Photo: Olen Amelia
Ben Deter Studio is a San Francisco Bay Area design practice, working across branding, environmental design, and user experience for over fifteen years — with clients ranging from independent artists to international brands. Whether leading a project solo or working inside a team, Ben starts by learning what a client actually needs, and builds from there.
Experience
Minum Selections
Minum Selections is a natural wine and botanical spirits importer and distributor in Chicago, founded by Ben and his wife, Olen Amelia, in 2018. Starting with two producers, they grew to 70+ across five countries, doubling sales every year through a pandemic and new tariffs, before selling the company in 2023. As a two-person operation, Ben and Olen ran every part of the business — licensing, compliance, logistics, sales, and marketing.
Uptake
Ben led multiple design teams at Uptake, working across product owners, UX researchers, and engineers to ship consistent, user-centered products. He set the long-term UX vision and the iterative roadmap to get there, managed the design process end to end, and ran goal-setting and performance reviews for his designers.
MNML
MNML is a product development and brand incubation agency. Ben led design on WellBeings, MNML's CBD venture with Cresco Labs — building a considered brand and product experience for an emerging category.
The Post Family
The Post Family is an extra-curricular, collaborative effort that aims at supporting the creative community through education, workshops, lectures and curation of gallery events and exhibits. Ben was a member from 2015–2019 and curated gallery events and lectured at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago.
ShopRunner
ShopRunner is an e-commerce membership service offering exclusive shopping benefits across clothing, beauty, and more. Ben led design of ShopRunner's design system — the work meant paying close attention to both sides of the experience, so what shoppers saw and what retailers relied on behind the scenes actually worked together.
Ogilvy
Ogilvy is a global advertising and design agency founded in 1948. Working cross-functionally on Fortune 500 accounts, Ben designed and presented web and mobile products, brand identities, print collateral, packaging, and in-store materials — the range meant learning each client's world well enough to move between mediums without losing what made their brand theirs.
Faust
At Faust, Ben worked with a multidisciplinary team on identity systems, brand campaigns, and interactive and spatial experiences — scoping projects, managing multiple engagements at once, and keeping client expectations aligned. He also mentored interns and oversaw print production, web development, and photoshoot art direction.
Awards & Recognition
Awards
AIGA Chicago Snapshot
Collegiate Advertising Gold Award
Communication Arts Design Annual
Communication Arts Typography Annual
Educational Advertising Award
STA Chicago Design Archive
Print Magazine Design Annual
Under Consideration FPO Award
U360 Best of Show
Exhibitions
CHGO DSGN, Chicago
Our Road: An Intervention on Bicycle Safety, Chicago
International Festival of Design in Lodz, Poland
Pop Art Design, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Lectures
Pop Art Design, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Recognition
AIGA
Art of the Menu
Bon Appetit
Communication Arts
Creative Review
Denver Post
Design Bureau
Design Charts
Design Licks
Fold Factory
Fonts in Use
FPO
From the Desk Of
HiFructose
How Design Magazine
Modern in Denver
Print Magazine
Quipsologies
Rawr Denim
Rogue Territory
Site Inspire
SwissMiss