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About Heuss Design

Sowing values-driven design

Growing up on an apple farm, I learned the value of hard work and the effort and care it takes to grow something from nothing. I learned from my parents, my father a salt-of-the-earth, quiet but powerful soul who was guided by always doing right by the land and the people that worked on it. This paired with his pragmatic approach to even the most difficult situations, taught me that working hard and being practical, kind and fair was the way I wanted to go through life.

When it came time for me to pick my path, I was driven to be the first in my family to graduate high school and then college. After working full time through college, I set my sights on the corporate world, working in marketing project management in every area of marketing — from rolling out new brands to managing a website design process, developing marketing plans and helping companies win multi-million dollar projects through compelling stories and beautifully designed proposals. But after almost a decade in, I looked around at one point and thought, all I’m doing is looking out for myself and I’m so focused on climbing the ladder that I haven’t stopped to look down and realize there are people who can’t even reach the first rung.

Shortly after that realization, my father died unexpectedly and tragically and I knew I couldn’t ignore all the blaring alarms going off in my head. I left my job, feeling desperate to get back to my roots, to make my contribution to this world the way I was taught — by being a good steward of my community, living my values and growing beautiful things that made a difference.

And Heuss Design – named in honor of my father – began.

ps it’s pronounced like rice!

Working the Soil of Branding + Web Design

Heuss Design was founded with my story in mind, like a farmer tending their crop, we take ideas from a tiny seed and nurture them until they grow and make an impact on others. We help our clients get their hands dirty, to first find their values and then by teaching them to work the soil, plant the seeds and enjoy the harvest.

And in my own work to leave the world better than I found it, I offer my talents to communities who have been systematically pushed to the margins. The greatest purpose of the work I do is that it enables me to give back to my community in a tangible way.

We value giving back to our community through:

mentorship —

being a consistent leader, dedicating weekly time to meet with creatives, freely sharing resources and lessons learned

Allyship —

recognizing that allyship is a verb and not an adjective, we partner with marginalized creatives, offer services for free to the BIPOC community, commit to a lifetime of building relationships based on trust, consistency, accountability — not what looks good on paper

We work with established business who are:
  • Good community stewards
  • Driven by their values
  • Have great taste

Our work is:
  • Intentional + process focused
  • Soley for our clients — not what’s best for our portfolio
  • Executed with care

Meet the Team

Corporate dropout, Bravo TV junkie and Diet Coke worshiper Chelsea is the mastermind behind Heuss Design. When she isn’t designing the most devine websites and brands with business owners, she’s probably traveling, camping or spending every free second with her incredible husband. If she ever met Ina Garten, it’d be all over.

Chelsea Warne


Founding Creative Director

If the Heuss Design process is our baby, then Austin is daddy. He ensures that everything involving our client experience and process feels seamless from inquiry to delivery. Austin is a client mind reader with extensive project management experience with both local and global corporations. He’s a proud uncle and Swiftie.

Austin McNeal


Senior Project Manager

Simply put, Nate is Heuss Design’s voice of reason. He allows our big creative dreams to have solid footing in reality, especially when deadlines are tight and the details matter. He’s an experienced designer with a background in print, digital and packaging for both corporate and hospitality. We’d be nothing without our resident pragmatist.

Nate Spangenberg


Technical Design Director