Carlos Eduardo Medeiros
Image Credit: Isabella Mancin
Isabella Mancin is a Brand Experience and Graphic Designer based in New York, with a proven track record collaborating with prominent industry leaders such as Samsung and Orbital Kitchens. Her design philosophy goes beyond aesthetics, focusing on creating emotional connections that resonate deeply with audiences. Isabella’s work is characterized by clear communication, meaningful engagement, and lasting impact. Inspired by a passion for vintage textures, cinematic compositions, and evocative storytelling, her design approach is both warm and multi-dimensional, reflecting the rich narratives that inform her creative process.
Finding Her Path in Design
From a young age, Isabella was drawn to the visual. “As a kid, I spent hours flipping through coffee table books on architecture, interiors, and photography,” she recalls. What caught her attention wasn’t just the subjects, but the way they were presented, bold layouts that defied convention, pages that felt “almost cinematic.” But it wasn’t until college that everything clicked. While others focused on business strategies, Isabella was captivated by how the slides looked and flowed. “Design is communication,” she realized. That moment led her to flip her priorities, what was once a Graphic Design minor soon became the driving force of her creative life.
Image Credit: Isabella Mancin
The Cultural Influences behind the Designer
Isabella’s work lives at the intersection of the emotional and the strategic. The balance between structure and soul, aesthetics and intention, is something she credits to her Italian roots. “I’ve always been drawn to decorative details, expressive forms, and rich color stories,” she says. Her inspirations are a beautifully eclectic mix: retro-futurism, 70s print design, lo-fi editorial aesthetics, and the structured playfulness of Ettore Sottsass. But at the core of it all is a commitment to work that feels “soulful, meaningful, and sensory.”
Creativity was a constant in her upbringing and influenced by the people around her, such as her aunt Ale who made crafting feel like second nature, while her dad trained her to see light and composition through photography. Even her school notebooks were early design canvases, color-coded, structured, and intentionally styled to make learning more visual. She also found inspiration in unexpected places, like the sharp, emotionally charged work of Venezuelan cartoonist Rayma Suprani. “Her ability to say so much with so little stuck with me,” Isabella says.
A Process Rooted in Emotion
Mancin’s creative process has evolved over time, from inward pressure to outward curiosity. “Early on, I believed ideas had to come from within… I’d sit for hours trying to ‘come up’ with something original.” Now, she begins with observation and research, using moodboarding and visual exploration to define the emotional tone before diving into execution.
Themes she returns to include a playful kind of minimalism, editorial softness, and warm, nostalgic visuals. Think: retro diner menus, torn paper edges, muted colors, and serif typefaces that feel like they belong in a Joan Didion book. She also draws inspiration from the culinary world, plating, packaging, and the small details that make food and design alike feel considered and layered.
This intentional approach was key when she developed the brand identity and visual system for Halalish, a modern halal food brand, combining digital design with in-app positioning that felt contemporary yet rooted in authenticity.
Image Credit: Isabella Mancin
Creating Experiences That Resonate
This philosophy came to life most powerfully in her work with Bespoke Brownie. Isabella led everything from branding to event visuals, refining each detail by hand. “People loved the product… but they also commented on the packaging, the visuals, the tone – it all resonated.” For Isabella, design is as much about experience as it is about aesthetics. She demonstrated this with the immersive launch event for Bespoke Brownie, created in collaboration with Ariston Flower Shop, where guests built custom bouquets while sampling desserts. The event generated a 70% influencer posting rate and a 90% follow-up order rate, showing how thoughtful design can drive both engagement and meaningful results.
Right now, she’s most excited by brand identity projects that extend into immersive environments, where visuals aren’t just seen, but felt. She’s especially intrigued by the overlap of physical and digital experiences and dreams of building her own creative studio someday. At Orbital, she’s already immersed herself in this by directing the branding (brand identity, visual system, positioning) for La Pho (a soon to be launched Vietnamese food concept in Orbital) which are both projects that blend storytelling, identity, and experience.
She’s also exploring multisensory design which explores how things like scent, sound, and texture can deepen a brand’s emotional impact.
In an industry that often prioritizes aesthetics over meaning, Isabella Mancin stands out for her ability to combine thoughtful strategy with genuine emotional insight. That’s why Isabella always starts with one question: “What do you want people to feel?”. Her work goes beyond visuals and creates experiences that connect brands with people. It’s this clarity of purpose and creative depth that make her a distinctive voice in contemporary design.