Hi, I'm Ketaki
It all began with a plan to earn a design degree in San Francisco. Fifteen years later, that leap turned out to be the best decision I ever made.
Fresh out of undergrad at 21, I packed my life into two suitcases and moved to the other side of the world for grad school in San Francisco. Halfway through my MFA, I met a guy from small-town Iowa at a phone-free networking event. A week after we got married, we moved to his hometown to build our lives and our businesses together. Overnight, I went from a clear picture of my design career in Silicon Valley to a small town with no network, no local clients and a not-entirely-solid plan.
It was terrifying at first. But building K8Ki Design Studio on my own terms meant I got to shape my process in a way that's completely true to me. No rules. No boss. No compromising on what good design actually means. Since 2018, I've worked with some of the most ambitious, values-driven business owners I've ever met, from a small town in Iowa, with clients all over the world.
Who would have thought a Mumbai girl would end up running a design studio in rural Iowa? Honestly, neither did I. And yet, here we are.
I lead with
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You can already see where this business is going. You just cannot show anyone else yet. My job is to make the thing in your head visible to everybody else.
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I want to know how your business actually works before I draw anything. The interesting answers are usually three questions deep.
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The best work happens when we work together toward the same goal. This is not a project you hand off and collect at the end, and what we make together is better for it.
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Every brand I build starts as a story, not a logo. Get the story right and the colors, the type and the words almost choose themselves.
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My ancestors wove Paithani saris, some of the most intricate textiles in Indian history. The patience, the precision, the attention to detail, the quality. All of it is in my blood, and it shows up in every project I work on.
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I am the trusted friend who tells you the truth about your brand. Warm, but direct. You will always know why a decision was made, in plain language.
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I build brands meant to outlast a trend cycle. If your site looks dated in two years, find a designer who understands branding holistically and builds something that ages well.
Get to know me

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Born and raised inMumbai, India
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My happy placeour riverside house

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Chai or coffee?
- Coffee(my answer)
- Chai(my answer)+ biscuit hits home

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Favorite season
- Mumbai monsoon
- Iowa fall(my answer)
- Snow days
- Summer on the river


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Something Iowa taught mesmall towns have big stories too

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Saturday morning, find mesnuggling with my babies
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Morning person or night owl?
- Morning person
- Night owl
- Depends on the deadline(my answer)
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Tool I'd save in a fire
- My iPad
- My laptop(my answer)
- My sketchbook
- The coffee maker
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Newest obsessionmahjongWednesdays are for Mahj with Moms


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Passion project I'd love to makea cookbook of family recipes
15 years later
Here we are: my husband, our two kids and our pup.
Software I love
Tools of the trade
I only recommend tools I actually use and pay for myself.
Flodesk 50% off
The email platform I moved to after trying every other one. The newsletters look like somebody designed them, because somebody did. My link gets you 50% off your first year.
Dubsado 20% off
Proposals, contracts and invoices in one place. It's the reason my booking process no longer lives in my inbox.
Adobe Illustrator
Every logo I draw starts here. Vector means your mark holds up at any size, from a business card to a storefront window.
Figma
Where your website takes shape before a single page gets built. You can click through the design and leave comments right on it.
Canva
Canva is a tool, not a brand strategy. I build you templates in it so your brand stays consistent long after I hand it over.
Shopify
What I build client sites on. It handles the selling so you can get back to running the business.
Showit
For creatives who want a site that looks custom without touching code. You drag things where you want them, and it looks exactly how you pictured.
Squarespace
Clean, simple and easy to update yourself. Great when you want a polished site without a lot of moving parts.
Notion
Where every project, deadline and half-formed idea lives, with my calendar right beside it. If it's not in Notion, it's not happening.
Wispr Flow
I talk, it types. Emails, captions and project notes get written while I'm away from the keyboard.
Not software exactly, but my biggest source of new clients. If you sell to women, your work belongs there.
Some of these are affiliate links. Same price for you, a little thank-you for me.






