Rachel Gogel (she/her) is a Paris-born, SF-based queer creative director and designer whose skills range from branding, strategy, and design management to art direction, editorial, and product design. She runs her own small consultancy as an independent creative culture officer where her approach is informed by experiences both in-house and agency side. Over the last fifteen years, Rachel has continued to use design as a tool for change — from building multidisciplinary teams at The New York Times’ T Brand, GQ, and Meta to launching story-driven experiences at Airbnb, Departures, and Godfrey Dadich. She’s led projects ranging from developing global brand systems to scaling creative operations. Currently, you can find her shaping Dropbox Design’s internal critique culture and developing brand identities for academic institutions.
Beyond this, Rachel seeks to influence the next creative generation as a design educator at the California College of the Arts (CCA) and the School of The New York Times (NYTEdu). At CCA specifically, she teaches courses called “Leadership by Design” and “Designing Your Career” for graduate students completing their Master’s degree in HCI Design.
Outside of teaching, Rachel is the Women in Leadership & Design (WILD) Chair on the AIGA SF Board of Directors, an active member of Queer Design Club, and previously served on the board of The Society of Publication Designers. She is also a public speaker, podcast guest, and workshop facilitator. All of these platforms amplify Rachel’s commitment to supporting women- and nonbinary-led causes and addressing gender-based disparities in the design industry. As a passionate design leader and experienced people manager, she believes in fostering inclusive spaces that unlock human potential.
Nominated for a 2022 Webby for her work on Departures, she has also been recognized by Inc. as one of 2016’s “30 under 30 Movers and Shakers” and by Forbes as one of 2015’s “30 Under 30” in media. You can see her work at rachelgogel.com and follow her @rgogel on both Instagram and Twitter.
