AfterQuery
Billboards
My first contract with AfterQuery (W25) was to design 30-foot billboards from start to finish. Three billboards now stand across San Francisco. Upon completion, I was invited to continue designing for the company on a recurring basis.
CATEGORY
YEAR
ROLE
Branding
2026
Design Contractor
The Ask
The client requested three different billboard designs at varying scales and ready to ship illustrator files prepared for a local printing agency. The timeline of this project was around 2 weeks.
The Challenge
At the time, AfterQuery lacked an established brand identity or design system. Working without formal guidelines, I relied on design intuition and a close reading of the company's existing visual language to inform my direction.
Knowing a rebrand was upcoming, I made a deliberate choice to anchor the work in a light, neutral palette — flexible enough to remain relevant through an identity transition without requiring a full redesign. I drew from a subtle black and white duotone pattern present in their existing website and marketing materials, and carried it through the billboard compositions to create visual cohesion with their existing assets.
Key Takeaways
This was my first project with AfterQuery, and it laid the groundwork for what would eventually become a broader brand guide. Frequent communication and iteration with the client made it easier to understand their design sensibilities and desired direction over time.
The project was also my introduction to professional contract work. As my first high-profile design challenge, it taught me a great deal — particularly around graphic design handoffs with external agencies, and the importance of designing with future brand changes in mind.