Florally-decorated type by Nicole Licht. Left: 'break new ground', right: 'take root'

Etsy Holiday 2013 campaign, in collaboration with Melissa Deckert

Tactile design, executed well, never fails to impress me. It takes great patience and a steady hand (and a lack of ill-timed sneezes) to manipulate paper, glue, and physical objects in a way that looks great and photographs well. Nicole Licht, former Etsy brand designer, is one such a designer with a command of craft.

A freelancer with a penchant for animated gifs, Nicole creates three-dimensional assemblages that end up on posters, album artwork, and in promotional ads and videos. Her compositions range from the traditionally-feminine to the kind-of-macabre, and incorporate paper, plant life, and the occasional hot dog.

A photo of peoples' hands composing florally-decorated type

A wall with the Etsy logo and flowers painted on in a black-and-white linear style

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Album artwork for “Splits”, from the band Cathy

Illustration by Nicole Licht, which says "horoscopes" and is surrounded by astrological and cosmological symbols

Horoscopes header for “Lenny”, Lena Dunham and Jenni Konner’s feminist newsletter

Papercraft countdown by Nicole Licht. Two images show a 4 and a 6 surrounded by stylized leaves.

“Hand made paper crafted stop motion countdown slate and type placement for My Active Driveway, a New York City based design and animation studio”. See her site for the little wiggle in the animated version.

A dead-looking paper mache horse with caution tape reading "Avoid compulsively making things worse"

“Avoid compulsively making things worse.” – Debbie Millman. From a series of favorite illustrated quotes for AIGA’s Eye on Design blog.

Illustration by Nicole Licht. Says "More is more and less is a bore".

Another for AIGA Eye on Design. This motto is evident in Nicole’s work.

At time of writing, Nicole is represented in the U.S., Canada, and the UK. See more information and work on her portfolio website.

—by Melanie Richards