Nate Hutcheson
is
a Creative Director.
a Writer.
a Designer.
a Content Curator.
a Wannabe Renaissance
Man.
Wearing Lots of Hats.
Freelancing as Nate Hutcheson Studio, publishing No Algo, a digital ‘museum’ exploring the things we miss in our day-to-day lives, and serving as Director of Partnerships for Nashville Design Week.
bio
Nate (me) is a Nashville-based creative director, designer, and writer. I believe a brand only works when it’s strategy and creative tell the same story. After four years leading creative at the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, and four years before that at Yonts + Co, I now run my own practice spanning brand strategy, creative direction, design, and whatever other work my clients need. My favorite work lives in climate and energy, food and hospitality, startups, media, and anything involving good merch. (Cool tees outlast a cool campaign.)
I also write No Algo, a Substack about (almost) everything under the sun, built on a simple idea: a specific point of view beats another algorithm-fed recommendation. (At least 9 times out of 10.) I also serve as Director of Partnerships on the board of Nashville Design Week, connecting the city’s design community with the companies, organizations, and people that support it.
I studied advertising and graphic design at Western Kentucky University (Go Tops!). With my copius free time, I run more miles than is reasonable, get lost in the Library of Congress archives, and say ‘pspsps’ to my cats, Joe & Bear.
(Also a very big fan of parentheses.)
(See Resume)
awards & press
info
I work with mission-driven brands, organizations, and creators on creative direction, brand strategy, and design. In a sea of sameness, being yourself isn’t just nice, it’s necessary. Most brands already know who they are. The hard part is telling everyone else.
That’s where I come in. I help you share who you really are (your values, your story, your weird little quirks) and make it hold together everywhere it shows up, whether that’s a website, a menu, a pitch deck, or a hat. (Please, please let me design your hat.)
I’ve spent my career working for people who care deeply about what they do, from small businesses at Yonts + Co to members across the Nashville Area Chamber. If that sounds like you, reach out. I’m also available as an extra set of hands for studios, agencies, and in-house teams.
The studio is young and still figuring things out. What I do know is that I want to do good work on good ideas for good people. (Especially if they’re down to work with local business.) Let’s grab a coffee, my treat.
capabilities
I’m a generalist at heart, so here’s a selection of what I do. Use the search box below to see if I offer what you’re looking for. If I can’t do it, reach out anyway. I probably know someone who can.
brand & marketing strategy
Figuring out who a brand actually is, who it’s for, and how to say that clearly, grounded in research and cultural awareness. Making complex ideas and issues legible, and building the deck that sells it.
creative direction & design
Turning strategy into something people can see and feel: identity systems, web and product, print, merch and apparel, and direction for photo and video, plus everything connecting them and the deck that sells them.
content & editorial
Finding a point of view worth sharing, and saying it well: editorial strategy, copywriting, voice development, curation, newsletters, and publications. Content that earns attention instead of just filling a feed.
communications & partnerships
Getting the right people and organizations in the room, from creators and influencers to sponsors and community partners, and building collaborations worth it for everyone involved.
organizing & planning support
Being the second brain in the room: running workshops and planning sessions, asking the annoying questions, and turning a whiteboard full of ideas into an actual plan (and a tidy shared drive).
hire
My calendar is open and booking for projects from now through Summer 2027.
To get in touch, please email nathanielhutcheson@gmail.com with the subject line “COMPANY NAME x Nate Hutcheson Studio: PROJECT.”
pro bono
nonprofits & cultural organizations
Nonprofits make our community better for everyone in it. If your budget is tight and your mission is good, I keep room for discounted and pro bono work. Just ask.
select case studies
Below is a selection of work from throughout my career. I’m still working to add additional assets as I continue to build my site.
Choose How You Move
Getting Nashville to say yes to transit, six years after it said no.
creative direction · design · campaign strategy · web design & dev. | Chamber team + Chezy (video production)
In 2018, Nashville voters rejected a transit plan by nearly two to one. In 2024, Mayor Freddie O’Connell put a new $3.1 billion plan on the ballot: sidewalks, smarter signals, round-the-clock bus service, funded by a half-cent sales tax. The Chamber, alongside Moving Forward and the Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee, rallied the business community behind it.
We focused on messengers, not just messaging. Business, civic, and community leaders went on camera to explain what the positive impact the plan would have on their customers, neighbors, and employees. They went on camera in 31 videos, a quarter of which aired on TV, backed by a campaign landing page, posters, palm cards, and full-page ads in the Nashville Business Journal. With variations in both English and Spanish across the campaign. The result? 66% of voters said “Yes” to the city’s largest capital program ever.
66% Voter Approval, a near two-to-one win 31 Bilingual Videos 5m+ Combined Views 12m+ Impressions 9,400 Campaign Landing Page Visits 4 Person In-House Team
Press, Links, & More
Chamber Reports
Reports that lead, not just read.
creative direction · design · data visualization · ux / ui · web design & dev. | Chamber team
Every year, the Chamber publishes three reports: the Annual Report to members and investors, the Education Report on Metro Nashville Public Schools, and Datascape, the regional data report that accompanies the annual Leadership Study Mission. When I arrived, they were designed for print and handed out at events. Going digital meant uploading the PDF and sharing via a QR code.
I pitched building them for the screen first, with print as the companion instead of the starting point. This allowed us to go deeper on research, share digital-exclusive work, make insights interactive, and cut upfront print costs. Being native to the web also made them measurable for the first time. The 2021-2022 Annual Report won Best in Show and Print & Electronic Publications at the 2023 ACCE Communications Excellence Awards.
2 ACCE Awards, including Best in Show 11 Reports Designed 1 Report Hub
Press, Links, & More
Partnership 2030
Asking a region to invest in itself, again.
brand rollout · event creative direction · advertising · web design & dev. | Chamber team + FoxFuel Creative (brand identity)
Since 1990, the Chamber’s public-private economic development initiative has helped bring more than 1,100 companies to the Nashville region, from Amazon to Nissan North America. Every five years, it asks the region’s businesses to invest again. In 2025, the Chamber launched the next phase under the theme “United We Create,” backed by more than 260 investors.
We partnered with FoxFuel Creative on the brand. Once it was final, I took it from there: building out the system from their initial pieces, designing and building the new Partnership 2030 webpage, and leading the ad strategy that followed, from full-page Nashville Business Journal ads featuring the region’s leaders to a three-month WPLN radio run, including design, placement, and vendor coordination. I also helped lead creative direction for the launch party and the events that followed, from run of show and A/V to media coordination and branded merch.
260+ Investors $30m Raised, 100% of goal 315 Launch Event Attendees
Press, Links, & More
Annual Celebration
Reinventing a 175-year-old tradition, one year at a time.
event branding · event creative direction · run of show · a/v · video · design | Chamber team
The Annual Celebration is the Nashville Area Chamber’s biggest night of the year. It’s where the region’s business and civic leaders gather, the Spirit of the Region Awards are presented, and the Annual Report is released. The Chamber has been around since 1847. The challenge was keeping a tradition that old from feeling like one.
For five years, I helped lead the creative direction behind it, from event identity and stage design to run of show, A/V, and video. In 2022, the 175th edition sold out the Renaissance with 800+ guests. In 2023, I pitched building the whole program around artificial intelligence. I’d been tracking it for a year and wanted the Chamber to be a first mover, putting AI in front of the region’s business leaders before it was on most of their agendas, through interactive demos and an industry panel. In 2025, we traded the keynote for an awards show. And for 2026, I led the creative direction and branding that moved the event out of the ballroom and onto the field at Nissan Stadium for an evening under the lights, with Icon Awards honoring Dolly Parton, Martha Rivers Ingram, and Ronald L. Corbin.
800+ Guests at Sold-out 175th Anniversary 3,700+ Total Attendees 5 Unique Themed Brands
Press, Links, & More
Building an In-House Creative Engine
The system behind every logo, project, and event.
creative operations · brand systems · workflow design · team leadership · budget management| Chamber team
Marketing at the Chamber supports every department: economic development, policy, membership, talent and education, plus every event, sponsor, and member touchpoint. I was the first hire under my boss, which meant building systems in real time while we made the work.
While she developed the intake process in Workzone, I tailored each department’s workflow so they could collaborate with creative easily. I built the Brand Resource Center in SharePoint so staff could access the logos, decks, and templates they needed most, then expanded it every year with a printed brand guide, staff training, and HR resources.
I also ran the team’s infrastructure. I moved the Chamber’s outside websites from Squarespace to WordPress, managed the budgets for web, print, software, and equipment, and built two trackers: one for the Chamber’s in-kind ad trades and one for the print trade budget. Along the way, I hired and supervised the Chamber’s first marketing intern and onboarded a new multimedia producer, bringing video production in-house.
1,500+ Project Requests 339k Website Users in FY26, up25%
Press, Links, & More
more work
Below you’ll see (once I finish) a selection of work I’ve completed throughout my career.
The Chamber Effect
Letting Members show the ripple effect of belonging.
creative direction · campaign · design | Chamber team
A 2023 membership campaign showing the impact & community built through the connections Chamber Members create or better known as “The Chamber Effect.” I led creative direction across print, digital, and video. It won two ACCE Communications Excellence Awards in 2024, for Campaigns and Best in Show, the Chamber’s second year in a row taking the top prize for Category 3. (Category 3 is defined by ACCE as organizations having an annual revenue of more than $3 million.)
Press, Links, & More
The NELAS
Creating an awards show worth winning for Nashville's Young Professionals.
brand identity · event creative direction · content production | Chamber team = UpLight Technologies (Lighting + AV)
Now in its 19th year, the Nashville Emerging Leader Awards honor Middle Tennessee professionals ages 21 to 40 across more than a dozen industries. But confusion over the acronym, and with other Nashville organizations, had left the brand muddy. In 2025, I led a full rebrand into The NELAS: messaging, logo and identity, the awards themselves, the program, and the show. It landed so well that our presenting sponsor, Belmont University, added a scholarship for every winner at the last minute. In 2026, we went further, with upgraded lighting and production and the event’s first table sales, driving record attendance and its strongest ticket sales ever. Both years, I turned the finalist reception into a content shoot that fed the show.
300+ Attendees, a Record +42.9% Attendance Increase, 2026 226 Nominations
Press, Links, & More
Leadership Study Mission
Taking Nashville's leaders on the road to see what's next.
event branding · print materials · bespoke data report · content | Chamber team
For more than 30 years, the Chamber has taken the region’s business, civic, and elected leaders to another city to study how it handles growth. Past trips helped spark the Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee and the Nashville Downtown Partnership. I branded every trip from Tampa in 2023 through Miami in 2026, plus the identity for Dallas in 2027. The standouts were Phoenix in 2024, studied as a transit-funding model months before Nashville’s own transit vote, and Miami in 2026, which filled to capacity with a waitlist.
500+ Delegates Across Four Trips 5 Trip Identities
Press, Links, & More
Warren RECC
Letting the facts do the driving.
vehicle wrap · design · art direction · photography | Yonts + Co., for Warren RECC
Warren Rural Electric Cooperative serves nearly 70,000 customers across rural south-central Kentucky, where trucks outnumber EVs. When the co-op added a Chevy Bolt to its fleet, we built an EV sub-brand and turned the car into a rolling fact sheet. We skipped the pitch and gave drivers the facts in big, short lines readable from any side of the vehicle. I art directed and designed the brand, the wrap, and the photography, and co-managed the project.
Yonts + Co.
Treating the agency like its own best client.
art direction · brand expansion · web design & dev. · merch | Yonts + Co.
At Yonts + Co, a Bowling Green agency, I served as the in-house art director and design lead for the agency’s own brand. I expanded a logo system the team was barely using, until the buffalo became the mark Bowling Green knew us by, and carried it into merch, office artwork, and even a branded beer. I also designed and built the agency’s custom website start to finish, then taught myself SEO to make it work harder.
Press, Links, & More
no algo
a digital ‘museum’ exploring the things we miss in our day-to-day lives.
The internet was built to wander, and that’s just what No Algo does. Exhibits will feature thoughts on design, fashion, popular and unpopular music, historical side quests, and other brilliant things in a curated mess. Music you won’t find on the charts, art that predates your feed, and ideas the algorithm buries. All for those that like to wonder.
explorations
X This just means side projects, working on getting these up. X
unsplash
contributing a share of my photography as free stock imagery
As a creative, my eye is always on the lookout for inspiration. Instead of letting those images stay in my camera roll, I edit and share a selection of them as free stock images for others.
60+ Photos 1.6m+ Views 7,000+ Downloads Top 25% Contributor
are.na
building, connecting, and collecting in public
Are.na is a mindful space where you can work through any project over time. It’s a place to structure your ideas and build new forms of knowledge together. I use it as a organizational tool for writing No Algo and things that inspire me.
Built by me 🙂
© 2026 Nathaniel F. Hutcheson