Inspiring Conversations with Derek Mohr of OneMohrTime Design Co.

Today we’d like to introduce you to Derek Mohr.

Hi Derek, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I’ve been in an array of creative roles since I graduated from Northern Michigan University, back in 2011. I worked at a start-up, a corporate web department, a software marketing department, and then 7+ years as an agency designer & developer. I finally made the jump to freelance in October 2023; I had a desire to become a full creative director, with the freedom to create logos and write code for websites in the same week. Hell, the same day quite often…

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It’s never a smooth road, if you are going to find your own way. I have to be honest though—it wasn’t that hard to be my own boss for the first year. The economy was going well, people were excited to hear that I could be hired directly, and there was a wide variety of projects that were always waiting for me! Then we all know what happened in November 2024, and it was like a flowing faucet of projects and budgets and excitement were completely cut off. The following year has been much more of a famine, and there is a constant struggle to find contracts between jobs. I’m hopeful that this won’t always be the case—but if it is, it will just be another storm I’ve learned how to weather!

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about OneMohrTime Design Co.?
OneMohrTime Design Co. was named after the social media handle I’ve used for more than a decade. It’s also based on the work I’ve loved the most over the past decade: web and branding design!

When it comes to web design, I am known for being incredibly thorough. I write front-end code, so that I can control every aspect of the user’s experience (UX) to the millisecond. It also allows me to create “living, breathing” prototypes—in the sense that they can grow content-wise, and shrink device-wise, without any extra effort on the content creator’s part. The system is created, and the information is able to flow into it without thinking. It’s based on years of studying typography and grid design, so it is completely governed by rules, as any modernist would wish for.

When it comes to brand design, I tend to lean towards very bold and typographic styles. Take a peak at my [logofolio](https://onemohrti.me/services/logo-design/) to see what I mean! I believe a graphic designer should think more like an engineer when it comes to a brand, rather than an artist. After all, who cares if it’s a pretty picture that communicates nothing?

My branding was part of what got me my favorite job of my entire career—the logo for [Grand Rapids’ 175th Anniversary](https://therapidian.org/the-artist-behind-the-grand-rapids-175th-anniversary-logo) as a city! If I had just been interested in making something “look pretty” or “pop”, I wouldn’t have maxed out my artboards running through examples of where the logo could be used, or situations it could be applied to. Instead, by seeing it as a system that needed to be integrated, I thought ahead to create enough variations to be applied to small email signatures, up to massive city banners!

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I used to follow Dribbble accounts almost religiously, but the platform has taken a much different direction that past handful of years, and is now only useful in very specific situations. I do check many inspiration sites regularly, and have a couple email subscriptions to logo archives that show me logos and brand guides from history. I’d say I typically have a stream of 10-20 inspiration sources that may show up on my screen on any given day.

If you’re a creative looking to take a road similar to mine, I would highly recommend the reads “Thinking With Type” by Ellen Lupton, “Elements of Typographic Style” by Robert Bringhurst, and almost anything out of the “A Book Apart” series!

Pricing:

• Branding Systems starting at $1,500
• WordPress Websites starting at $5,000
• Graphic Design services at $85/hr
• Web Development services at $110/hr
• Posters for sale from $15 to $50

Contact Info:

• Website: https://onemohrti.me/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/onemohrtimedesign/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onemohrtimedesign/
• LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/onemohrtime/
• Other: https://grandrapidsbranding.co/