Human-Centered Design Strategist & Communication Partner

Specializing in design strategy, communication design, and generative AI for mission-driven teams

Tracy finds better problems to solve—and clearer ways to talk about them.

I’m a human-centered design strategist, communication designer, and design leader who loves turning complex, messy stories into something people can actually see, feel, and act on.

My work sits at the intersection of design strategy, visual communication, and systems thinking. I help teams find better problems to solve, and clearer ways to talk about them—by framing challenges, visualizing options, and building artifacts that move work forward: narratives, briefs, decks, roadmaps, and prototypes.

Over the past two decades, I’ve worked across agencies, higher education, and global companies. In integrated marketing and communications firms, I led brand and campaign work for nonprofits, colleges, and public agencies—helping them clarify their stories and design communications that real people could understand and use. In global consumer packaged goods, I contributed to innovation and design leadership at Newell Brands and as a founding member of Kimberly-Clark’s Front-End Innovation Design team, where I focused on design-led innovation, facilitation, and human-centered ways of working.

My MFA in Communication Design from Kutztown University deepens this practice. Through projects like Future Nostalgia and ChromaCode, I explore how speculative design, storytelling, and systems thinking can help us question defaults, surface hidden assumptions, and imagine more humane futures. kretzcreates.com is the home for that work—part portfolio, part R+D lab.

Generative AI now shows up in my practice as a sketchbook and sense-making tool: a way to explore variations, surface patterns, and prototype ideas quickly. I treat AI as an assistant to human judgment and voice, not a replacement for them.

Clients and Brands that I have designed for:

Hands-on Design Season

Michigan State University / East lansing, michigan

Department of Police and Public Safety
Department of Athletics
University Services
School of Music

Winning StrAtegies advertising / mt. laurel & Princeton, new jersey

New Jersey Travel and Tourism
OceanFirst Bank
NBA, New Jersey Nets
Camden County College
Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital
The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children’s Hospital at RWJUH
Cooper University Hospital
NJ TRANSIT
New Jersey Department of Health and Human Services
Fellowship Village Retirement Community

PPO&S / Harrisburg, PA

Harrisburg Area Community College
Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education
Dixon University Center
Benjamin Wiley Partnership Program
State Street Academy of Music
Pennsylvania Children’s Health Insurance Program
Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry
Pennsylvania and Commonwealth Libraries
Pennsylvania Apples
Pennsylvania Family Support Alliance
Bank of Lancaster County
Bay First Bank
Playworld Systems
Hamilton Health Center
Team Pennsylvania Foundation
Deimler and Sons Remodeling and Construction
Harrisburg Hilton
Goodwill Industries, Keystone Area
Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Authority
10,000 Friends of Pennsylvania
Memorial Eye Institute
Harrisburg Young Professionals
Team Pennsylvania Foundation
PACHC Pennsylvania Association of Community Health Centers

Design Strategy Leadership Season

Newell Brands (Rubbermaid) / Kalamazoo, michigan

Sharpie
Rubbermaid Commercial Products
Graco Baby (Global)
Baby Jogger
Aprica (Japan)
NUK (Global)
Tigex (EMEA)
Ball
Paper Mate
Expo
Crock Pot
Marmot
Coleman
Yankee Candle
Paper Mate
Expo
Elmer's
Mr. Coffee
Calphlon
Rubbermaid and more

Kimberly-Clark CORPORATION

Kleenex
Huggies
Pull-Ups
Goodnites
Poise
U By Kotex
Depend
Cottonelle
Scott

Design Strategy x Hands-on Design

Juniata college / Huntingdon, pa

Executive Director of Design & Brand Strategy

If you’re interested in collaborating, workshops, or strategic design support, you can learn more about my studio practice at tracykretz.com, where I work with mission-driven teams through my LLC, The Kretz Co-Lab.