Story is the strategy.
We build brands that make people feel something and buy something. Strategy-led, story-first, built for the long game.
Built for brands that
mean something
brands
matter.
Strategy & Design
Across Industries
Brand Investment
During Em's CMO Tenure
We're not a full-service agency.
We're a sharp one.
Herwood Creative is a strategy-led creative studio founded by June Atkins and Em Atkins. We build brand identities, digital experiences, and content systems for clients who want work that lasts not work that looks good in a deck and disappears six months later.
"The thoughtfulness and comfort of a Four Seasons through the lens of Woodstock-era mindfulness."
Forbes · AFAR · Michelin Guide · Yahoo Life
elevated.
Two weeks flat.
strategy.
brand mixology.
Six ways we can
change your brand
Brand Identity & Strategy
Naming, visual identity, brand architecture, positioning. We build the foundation first so every execution that follows has something real to stand on.
Campaign Development & Production
Full campaign ecosystems from strategy through execution. Integrated paid, organic, and creator-led campaigns with performance measurement built in from day one.
Visual Design & Art Direction
Photography direction, shoot production, design systems, and the visual language that makes people stop scrolling.
Performance Marketing & Growth
Multi-channel paid media, acquisition strategy, lifecycle marketing, and the analytics infrastructure to know what's actually working. $47M scaled, not projected.
Creator & Influencer Programs
We've built creator programs from scratch at the inn, at scale in healthcare, and for clients across industries. Follower counts are the last thing we look at.
Interactive Design & AI Creative
Websites, digital experiences, AI-generated imagery, and automated content workflows. We're already building with these tools so your brand doesn't have to figure it out.
Ready to build
something real?
We take on a limited number of projects each quarter.
Tell us what you're working on.
Built by people who have
done the thing.
Em and June have been married for five years, and have been building things together since before it was a business. A boutique inn recognized by Forbes, AFAR, and the Michelin Guide. A healthcare brand scaled to $47M. A decade of figuring out what actually works when you are doing everything yourself. Herwood Creative exists because of all of it.
Em Atkins previously served as Chief Marketing Officer and Chief of Staff at TelyRx, where she guided the company through a period of rapid growth that brought the platform to over $47 million in revenue while expanding access to 450+ prescription medications and serving 250,000+ patients across the United States.
She built the full marketing infrastructure from the ground up: multi-channel paid media, creator programs, and brand partnerships with Howie Mandel, the Dallas Wings, Toni Breidinger, and Richard Torrez Jr.
Em also co-founded The Herwood Inn with June, leading operations, community partnerships, and the guest experience strategy that helped the property earn national recognition and sell for $1.25M at 3x ROI. She did not just run campaigns. She built the systems behind them.
Creative drives performance. Trust builds growth. Systems scale companies.
June Atkins is a Creative Director with 10+ years building brands across hospitality, restaurant tech, fashion, spirits, and emerging technology. She trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, which taught her more about people than any design class ever could. That instinct for story runs through everything she builds.
She co-founded The Herwood Inn with Em, growing it to 17,000+ organic followers with zero ad spend before an exit recognized by Forbes, AFAR, and the Michelin Guide at $1.25M and 3x ROI. She now leads Herwood Creative and is Adobe Certified, fluent in Figma and front-end development, and a B.A. in Graphic Design graduate of SCAD, Class of 2026, Cum Laude.
Design that works for everyone just works better.
We don't do
beautiful chaos.
Every project runs the same way. Not because we're precious about process. Because when the structure is solid, the work can actually take risks.
We won't touch a color until we understand who you're up against.
We look at your competitors, your category, and the people you actually want to reach. Not to copy anyone. To find where the conversation already is and figure out what's missing from it. This isn't the part where we ask you what your favorite fonts are. That comes later. This is the part that makes that conversation worth having.
What this includesStrategy before anything else. Every time.
We write the document that the rest of the project answers to. Your positioning, your audience, your voice. Then we bring you two or three real directions to choose from. Not vibes. Actual strategic options with reasoning behind each one. You pick what's true. We lock it in and build from there. Nothing gets designed before this step is done.
What this includesActual work. Not a mood board dressed up as a deliverable.
This is where we build. Design, content, campaign assets, digital builds. You see real work in real stages, not a big reveal at the end after we've already gone too far in the wrong direction. Two rounds of revision built in, scoped clearly from the start. We keep you posted. You never have to chase us.
What this includesWe walk you through everything before we close the project.
Files organized, exported, labeled. If you got a brand system, you get guidelines a designer you haven't hired yet can follow. We've seen what happens when agencies drop the files and disappear. We don't do that.
What this includes