By Ninja

Together, different.

At By Ninja, I connect good people doing good things in businesses with good customers, and help them grow through strategic and thoughtful experiences. 

I don't just think outside the box, I fold the box into a paper crane. 

Our teams are brought together on a project basis to deliver exceptional creative outcomes. This keeps us agile, lean and efficient, while staying true to the outcome. We have delivered award-winning creative for startups, small businesses, state governments, and local and international beauty brands.

Visit our website to learn more👇
www.byninja.com.au

Creative Overlord

Freelance Graphic Designer

Design Ninjas

Design Ninjas is a subscription-based design service that brings lightning-fast creativity to the forefront. 

No frills, just skills.
After years of working alongside marketers, brand managers, co-designers, and agencies, I uncovered a common challenge – the need for high-quality design that's accessible and efficient. We believe that exceptional design should be within reach for everyone, and Design Ninjas is here to make it happen.

Check out the website to learn more👇
www.designninjas.au

Founder

Communify 

As a member of the Communications Committee I advise and support the Communify team on the strategy and execution of their marketing and communications plan.

Communify Queensland is an established community organisation providing a diverse range of services, from early childhood, mental health services to aged and disability services, including day respite and aged care packages. As one of Brisbane's largest and most active charities, Communify supports the community on all sides.

Communications Committee Member

Focused Marketing Solutions Pty Ltd

Lead Designer

QinetiQ Australia

Achievements:
QLD PICA Gold Award for the Flipper Book
National PICA Silver Award for the Flipper Book

Graphic Designer

Ashdown-Ingram

Assistant Senior Graphic Designer

Salton Group

Achievements:
Design of product which rated GfK top 10 for more than 5 months running
Developed a processes and training guide for New Product Development processes
Introduced a graphics brief system which reduced draft re-work by more than 50%.

Australian Department of Defence; and HTR Engineering and IT Professional Services

As a contractor to the Australian Department of Defence, I was responsible for the development and amendment of technical illustrations for a number of high priority projects. This position required me to obtain a Defence clearance at RESTRICTED level.

Technical Illustrator - contractor

RSEA Pty Ltd

Boeing Defence Australia

This position required me to obtain a Defence clearance at SECRET level.

Junior Graphic Designer

This position required me to obtain a Defence clearance at SECRET level.

Achievements:
Selected to participate in the Boeing Leadership Development Program
Finalist in the 2006 Boeing Young Leader Award
Nominated and short-listed for the 2006 Queensland Training Awards.

Technical Illustrator

For years I worked in the creative industry, delivering multi-million dollar projects for design houses that fell short on delivering value and ingenuity for their brands.

I found myself seeking more from an industry that offered low prospects for designers and brands alike — something that was creatively challenging, but also impactful. I had reached a turning point.

I freelanced as a designer while pursuing a mechanical engineering degree. A real change occurred when I began working with brands that shared my values, and that experience led to a profound transformation.

From this journey, By Ninja was born — a brand studio that differentiates itself through a deep commitment to customer intimacy and innovation.

We create meaningful impact, aligned to the values of the brands we work with. Our approach has earned us a reputation for excellence, exemplified by high retention and professional accolades.

Now, I empower beauty brands to craft unforgettable experiences that drive growth, through conscious branding and product design. 

We take your product idea from concept to consumer; crafting brand, design and packaging experiences for the conscious consumer. 

Our clients and their results are testament to our approach:

𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐚 𝐂𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐚
👉 Cell Forté Serum Violet Grey top seller, selling out 3 times in 2 months. 
👉 BFCM D2C sales soared by 300%, with a 60% repurchase rate.

𝐑𝐄-𝐃𝐎𝐗 𝐒𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐚𝐛
“Kathleen has an amazing ability to understand your needs and vision for your brand and translate that into a brand and product that exceed your expectations.”

𝐋𝐔𝐗𝐄 𝐁𝐨𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬
“They transformed not only our branding but also our brand voice and digital presence in such a way that our business has grown in triple digits since the start of the partnership.”
👉 Doubled traffic and checkout value.
👉 Increased customer retention.
👉 Triple-digit growth in 9 months.

𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩
👉 Featured in Vanity Fair and Beauty Independent for branding and sustainability.
👉 Reduced transport emissions by up to 90%.
👉 Increased D2C sales by 65% within 12 months.

𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞
👉 Reduced carbon footprint by 24%.
👉 Diverted >1 tonne of plastic from landfill.

𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐈𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐬
👉 Minimised start-up costs.
👉 Mitigated product breakage.
👉 Eliminated ~0.3kg of carbon emissions per product.


Interested in working with me and my team:
🌟 Bespoke Branding & Product Design - www.byninja.com.au
⭐ Unlimited Graphic Design Support - www.designninjas.au 

Reach out to me kathleen@byninja.com.au

Kathleen Casford

CAASie

Partnership Lead @CAASie

Connecting with people and creating relationships for CAASie. Helping bridge the gap between Out-of-Home and Digital marketing.

CAASie is a programmatic advertising platform for Digital Out-of-Home(dOOH). Effectively Facebook style (pay-per-play) advertising on dOOH assets like Billboards or Bus Shelters.

Partnership lead

Heurist - the brand developers

Heurist is a brand development marketing agency that I co-founded. We started Heurist with a simple goal: To build unforgettable brands and help companies with their marketing. This goal had a catch: we wanted to make marketing more accessible than ever before.

Our goal was always going to be challenging. To achieve it, we combined a year of research in human behaviour with my prior expertise in advertising & marketing along with my co-founder's expertise in engineering to find a way of applying technology to make marketing more affordable.

Formally, my role at Heurist involves me performing a variety of tasks, from drafting and planning the broad business strategy, to devising ways to market ourselves and brand ourselves that is both effective and unforgettable. I am primarily involved in the strategic direction of the company, but also liaise directly with clients and solicit partnerships with organisations that share a similar vision to our own.

Co-Founder & Marketing Consultant

Identify and source partner opportunities
Research partners and key players
Network and build a scalable platform for CAASie

Partnership lead, CAASie

Providing a creative contribution and to act as a constructive critic to the Indian team plans for digital display boards in India.
Monitoring the performance of the company and the execution of plans

Non Executive Director- Heurist-the advertisers, India

ACTE Group

I joined the ACTE group in 2013 to further expand my training repertoire, and, in particular build on a passion to train budding entrepreneurs how to market themselves. I wanted to find a way to teach the next generation of marketers what I had learned in a career of brand management, marketing strategy, and advertising. I also sought to evolve a skill that I had acquired: teaching and mentoring.

Marketing, Leadership, and Business Trainer

Dezine It

In 2012, I co-founded a graphic and web design studio - Dezine It. It evolved out of the passion my son and I shared for great design work. Our business was simple - we designed print media, logos, websites, and apps for clients that found other studios outside their budget.

Throughout the existence of Dezine It, business was good. We steadily served clients from across the globe, with projects from Australia, the UK, and even the Netherlands. We were recognised as a Top-Level designer on the design site 99Designs - an achievement that we are still proud of to this day.

My role was predominantly as a designer, however, due to the small nature of the business, I was in charge of various core elements including managing its finances, engaging with clients, and generating leads and networking where possible.

Co-founder & Web and Graphic Designer

Australian Institute of Commerce & Technology

AICT is a training institute based in Perth, Western Australia. They specialise in both Commerce and Technology. My role required me to manage a project to develop the Diploma in Printing and Graphics Arts (Multimedia) ICP50210.
This was in addition to delivering training, while also developing the required resources and assessment tools in accordance with ASQA requirements. Working with a team, I helped develop an assessment strategy that adhered to the performance criteria, through multiple levels of moderation and validation to ensure compliance with government standards. This was performed while endeavouring to provide the best possible experience for the student in gaining valuable knowledge to meet industry requirements.
Responsibilities:
• Project manage the development, implementation and delivery of the Diploma in Printing and Graphics Arts (Multimedia) ICP50210 as per ASQA requirements.
• Lecturing multimedia units, assessing students on their Multimedia, Web and Graphic Designing as per ASQA requirements.
• Validation and moderation of the multimedia units.
• Provision of students with relevant and industry-relevant training.

Multimedia Lecturer

Cambridge International College

Cambridge International College is a training organisation, based in Perth, Australia. Here, I started as a Lecturer in Graphic Design. I was then entrusted with the role of Student Coordinator based on the rapport and the support I offered students as their lecturer. Going the extra mile to help them gain those valuable skills was the key to success both for them, as well as the institution.

My responsibilities included:
• Coordinate the administration of students for the courses run by the institute
• Liaise with faculty staff and stakeholders including course and program coordinators.
• Contribute to the development of curriculum as per ASQA.
• Develop the faculty timetable for each term.
• Monitor student progress, and resolve student and academic queries and issues, promptly and accurately.
• Assist with admissions, enrolment, examinations, graduation, international student compliance issues.
• Manage trainers and trainer matrix for effective delivery of qualifications.

Pre-Press Lecturer/Student Coordinator

Contracting to QPA Australia and S&T Graphic Design and Printing

Quality Publishing Australia (QPA) is a publishing house. I brought my experience as a marketing and advertising specialist and applied it here  executing designs on a wide range of print formats.

On a daily basis the design requirements or brief changed to suit the requirements. Formats varied from A4 posters to large maps, and then again to 300-page books with specialised printing requirements.

My responsibilities included:
•   Design, layout and printing of maps, directories, kids’ books, charts and posters from inception to the final printing, ensuring to provide correct output with relevant links to the printer. 
•   The upkeep of map correctness involving tasks such as updating roads and tracks and ensuring the relevant colour schemes were used.

Kaashyap Technologies Limited

Kaashyap Technologies is a software development & training organisation. My role here was largely similar to my prior role at Cholamandalam. I evolved from Marketing and Advertising Manager to Marketing and Brand manager, reporting directly to the General Manager of the company. Once again, I oversaw the brand and marketing strategies, and coordinated every marketing activity the company engaged in, from the execution of campaigns to the designs of the individual marketing materials.

Formally, my role saw me performing the following tasks:
•	Developing the marketing strategy for the company in line with company objectives and directives of the board
•	Co-ordinating marketing campaigns
•	Overseeing the company’s marketing budget.
•	Creation and publication of all marketing material in line with marketing plans.
•	Planning and implementing promotional campaigns.
•	Overall responsibility for brand management and corporate identity
•	Preparing print marketing campaigns to meet strategic requirements

Marketing and Brand Manager

CHOLAMANDALAM INVESTMENT AND FINANCE COMPANY LIMITED

Cholamandalam Investment and Finance is a subsidiary of the 4.9 billion-dollar Murugappa Group in Chennai, India. And within this company, I was the Advertising Manager. To this end, I was involved in the development of the company's marketing strategy, and subsequently lead every marketing campaign that was run by the organisation. I also oversaw the integration of all marketing communications within the sales activities, and developed the broader brand strategy for Cholamandalam. In this role, I reported directly to the Vice President of the organisation.

My role saw me perform the following tasks:
•      Formulating and implementing policies and plans for advertising, public relations, in consultation with the Vice President.
•	Managing all marketing for the company and activities within the marketing department.
•	Developing the marketing strategy for the company in line with company objectives.
•	Co-ordinating marketing campaigns with sales activities.
•	Overseeing the company’s marketing budget.
•	Creation and publication of all marketing material in line with marketing plans.
•	Planning and implementing promotional campaigns.
•	Overall responsibility for brand strategy, development, management and corporate identity.
•	Preparing print marketing campaigns.
•	Monitor and report on effectiveness of marketing communications.
•	Creating a wide range of different marketing materials.
•	Working closely with design agencies and assisting with new product launches.
•	Maintaining effective internal communications to ensure that all relevant company functions are kept informed of marketing objectives.

Asst Marketing And Advertising Manager

Experienced marketer with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry. 

taplio

The Battle

Kathleen Casford

💬 Joe Jaraved

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