Welcome to
my world

Hello, there.*

I’m Claire A. Nichols (aka CAN), a Boston-based designer and photographer whose expertise lies at the intersection of brand and digital product. I aim to solve business and consumer problems through strategic, human-centered design that delights just as much as it helps.

I’m currently on a new path in which I’m exploring fractional design work and building multiple income streams. This summer, I was impacted by the great tech reckoning and was laid off with dozens of others on my engineering team.

In the wake of this, I’ve realized this “reckoning” is just the beginning, and a full-time job is no longer a safe bet. As such, I am looking to establish relationships with mission-led orgs to work in a fractional capacity in brand or product design.

Reach me at helloclairenichols@gmail.com.

Riders
AIGA
Devries Global
Romney for President
Cambridge Savings Bank
Stanley Black & Decker
RMR Group
Redeye Roasters
Bertucci’s
Cream
Genzyme
Sanofi Aventis

Clients

EF Education First
Liberty Mutual
Keds
NYDJ
Timex
Park Hyatt
Grand Hyatt
Hyatt House
Rue La La
Brahmin
Wrangler
Lee Jeans

Don’t take it from me...

Don’t take it from me...

  • “Claire is always reaching for a higher quality of design in the creative materials we make. As a fellow designer, I can say we are trained to have an eye for the details so we can most accurately communicate visual messages to an audience, but Claire takes it to a whole new level—she has a personal conviction to create pixel-perfect work and spark joy with the visual details of our materials.

    As a senior designer, she has the responsibility of reviewing materials to make sure they're satisfactory before we send them out into the world. In the day-to-day, she is critiquing and refining the pieces that we put in front of her, always having a suggestion for improvement—to make the text a little higher, the color a little warmer, and the image a little brighter. She is tuned into these nuances across all of our projects, demonstrating that consistency in details is how we present a deliberate, unified brand image.

    It's also reflected in Claire's own work. If you ever have the pleasure of looking through her working files, they are immaculate. She meticulously organizes them and all the measurements are consistent down to the pixel. If she's creating a template for others to work off of, she creates several variations, taking into account all the different layouts another designer might need in any situation. I don't think it's in her nature to sacrifice quality, and I've seen her put in more time after a long day to get things JUST right.

    Claire also finds ways to spark joy in design with the details. She worked on last year's merch for Global Kick Off, and during the process she tested multiple different inks, fabrics, and colors while ordering samples. Claire would cross-compare all of them to get the best combination of functional, quality, and stylish pieces. If you remember, the merch had the Go Ahead Heart on the sleeve, a tiny detail that spoke to the heart of the company. It's these type of details that stick with our travelers.

    Recently, we've been brainstorming new print piece ideas, one of which she has spearheaded. She has a vision for a beautiful large-scale print piece, with typographic details that transform a little travel zine into art—something our customers would be proud to frame and hang on their wall. She is especially meticulous on our print pieces—she considers paper feel and thickness, binding and weight, page number placement ratios, etc. To a non-designer, some of these details might seem unnecessary, but when you see a beautiful print piece come together like our previous catalog, we find that our travelers are ecstatic to receive such a beautifully designed piece, and they are more likely to keep it as a piece of art and share it with their friends.

    Claire is a valuable asset to this company, keeping our brand design and marketing materials in tip-top shape and having the vision to elevate this brand to a higher quality.”

    —2020 Nomination for EF Core Value Attention to Detail Award
  • “As a creative launching your own business, there is a self-imposed idea that you must be the source of all visual content related to your product. After working with Claire I see how this belief was holding my company, K+ Glass, back. Through her incredible design skills and impeccable professionalism, Claire showed me the importance of quality branding as a means to elevate your work in a competitive marketplace. From the initial branding questionnaire to the final digital and physical products, she worked with me in a way that shifted this process from intimidating to enjoyable. Working with Claire has not only resulted in a polished brand (a term I only now feel like I understand) but the questions she posed in getting to know how I wanted myself and my work to be perceived made me reflect in ways that have since strengthened my own practice. Receiving design from Claire was like Christmas in July, seeing a full branded package helped me increase my confidence in my own work, something I know many creatives like myself struggle with at times. The website Claire designed for me has scaled my business—both in sales and inquiries dramatically since its launch.

    There are many high points I can mention in working with Claire (her thorough market research, attention to detail, excitement on my behalf, clear mockups and workflow) but most of all everyone in my field is jealous of her product photography. Anyone in glass knows how hard a material it is to photograph. The amount of time she spent with my glass, to fully understand this temperamental material I have devoted my life to and how it comes alive in the light, is beyond compare.”

    —Rebecca Potash, PhD, Founder K+ Glass

  • "Goes beyond expectations"-that's the phrase of how I would describe Claire as a designer. Coming on to the Romney campaign, Claire became the main designer that I worked with, so I got to know her very well.

    Claire is someone who is constantly working hard and always is going beyond what is asked from her. Right when she gets an assignment, she doesn't just come up with a few good ideas, but numerous ideas. She is an awesome team member because she kept me up to date with all of her work and made sure we were all on the same page. All of her work consisted of the best combination of what worked best for our campaign's designs as well as what worked best for our target audience.

    Claire is such a pleasure to be around. She constantly had a positive attitude every day, even during the countless days that were longer than 20 hours. She works until the job is done. I have no doubt that she will have a huge impact wherever she works.

    —Hallie Keenan
  • “In one of my first experiences working with designers, I was very fortunate to have Claire on my team. Her ability to grasp messaging and transmit its core meaning in ways that are visually appealing is extraordinary. Her can-do attitude even with the most complex projects made her one of the "go-to" designers on the team. She executes projects with a level of efficiency and an even higher level of thought and outside-of-the-box creativity. She is an absolute joy to work with & her future employers will be very lucky to have her. There is no doubt in my mind that this young lady will make a very large impact in the design world!”

    —Lauren Stewart