Shay Bocks
Shay is a translator of the invisible — turning psychographic insights, human patterns, and bold visions into visual identities that actually resonate.
Shay's design career began in advocacy workshops and congressional offices, where she learned that good design can literally change lives. Born in Houston and eventually landing in Chesapeake, VA, Shay built a home just across the state line in rural Moyock, NC. It's a fitting border location for someone who straddles boundaries in her work.
She's convinced that visual identities should speak to what makes us fundamentally human: our need for safety, connection, and empowerment. As a certified Enneagram practitioner (who can sometimes guess your type within minutes of meeting you), Shay crafts brands that acknowledge the lived experiences of the people they serve. The work isn't about manipulating emotions; it's about creating enough psychological safety that audiences feel empowered to take bold steps forward.
Before dedicating herself to brand design, Shay "accidentally" created a WordPress theme that became the top seller at StudioPress for seven consecutive years. Her most heart-swelling project? A two-year collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme branding the Crisis Academy, culminating in a gamified launch connecting 2,100 crisis experts worldwide.
As a panelist at Pharrell Williams' Bright Sparks Live, Shay articulated how strategic design becomes a powerful tool for positive change, a philosophy that permeates everything she touches.
Her mercurial nature (she is Gemini-rising, after all) allows her to adapt to each client's unique needs. What makes Shay exceptional isn't an impulse to impose her perspective through design. It’s her remarkable ability to channel each client's authentic voice into visual form: a skill that's equal parts pattern recognition, emotional intelligence, and an uncanny talent for translating complex systems into something beautifully simple.
Weekends find her organizing community mutual aid efforts, cheering at her kids' robotics competitions, or enjoying her ideal Saturday: reading at a breezy beach, wandering through art museums, sharing tacos with her boys, and stargazing. Sundays are for "pittering around," that sweet spot where the house gets cleaner but pajamas remain the uniform until mid-afternoon in her sun-dappled living room.
