Today we’d like to introduce you to Leah Meilander
Hi Leah, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I would say I’ve been an artist my whole life – especially loving to draw with pencil & pen. I hadn’t realized what careers were possible with art, so I took the path of marketing in college, and then design came my way through my first jobs after graduation. In that time, I just sort of happened into the world of type, logo design, and lettering.
In January 2021, I took the leap into freelancing, and created my art & design studio, That’s Goodness Design, in January 2021 — and only just recently, rolling my freelancing & art into one business.
I had been in marketing/design roles up for about 11 years of being an in-house marketer in the B2B spaces across a couple different industries, learning so many things related to design/marketing/communication/sales, which was incredible helpful experience, but I always had something in me to work for myself and build a brand.
Truthfully, I started with freelance design work, focusing on marketing strategy, graphic design, and website design for clients at that time. And then about a year and a half later, I spun up an art studio business, because as much as I really enjoyed being creative for others, I also got a sense of joy creating for me.
Over the past 4 years, I’ve been finding my footing and figuring out the type of brand designer & artist I want to be.
At the heart of what I do for clients is that I love to hear other people’s stories, and I love to help them tell those stories through visual design and art. And, really, that’s also what’s at the heart of what I create as an artist — to make art I want to make. It’s inspired by words, song lyrics, and quotes or phrases that encompass what I think it means to be relatable humans. or a direction I want to grow in creatively.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Not a smooth road, but I can’t say I wouldn’t have expected it to be smooth in the first place. I definitely took the leap knowing it might not work out the way I hope.
That said, there have been struggles and there have also been mistakes /”freelancer life lessons” along the way.
Some of those freelancer lessons that come to mind at first have much to do with pricing oneself and setting correct expectations & boundaries. Having come from an in-house background, both of those areas have less definition (i.e., the employer sets the hourly rates, and dictates a lot of what kind of work there is to be done, when, and how) — which meant I did a lot of stumbling through those areas, only to learn by making mistakes.
As for the bigger struggles, I would say these are a matter of external things outside my control (the market, prospect budgets, buying habits, etc.) and just parts of the business that I need to plan for thoughtfully, such as the peaks and valleys of freelance work.
I think there will always be new and old struggles as I continue along this path, and as I continue learning, I hope to “use my powers for good” and provide advice/mentorship to others who are on the same path or looking to jump into it.
That aspect of shared experiences and finding a community is, what I believe, makes the difference in how to handle the challenges that come our way.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I specialize in brand identity design, graphic/web design, hand-lettering, and illustration. It sounds like many things, which they are, but there’s also overlap between my work, too.
Often, when I design a logo, brand assets, or theme, they are fully custom, and hand-drawn from the beginning. Many logo marks I’ve done are wordmarks, which means my hand-lettering skills are used to create something unique to the client, that conveys a certain personality & look.
The same can be said when I create icon sets and brand illustrations, both of which begin as paper/iPad sketches before making them digital.
I would say my hand-drawn touch to my design work sets me apart, and my design-mind can be seen in my approach to art. Something I’m really proud of is folks reaching out to me based on my work I’ve been sharing through Social Media. I fully believe the idea that you not only must make the things, but you need to show them, too, or no one will know what you do or what you want to do.
A couple notable projects so far would be the 2024 Medtronic Marathon Poster Show, the 2025 Winter Beer Dabbler poster artist, and Girls on the Run MN’s Limitless Potential Luncheon theme design.
What are your plans for the future?
At this point, I wouldn’t say any *big* changes are planned, but I do hope to build the bridge between my freelance design work & my art, making a more solid connection between these two areas of my business and my passions.
From this, I hope to gain more brand design work, because I really truly enjoy ideating & drawing the look and feel for a client. Whether it’s a rebrand/new branding, refresh, or even designing more of a short-term theme for a project, I would love to lean more into those opportunities.
Beyond that, I do still have my eye on consumer packaged goods, in the beverage industry to be more precise. With the hotbed of craft breweries just in Minnesota, I’d love to make connections and lend my lettering & illustration skills to their label/packaging designs.
I hope to be able to be successful enough in my art & design work that I can carve out time to offer 1-2 pro-bono projects/year to local organizations in the community.
And outside of client projects, I would love to grow my art studio to engage in more opportunities to connect with the community/public, be it through murals, poster shows, hosting workshops, or helping to make more connections between artists & non-artists.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thatsgoodness.design
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatsgoodnessdesign/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thatsgoodnessdesign
- Other: https://bsky.app/profile/thatsgoodness.bsky.social
