Katja Alissa Mueller is a Swiss-born designer and creative leader whose career has moved from stage design in Zurich’s theatre scene to brand leadership across the globe. With a background in conceptual design and trend research at the Zurich University of the Arts, Katja’s path has been anything but linear. Now working from London with global teams, as Head of Brand Design at Pliant, she brings together systems thinking, psychology, business strategy, and high craft. In this interview, Katja reflects on non-linear careers, leading with empathy, and why taste and judgement will matter more than ever in an AI-shaped future.
Can you tell us a little about your first few steps in your career. Was there a moment or experience when you realised this was what you'd do as a career?
My path into design wasn’t linear. I grew up in Switzerland – home of Helvetica, the Rex peeler and immaculate grid systems – which sounds like a neat origin story. Ironically, it took me years to even realise “Swiss Design” was a thing.
I spent four slightly stuck years in an Economy & Law college, mostly learning that I needed a creative outlet. Uni didn’t feel right afterwards, so I took a leap and applied for an internship as a stage designer at Zurich’s main theatre, and somehow got in. That year changed everything. Theatre taught me about storytelling, rhythm, systems and emotion. And in a plot twist worthy of the stage, I even met a second cousin I didn’t know existed.
That energy led me to study conceptual design and trend research at the University of the Arts in Zurich. I didn’t have a clear creative destination yet, so I worked a range of things: styling for fashion magazines and theatre, posters and brand work for small clients, while holding down a cinema job that involved cleaning giant popcorn machines. (I still can’t eat popcorn because of it.)
It wasn’t until the end of my studies that it clicked: graphic design was where systems, storytelling, psychology, business thinking and creativity finally met. What once felt like a squiggly path and unclarity, turned out to be the advantage. And it still shapes how I design and lead today.
What lessons from your career have most shaped your style and approach?
- Your path doesn’t have to be linear. Backgrounds, skillsets and career moves don’t need to follow a neat line to be valuable. If you know how to connect the dots, adaptability, empathy and a broader strategic lens become real strengths. But be prepared to hear the “jack of all trades” comment more than you’d like, but usually from people who forget the full quote…
- Lead with kindness, not ego. Having experienced toxic workplaces in the past shaped my player-coach approach. I lead with empathy and trust, and build cultures where people can genuinely thrive as creatives.
- Collaboration and mentorship aren’t optional. Design doesn’t thrive in silos. It needs cross-functional exchange, shared energy and open dialogue. Mentoring through communities like Who’s Your Momma and Kerning the Gap reinforced this, and it’s a principle I bring into every team I lead, including my current role as Head of Brand Design at Pliant.
Tell us about the core values or philosophies that guide your creative practice.
- Kindness & empathy. People come first. Always. Living with chronic illness taught me the value of flexibility and wellbeing. Just be nice (but know your boundaries).
- High craft. Details matter; they’re what elevate a brand from good to unforgettable.
- Strategy + vision. Creativity only works when it aligns with business reality, user needs and is carried by a team of brilliant designers.
- Psychology & emotion. Design is human before it’s visual: behaviour, habits, colour and simplicity all matter.
- Systems that give time back. Build smart systems, automate the boring bits, and free up space for creative thinking.
What needs to change, so emerging and under-represented creative professionals have more opportunity, are seen and heard?
This isn’t a small fix. Especially now, as AI disproportionately impacts junior roles. If we don’t actively pull emerging creatives into the industry, we’ll lose them. A few shifts would make a real difference:
- Pay people properly. From day one. No more months-long unpaid internships. Early roles should be paid, meaningful, and able to lead somewhere.
- Better visibility in schools. Creative careers need visibility in schools, and the tools to learn them must be affordable. You don’t need a uni degree, but you do need access to skills.
- Mentorship, networks and opening doors. Opportunity comes through people. If you’re further along, remember how hard the start was: make introductions, recommend others, share knowledge and access.
How important is it that creative professionals find their unique voice?
It depends how you define unique voice. I separate that from personal branding.
A unique voice, for me, is a choice. It’s a specific angle, style or topic you actively decide to lean into, and not everyone needs or wants that. Social media makes it feel essential, but plenty of brilliant creatives are simply focused on doing excellent work.
Personal branding on the other hands exists whether you like it or not. It’s what people say about you when you’re not in the room. It’s shaped by your craft, your values and how you show up.
I know I have a strong personal brand around design, craft and leadership, without one singular “unique voice”, and that works for me.
So: is a unique voice important? Yes, if it matters to you or your discipline.
Is a personal brand important? Even more so, because you have one whether you invest in it or not.
Looking ahead, what do you think are the key factors that will influence change for creative professionals?
Of course: AI. But we should focus heavily on the spaces that are created because of AI:
- Taste, curation and judgement will matter more than ever. Tools can scale output, but they can’t replace taste. As noise increases, the real skill is knowing what to remove, and how to create and curate work that actually stands out.
- Smarter, interconnected creative systems will change how teams design, collaborate and scale, freeing up time for thinking, not just producing.
- Democratised design tools will continue to raise the bar. Just think Canva or Lovable. As access to design tools and knowledge expands, so does design literacy, lifting the baseline and enabling more people to engage meaningfully with design.
- Adaptability. A willingness to learn and adjust to new tools and workflows will be essential, and organisations need to create the conditions where people can do that sustainably.
How much does your city influence your work?
How much does your culture influence your work?
Tell us some of your favourite, creative professionals and inspiring places in your city!
#MildPanic: names are my weak spot, especially people I’ve only met once or who exist as passing moments in my memory, but I’ll remember faces for years. So I can’t give you a neat list of favourites. But that’s also not how I get inspired.
Inspiration comes from sensory moments, random déjà-vus and well-curated Pinterest boards as references. I love nature, good food, sunshine, quiet corners, the textures, smells, visual cues and sounds — just not all at once, or it quickly turns into overwhelm.
It’s those small chain reactions I love: sitting in the sun, thinking of a book, remembering a random chair in a restaurant, and suddenly landing on a colour palette that can kickstart the next creative idea. That’s where things click for me.
What should emerging creative professionals keep in mind as they begin their design career?
Stay curious. Ask questions. Put yourself forward, but learn to set boundaries early. Remember you’re not designing for yourself; you’re designing for a business, users and context, so let go of ego. And finally: advocate for yourself, whether that’s asking for a promotion, a pay rise, or clarity on your next step. Even if it takes practice and support to get there.
And take all of my comments above with a pinch of salt. It’s shaped by my own path and experiences. Every creative career is different, and circumstances and access matter. There’s no single “right” way to build a creative career. But I hope you find an exciting one that suits you.