Benjamin Jenness
Graphic Designer & Brand Communications Specialist, expanding into UX/UI Design
I hold a degree in Fine Art and Graphic Design, and spent the first years of my career designing books and publications before moving into marketing and communications for an architectural firm. When I decided to build something of my own, I opened an independent studio specializing in custom tattoo artistry and brand design — and ran it for 14 years, from the first sketch of a logo to the last client walking out the door happy.
Owning that business taught me more about design than any single job title could. Every project — a permanent piece of custom artwork or a client’s brand identity — was a one-on-one design problem: understand what someone actually wants (which isn’t always what they say first), work within real constraints, iterate before committing to something permanent, and build enough trust that the client feels confident in the result. That’s user research, prototyping, and usability testing — I just didn’t call it that at the time.
Today I bring that same instinct to graphic design, publication layout, print production, and brand communications, most recently in large-format digital print production at Wolk AG in Wuppertal. I’m formalizing it further through UX/UI training, because I want to keep solving people-first design problems — just on a screen as well as on paper. Based in Wuppertal, Germany, and looking for my next opportunity.
My Approach
Listen first — Whether it was a client describing a design they’d wanted for years or a stakeholder describing a business goal, the work only succeeds if I understand the real need underneath the request.
Sketch before I commit — Twenty years of drawing by hand taught me to explore ideas quickly and cheaply before investing in a final version — the same principle behind wireframing and prototyping.
Design under constraints — Running a business meant every design decision had a budget, a deadline, and a real stake attached. I don’t design in a vacuum — I design for outcomes.
Build trust through the process — Good design isn’t just the final screen — it’s how confident the user or client feels along the way.