personal to the community and serves?”
It’s not enough to know you have a good brand, you also need to look into what makes you different, this means diving into the competitive landscape and turning your negatives into positives because most of the time the reason a brand loses a sale is when they lose an advantage over their competitor. What’s going on with your direct competition?
Because if you’re staying in a place, you are being left behind.
cough cough look at Kodak.
Be mindful of your competition. She gave me a really good example of one of her favourite Pepsi commercials where a boy is getting soda from the vending machine and then he uses 2 coke cans as stepping stones so he can reach for a Pepsi can. And I shared one of my favourite Samsung campaigns whereby there was a new Apple shop opening in Malaysia and Samsung branded the entire subway, it was quite hilarious but they utilized the “out of sight, out of mind” rule very well.
Of course, businesses need to realize that you need a certain level of sass to get that point across and landing so it doesn’t fly over everyone’s heads.
Side note, imagine chatting with your inspiration and icon in marketing and branding about your favourite campaigns, PINCH ME. CALL MY MANAGER GUYS.
And what do you focus on to make the community feel welcoming and inclusive?
“It’s personal, how you make a space feel more welcoming and how you see things-the lens that you see things with tells your story.” The moment she said this, I knew what she meant. Let me give you an example, when you go to an event and the people there just ask you a few questions and then leave you there, or they lecture you about your life choices, you probably wouldn’t like to go back buuut if you go to an event and find that everyone speaks your vibe, they all tell great puns and you just can’t stop laughing or smiling, you are most definitely going back right?
It’s not something that can be planned or curated, it’s how you view things, approach your people. Because both events featured you-but only the latter brought out your inner smile. It can’t be taught through words but nurtured and cultivated through experiences.
How did you know community was an integral part of your work?
“Working in magazine from, 1989 to 2013, even before Instagram was a thing, you needed to keep people buying and reading-you needed to keep people interested. You had to tell a story to bring people together, people crave human interactions and human stories”
The idea behind creating a community is making sure that people feel like they already belong because you are essentially talking to them and not at them, your interaction is a 2 way street.
How do you stay inspired to create fresh and innovative campaigns while remaining true to your philosophy?
Staying inspired goes hand in hand with always being hungry for more. Never feeling like I am done, to move like there is always more to do and to do it even better. A painter never seeks to stop painting after finishing a masterpiece, they focus on creating more brush strokes.
Inspiration comes from everywhere, going places and change of scenery.
Staying inspired for Geraldine stems from the art of noticing, going out for long walks in NYC, going to galleries, reading books and noticing the little things in places people hang out. And one might think it’s such a trivial thing but inspiration comes from anywhere and everywhere.
When small business owners or people think of marketing in terms of community building they definitely need to think of it in the sense that they are flirting with their potential.
The only way to execute your idea is to live in it. Surround yourself with reality; put yourself in the moment
“Community is built outdoors."
To me Geraldine is more than a creative director; she is someone who sees and understands the art of longing to notice, to feel to want, and then to belong. These are things we do as humans
– The best way to build a community around your brand is to be authentic in the sense that you should let your emotions shine through your work instead of trying to suppress who you are to fit in a narrative.
The only way to be inclusive is to also include yourself in the conversation you are trying to create with your audience because the conversation is a two-way street.
The world needs more of that, more of you tapping into what makes you you, because it shines through your work, having an anchor that holds your customer down, in the sense that your brand is the ship, but the one sentence holding down your brand is—the essence of your brand.
You can't be the only voice in your head when you're trying to build the community around your business.
There are generally two types of communities, and I think both are equally important, and one shouldn't exist without the other. The first is the type of community that understands you, in the sense that they can see where you are coming from and where you are taking your idea; then one pours into you and validates your thought process, and the other appreciates what your thought process brings to the table, and even though most times these two are like parallel lines, they power each other and keep the passion burning.
I love her philosophy because she looks back at her achievements, acknowledges them, and still strives to do more and touch more ground. I think she does what she does because of who she is. Many have had years of experience but many have yet to leave traces of what matters the most to them in their work. That’s a legacy right there!
What makes Geraldine truly iconic isn’t just her skill; it’s her perspective. She doesn’t just design spaces and brands—she brings them to life by weaving in the heartbeat of culture. She understands that brand loyalty isn’t built on visuals alone but on how a brand makes people feel and connect. It takes more than finesse; it takes empathy and cultural insight, something that Geraldine brings in every project she touches.
Through her work, Geraldine shows us how to build brands that resonate deeply with communities—an approach that has been so inspiring to me as I grow The Paper Money. Watching her fuse culture with brand identity is like getting a masterclass in community-building. She’s the blueprint for creating spaces where people feel seen, welcomed, and connected. It’s design, but it’s also about belonging.
Comentários