About
Where It All Began
Branding isn’t
just design.
It’s storytelling.
And most brands are
saying nothing.
We build brands with a voice—and make sure people listen.
Gilfred wasn’t just founded—it was forged in editorial.
Michelle Wong, founder of Gilfred, spent eight years designing publications, where clarity wasn’t optional—it was the job. Every decision had to serve the story. Deadlines were brutal. Expectations were higher. There was no room for excess.
Design wasn’t about decoration. It was about delivering meaning, making sense, and moving fast. If it didn’t communicate, it failed.
After two decades in the creative industry—tens of thousands of hours spent refining, reworking, and pushing ideas past their limits—Michelle learned one thing: design isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s about clarity.
With 20 years of experience in branding, design, and strategy, that instinct to cut the fluff and design with intent became second nature. But when she stepped into branding, she saw a problem: most brands weren’t built this way.
Branding is only as strong as the story behind it.
Why Gilfred Exists
Built
Different
Not made to fit in. Gilfred exists to challenge how branding gets done.
Branding is broken. Gilfred exists to fix it.
Branding should work the way editorial does—structured, strategic, and sharp. But too often, it doesn’t.
Strategy gets pushed aside. Stories get diluted. Design loses its meaning. Too many brands are disjointed—logos without strategy, visuals without meaning, messaging without a voice. Branding lacked the same rigor, precision, and intent that editorial demanded.
Gilfred exists to change that. To bring focus where there’s noise. Direction where there’s drift. Meaning where there’s just visuals. It’s why startups have raised millions with our work—like Relay’s $32.2M Series B funding. It’s why we’ve helped brands scale—like Wattpad and Webtoon’s $600M acquisition. Because branding isn’t just about looking good—it’s about owning your space.
No one cares about your brand.
Until you give them a reason to.
What We Stand For
We make branding
make sense.
Branding without storytelling is forgettable. Storytelling without strategy is just noise. The best brands master both.
If you’re looking for safe, forgettable branding, keep searching. But if you’re ready to own your space—let’s build something impossible to ignore.
About
Where It All Began
Branding isn’t
just design.
It’s storytelling.
And most brands are saying nothing.
We build brands with a voice—and make sure people listen.
Gilfred wasn’t just founded—it was forged in editorial.
Michelle Wong, founder of Gilfred, spent eight years designing publications, where clarity wasn’t optional—it was the job. Every decision had to serve the story. Deadlines were brutal. Expectations were higher. There was no room for excess.
Design wasn’t about decoration. It was about delivering meaning, making sense, and moving fast. If it didn’t communicate, it failed.
After two decades in the creative industry—tens of thousands of hours spent refining, reworking, and pushing ideas past their limits—Michelle learned one thing: design isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s about clarity.
With 20 years of experience in branding, design, and strategy, that instinct to cut the fluff and design with intent became second nature. But when she stepped into branding, she saw a problem: most brands weren’t built this way.
Branding is only as strong as the story behind it.
Why Gilfred Exists
Built
Different
Not made to fit in. Gilfred exists to challenge how branding gets done.
Branding is broken.
Gilfred exists to fix it.
Branding should work the way editorial does—structured, strategic, and sharp. But too often, it doesn’t.
Strategy gets pushed aside. Stories get diluted. Design loses its meaning. Too many brands are disjointed—logos without strategy, visuals without meaning, messaging without a voice. Branding lacked the same rigor, precision, and intent that editorial demanded.
Gilfred exists to change that. To bring focus where there’s noise. Direction where there’s drift. Meaning where there’s just visuals. It’s why startups have raised millions with our work—like Relay’s $32.2M Series B funding. It’s why we’ve helped brands scale—like Wattpad and Webtoon’s $600M acquisition. Because branding isn’t just about looking good—it’s about owning your space.
No one cares about your brand. Until you give them a reason to.
What We Stand For
We make branding
make sense.
Branding without storytelling
is forgettable. Storytelling without strategy is just noise. The best brands master both.
If you’re looking for safe, forgettable branding, keep searching. But if you’re ready to own your space—let’s build something impossible to ignore.
About
Where It All Began
Branding isn’t
just design.
It’s storytelling.
And most brands are saying nothing.
We build brands with a voice—and make sure people listen.
Gilfred wasn’t just founded—it was forged in editorial.
Michelle Wong, founder of Gilfred, spent eight years designing publications, where clarity wasn’t optional—it was the job. Every decision had to serve the story. Deadlines were brutal. Expectations were higher. There was no room for excess.
Design wasn’t about decoration. It was about delivering meaning, making sense, and moving fast. If it didn’t communicate, it failed.
After two decades in the creative industry—tens of thousands of hours spent refining, reworking, and pushing ideas past their limits—Michelle learned one thing: design isn’t just about aesthetics. It’s about clarity.
With 20 years of experience in branding, design, and strategy, that instinct to cut the fluff and design with intent became second nature. But when she stepped into branding, she saw a problem: most brands weren’t built this way.
Branding is only as strong as
the story behind it.
Why Gilfred Exists
Built Different
Not made to fit in. Gilfred exists to challenge how branding gets done.
Branding is broken. Gilfred exists to fix it.
Branding should work the way editorial does—structured, strategic, and sharp. But too often, it doesn’t.
Strategy gets pushed aside. Stories get diluted. Design loses its meaning. Too many brands are disjointed—logos without strategy, visuals without meaning, messaging without a voice. Branding lacked the same rigor, precision, and intent that editorial demanded.
Gilfred exists to change that. To bring focus where there’s noise. Direction where there’s drift. Meaning where there’s just visuals. It’s why startups have raised millions with our work—like Relay’s $32.2M Series B funding. It’s why we’ve helped brands scale—like Wattpad and Webtoon’s $600M acquisition. Because branding isn’t just about looking good—it’s about owning your space.
No one cares about your brand.
Until you give them a reason to.
What We Stand For
We make branding
make sense.
Branding without storytelling is forgettable. Storytelling without strategy is just noise. The best brands master both.
If you’re looking for safe, forgettable branding, keep searching. But if you’re ready to own your space—let’s build something impossible to ignore.