Approach design differently. Laura Crossley is a creative innovator. She activates 20 years of know-how to build compelling experiences that drive measurable results for purpose-driven brands. Her cross-functional background spans entrepreneurship, innovation, business strategy, creative, marketing, development, and product design – all proven alongside the world’s biggest brands and culture-shifting startups. Let’s team up.

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Designed Differently

connect next steps to the big picture

Strategic Brand and Marketing Leadership

20+ years shaping brand identities, storytelling, and multi-channel marketing for major organizations like Garmin, Lucasfilm, and the Kauffman Foundation.

Multi-Disciplinary Expertise

Skilled in design, content, UX/UI, product development, video, and marketing strategy, allowing for holistic brand storytelling.

Social Impact and Purpose-Driven

Expert in marketing that amplifies meaningful impact, ensuring brands connect authentically with their audiences.

Inside the Studio

Behind the scenes of big ideas, PROCESSES, AND STRATEGIES

I rarely get to show off the full process of a design coming to life in the real world - but for the United WE mural and backdrop at the 2024 We Work for Change event, I managed to capture exactly that. @unitedwe1856 commissioned an 8'x12' backdrop with an interactive mural intended to engage young professional women attending the event. The women could write their messages about the future on a sticker and add it to the mural, then pose with the megaphone to capture the piece for social sharing and tagging. The chosen design blended United WE's requests with a few artistic influences from our Takes Heart collab event earlier that summer. All together – the piece created a powerful statement and fun photo opp at the center of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. This video spotlights the full process: • Concept built in Adobe Illustrator • Backdrop build • Backdrop priming • Mural painting • Mural install • Live event See more of my projects: https://laura-crossley.com
From Design to Build: United WE backdrop and mural | Project Time Lapse | Laura Crossley
When it comes to illustrating women's entrepreneurial journeys – Takes Heart delivered from the very beginning. Even when I wasn't 100% sure what I'd be creating or how it would look, completing the Call for Artists application stayed true to the soul of the creative process. In this video, we'll walk through the design approach I use in this quick timelapse: https://www.tiktok.com/@takes_heart/video/7358606231180823850 Attached, you'll find my actual final application. Take note! The original concept called for ceramic tile, an abundance of gold leaf, and lots of hand lettering. Let me tell you – I started calling audibles fast once I realized the project I had laid out for myself!
The Application | Creating Takes Heart | Episode 3
We went back in time with author Stephanie Carey and her character Sam to build and launch this 2001-inspired website for her book Blindsided. The time-travel novel – launching in February 2025 – needed a fresh Squarespace site update to promote the book and gather its community. Stephanie wanted to take cues from the era Sam visits – 2001 – but that was her sole creative direction. With a quick mood board and fast action on the build, I delivered her site in less than 3 days – just ahead of her official launch party! Visit Stephanie's site: https://helloscarey.com See more by Laura: https://laura-crossley.com
2001-Inspired Website Design | Behind the Design | Laura Crossley
'Looking for Meaning' is (finally!) ready for its home 💙🫧
With a giant blank heart sitting in my basement and a growing list of to-do's to get this project moving, I lost patience and committed the first of many entrepreneurial crimes. I went for it. I made an ugly mess in a rush to do something...anything...with the heart. While I thought I royally messed this thing up, watching the old videos and reading through the messages on the very first layer of this artwork actually re-inspired me. This is what it was truly all about and I love that – despite looking terrible – the heart has these messages at its core.
Making a Mess | Creating Takes Heart | Episode 2
In celebration of the day the heart came home, I'm sharing my live reaction to the videos and photos I collected while we wrestled the heart into the truck and panicked our way down the road to "safety." While it's only been one year, watching these clips was a blast from the past. After scheduling my pick-up date, it was a waiting game for our turn to pop over to the warehouse in north Kansas City. I never anticipated just how cool it would be to see all of the blank white hearts lined up and ready for artists. I truly didn't know what to do with myself. The opportunity to see all of the hearts was so cool. The marketer in my brain said "take photos and videos!" But the artist and creative was like "oh my god, just enjoy this." It was pretty surreal. Ultimately, I snapped a few photos here and there – nothing too noteworthy, but fun snaps none-the-less. In the whirlwind of things, my husband loaded the heart (with some much-needed help from the crew there – thanks guys!). My daughter and I wandered around to see all the hearts while ours was rolled to the front. And that was that. The whole experience was weirdly monumental while being extremely simple at the same time. Driving down our gravel road was another one of those moments. It was the first time we breathed, I think. The stress of getting this giant thing down the highway was officially over. I made Aaron stop so I could get a video of us driving with it – and I'm still so glad I did, to be honest. He thought this was so silly but it's one of my favorite juxtapositions of everything I captured. These hearts spend so much time in the city. It was pretty spectacular to have one of them near my hometown for a stay. There were a lot of parallels in the heart traveling to the countryside from the city the same way I have. I was absolutely in love with having such an iconic piece of our city on the farm with our family. Before we could wrap up our day, I made Aaron pose with the heart too. He did so much of the loading, hauling, and moving logistics in this whole process but stayed so behind the scenes. It feels right that he finally gets to show off his effort as I work my way back through these projects! This, though, was potentially the last photo we would have of this thing in one piece – and I knew it. While the trip down the interstate was finally over, we now had to get it off the truck and through a doorway with only the two of us to finagle how it would happen. Creating Takes Heart had officially began whether we were ready for it or not.
The Heart Comes Home | Creating Takes Heart | Episode 1
We're not in Kansas anymore. 😍🫧✨
Haunted Midcentury dollhouse coming soon?! Would you do it? ⚰️🎃🏚️💀🕸️🕯️🕷️
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