you can call me
mik—or you can Call
me mikayla.

  • Mikayla Zancanelli is an emerging designer specializing in brand identity, signage, and environmental graphics. She approaches design with curiosity and passion––striving for unique solutions that create surprise and delight.

    Her open-minded nature invites a creative process that is both chaotic and minimal. She believes design is a superpower in helping others tell a meaningful story. Mikayla thrives in her understanding of people's wants and needs and can adapt her capabilities to each client's vision while leading them in the right direction.

  • Miami University (Ohio)
    2015 - 2020
    BFA, Communication Design
    Minor in Sculpture

    Mikayla earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Design at Miami University in Ohio––where she learned foundational graphic design skills and how they apply to modern-day contexts. Her advanced curriculum involved numerous studios focusing on brand identity and strategy.

    Alongside her design education, Mikayla took various credits through Miami’s Farmer School of Business that focused on storytelling, entrepreneurship and innovation. This education provided Mikayla with a strong perspective on the role that visual storytelling plays in business. Through extracurriculars, Mikayla developed a passion for traditional printmaking and letterpress printing. She spent numerous hours dedicated to learning techniques from modern-day printers while practicing the traditional methods of metal, wood typesetting, and woodcarving. This opened Mikayla’s eyes to the endless world of printed ephemera, and the letterpress printing communities’ dedication to keeping print alive. This experience inspired much of her professional and personal work.

    Printer’s Camp at MICA (Baltimore)
    July 01 - July 11, 2019
    One of sixteen students selected to participate in the 10-day Letterpress printing residency funded by the National Endowment. The residency took place in Baltimore, where students had the opportunity to collaborate with student printers at the GLOBE collection and press inside the Maryland Institute College of Art.

    Le Flambeu, Notre Dame De Sion (Kansas City)
    2013 - 2015
    Graphic Design Editor

  • ArtHouse Design (Denver, CO)
    Designer
    Apr 2021 - Dec 2023

    Collaborated with team to design and assist in the implementation of various brand identity, signage, environmental graphics, and wayfinding projects.

    ArtHouse is a design firm specializing in brand identity, signage, and environmental graphics. As a junior designer, foundational skills in environmental graphics were gained through supporting roles in projects across a diverse group of industries including residential/mixed-use developments, park/trail, health care, entertainment, food /beverage, and office/retail. Responsibilities included:

    Brand Identity
    Collaboration in brand identity design, development, and identity standards. Support in client brand identity meetings and presentations. Assistance to design directors in ensuring client expectations / internal standards are met.

    Print Collateral Design
    Support in the design and development of printed collateral items. Production and management as it pertains to the communication of standards to both the client and printers. Facilitated client approvals of designed collateral items from start to final production

    Signage and Environmental Graphic Design
    Collaboration in schematic design and development for a variety of projects. Support for client presentations, and client management. Support in design intent and documentation for fabrication pricing.

    Implementation Support
    Reading architectural sets to create and review location plans for installation. Reviewing fabricator shop drawings to ensure production is as promised and meets client / internal standards.

    Projects Mikayla collaborated on as designer with ArtHouse:

    Glenwood Hot Springs Signage Update (2023)

    National Jewish Health Donor Recognition
    ––Denver, CO. (2021-2022)

    Perot Museum of Nature and Science
    ––Donor Recognition Standards, Dallas, TX. (2023)

    Roundup River Ranch Capital Campaign Donor Recognition (2023)

    Trimble Corporate Headquarters, ––Westminister, CO. (2021-2022)

    Denver Tech Center Signage and Wayfinding Update
    ––Denver, CO. (2022-2023)

    Treeline Treats , Sundog Taproom, and Zero Creek
    ––Winter Park Resort, CO. (2022-2023)

    Budge’s Wilderness Lodge––Colorado Flat Tops, CO. (2022-2023)

    Riverwalk at Edwards Environmental Graphics
    ––Edwards, CO (2023)

    Highline Canal Trail Interpretive Signage
    ––Denver, CO. (2023)

    Ayden Apartments––Denver, CO. (2021-2023)

    Oso Apartments––Denver, CO. (2021-2023)

    Selene Luxury Apartments Print Collateral
    ––Dallas, TX. (2021-2022)

    The Copper District––Clayton, NC. (2021-2022)

    Global Down Syndrome Foundation––Denver,CO. (2022)

    Food Bank of the Rockies––Denver, CO. (2022-2023)

  • Genghis Kern (Denver, CO)
    Contract Graphic Designer
    July 2020 - Apr 2021

    Carson Doyle (Denver, CO)
    Contract Graphic Designer
    Dec 2020 - Apr 2021

    Gadabout Media (Denver, CO)
    Contract Graphic Designer
    June 2020 - Sep. 2020

    Bernstein & Rein Advertising (Kansas City, MO)
    Graphic Design Intern
    Summer 2018

  • Email:
    mikayla@zancanelli.com