I don't believe in artificial handoffs between the idea, the design, the build, and what happens after launch.
MORE THAN A JOB TITLE ↓I studied visual communication design for two years, then left to start working. The rest has been learned through real jobs and real businesses. My work has taken me across Indonesia, Brunei, Australia, Singapore, and the US. From 2021 to 2026, I worked remotely with Firefish Branding in Singapore, eventually serving as a brand strategist. Beyond client work, I have built and operated consumer brands, where every creative decision meets the reality of sales, costs, and customers.
I've worked with teams that have sophisticated processes and teams where I was designing the system as I built it. Both taught me to stay responsible for what the work actually does.
LET'S TALK ABOUT YOUR TEAM ↗
GHIFAR / BEHIND THE WORKDesigning across borders, developing digital experiences, leading creative work, building brands, and learning by owning the outcome.
First paid client work. Two years of visual communication design at university, left before finishing to work — the rest was learned on jobs someone had already paid for .
AIA Insurance — social content and campaign. Co-founded Destine Digital in Brunei; 25+ clients in a year, including Novotel , Holiday Inn , Baiduri Bank and Yellow Cab Pizza .
Went remote. Esteem Hair Beauty (Australia) , Aewon and Gold United (Brunei) — websites and development, all delivered across borders. Bakmi GM food-truck concept. BlackID streetwear campaign. Co-founded Pebisnis Muda as chief creative officer.
Pebisnis Muda becomes one of Indonesia’s largest business-media platforms. I built the brand. Hijabfest Indonesia (2019—2021) — event brand and campaign; engagement up 200% in two months. Graphic design sector coordinator at Bandung’s Department of Culture & Tourism ; conceived Bandung Creative Week.
RK Cosmetics — senior graphic designer, directing four designers across a 688K-follower beauty brand and building its website. (2020—2021) Love+Relo — brand and podcast identity for a US relocation podcast. (2020—2021)
Joined Firefish Branding in Singapore — a consultancy of more than twenty years — as the only fully remote member of the creative team.
SEAX — design and web development.
Futar — project lead and identity, at Firefish.
Total Cleanz and Children’s Cove — project lead, main designer, web developer and social lead on both. Hua Xia — web build.
Launched Youthentic , my own fragrance brand — brand deck, eight-scent packaging range, storefront and the selling. Yoora Sarah — brand audit, strategy and a 73-page brand manual as strategist and growth consultant; monthly sales grew roughly fifteen times. Mistgold — e-commerce rebuild and POS integration. Formalised MerakiCorp and Packshop , its packaging arm.
Promoted to Brand Strategist at Firefish before concluding my tenure in 2026. Launched KJP Wellness . Youthentic passes 10,000 bottles sold .
The system is only useful if the business can operate it after launch. This is the practical sequence I come back to.
Before anything visual. A brand that looks better but sells the same has not done its job, so the first question is always what the business needs to change — pricing power, a new audience, a category it has no permission to enter yet.
Decide what the brand is for, who it is against, and what it refuses to be. Written in plain language, agreed before a single logo exists, because this is the document that settles arguments six months later.
Type, colour, mark, imagery, packaging — built as a system with rules rather than a set of files. The test is whether someone who was not in the room can extend it correctly.
I write the front end and ship the site. Designing something and then building it yourself is the fastest way to learn which parts of your design were fantasy.
Content, campaigns, marketplace, ads. On several projects I stayed on as the person operating the brand after launch, which is where you find out whether any of the previous four stages were right.
“Ghifar has been a real help to my business, particularly when our internal team hit the limits of what it could execute on brand and marketing development. He knows exactly what he is doing.”Bobby Hariman · Managing Director, Yoora Sarah
“I have never encountered a person that so deeply comprehends our work and mindset.”Ben Cross · Founder, Love+Relo
“Ghifar is one of those rare people who can support you at every stage, from inception to growth.”Martin Lazare · Esteem