About

Peopledesign is the strategic growth partner for commercial furnishings companies. We help contract furniture, lighting, textiles, and flooring brands navigate complex sales cycles and evolving demands of the built environment.

We live in an era of significant change. The new market landscape is evolving beyond optimization, and companies must proactively evolve to keep up with the people they serve. Lasting brands put people in the center – customers, influencers, sellers, and employees.

Leaders will adopt new priorities, taking time to understand what is truly meaningful to their stakeholders. Let’s connect about how we can help you.

We shape our environments, and then they shape us, which is why our clients’ work is so important. People-centered approaches can sharpen your strategic focus, amplify your brand, and increase customer value.

Meet the team

Jake Himmelspach

Principal and Strategy Director

Jake is our lead researcher and strategist. He applies human-centered design methods to help companies develop growth strategies.

MBA Innovation Strategy, FSU
BA Communications, WMU
Board of Directors, Rockford Public Schools

Chas Appleby

Creative Director

Chas leads our creative solutions. With a background in design and business, he empowers teams to create innovative answers to strategic questions.

BFA Design & Illustration, Columbia College

Ted Bingham

Account Manager

Ted guides our client relationships for mutual success. His teaching and customer service background helps us stay aligned with our clients and their strategy.

BA Psychology, GVSU
Photographer
Former Special Education Teacher

Yang Kim

Executive Creative Director and Co-Founder

Yang's peers have recognized her work for its clarity, distinctiveness, humanity, and charm. Her no-nonsense style, wit, and devotion to her work have earned her long-standing client relationships.

“One of the most influential designers working today.”
- Graphic Design USA

BFA Design, Carnegie Mellon University
Co-Author, Brand Identity Essentials
AAF Silver Medalist
AIGA Fellow

Kevin Budelmann

President and Co-Founder

Kevin oversees the firm's strategic direction and helps manage client relationships as a designer, strategist, and change catalyst. He advises, teaches, writes, and discusses strategic design in various organizations.

“You would be lucky if Kevin and his remarkable team put their creativity, passion, and dangerous intelligence to work for you.”
- Brian Collins

MDM Innovation, IIT Institute of Design
BFA Design, Carnegie Mellon University
Co-author, Brand Identity Essentials
Professor, Northwestern, MSU
Board Member, IxDA Global, APDF, AIGA

Our work has been recognized in publications and competitions worldwide.

AIGA
American Corporate Identity
Communication Arts
Communicator Awards
Critique magazine
Graphic Design: USA
Graphis
How magazine
Print magazine
ReBrand 100
Step: Inside Design magazine
The American Center for Design
The Creativity Annual
The New York Art Directors Club
W3 Awards
Webby Awards
Many regional competitions...

Ralph Caplan, author of The Design of Herman Miller, described our book as “a model for clarity in a field that rarely has any.”

Brand Identity Essentials
Available in six languages. Now in its second edition.

About Us