yves louise

Yves Louise, pronounced "eve", is an artist and creative strategist currently pursuing her MBA in Design Strategy at California College of the Arts, where she will graduate in May 2025 as an All-College Honors and Merit Scholarship recipient. Her journey to this point has been shaped by a multicultural upbringing: hailing from northeastern Italy, she lived around the world traveling with her American (military) father and Italian mother, absorbing the cultures surrounding her and developing a unique understanding of the intersection of utility and purpose in art, design, and craft.

Yves found her way to San Francisco while pursuing her undergraduate degree in menswear fashion design, and landed a job at Gap Inc, where she would refine her skills in the art of business, forecasting, customer and market research over the span of six years. In 2023, she made a pivotal change after coming to terms with the dire need to shift mindsets in business and production practices to be more cognizant of the environmental damage of mass consumption. Recognizing her place in the cycle of fashion production, she left her job as a designer and began her journey into understanding the systems and processes that keep our world running and the status quo in equilibrium.

Her approach uses the lens of systems thinking and sustainable innovation to pursue creative solutions to complex problems. Yves has created go-to-market strategies for emerging entrepreneurs, led digital communications for municipal initiatives including SFMTA'S APEC 2023 media project, developed the AI Values Canvas with AI ethicist Olivia Gambelin, and designed comprehensive brand strategies for small businesses, spanning the industries of fashion design, handcrafting, as well as DEI consulting and coaching services. In her work, Yves specializes in translating complex business (and, on occasion, personal) challenges into clear, actionable strategies. Her work combines design research with creative intuition, helping clients uncover their unique selling point while developing their own distinctive brand voice that cuts through the noise. Yves’ methodology offers creative solutions to questions of sustainable practices and process optimization, recognizing that often, the most effective solutions arise from peering into the established procedural norms.

Yves maintains her creative spirit through the art of doodling, writing, and riding her bike to her favorite beat bar. Outside of her client work, she is an avid maker, with a love of culture and cuisine. Her side project, Board of Paradise, allows her to explore the intersection of community and strategy while sharing her love of artisanal cheese.