If you’ve sipped suds at Myriad Brewing Company, tucked into a bubble waffle at Honey Moon Coffee Co, or visited Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden, you’ve come across Rachel Wambach’s work.
For 13 years, Wambach has been a self-described independent designer. She has found a niche in helping Evansville-area businesses build or evolve their brand identity by crafting custom logos, color schemes, social media skins, business cards, and more through her company, Sprout Design.
“I try to inject a lot of intention so it’s a custom design,” Wambach says.
This intent is evident in the sleek “S” of Shannon Alexandr’s redesigned logo, which mimics the salon’s refreshed interior look. Zac and Jessica Parsons, owners of Honey Moon, expanded their eight-year-old company by acquiring Evansville Coffee Co. in 2023. Wambach refreshed their logo by shaving down sharp edges and softening typography.
Earlier this year, Patsy Hartigan’s Irish Pub co-owners Josh Pietrowski, Scott Schymik, and Alan “A.C.” Braun enlisted Wambach to create the character seen in their branding and logos. The group brainstormed how an early Irish immigrant to Evansville might have looked; the resulting figure sports a collared shirt and tie, an over- grown chevron mustache, and a black eye, no doubt from an evening at a local pub.
An initial consultation grows into many conversations to understand a client’s needs and get a feel for their entire brand. Wambach then creates mood boards and works with colors and existing designs, fine-tuning the bones before starting design work. Her designs are personal to each client but recognizable enough to see her style: clean and monoline, with playful colors.
“I believe branding work should be fluid and mesh with the organization you’re working for,” she says. “It can be tricky … when you’re designing locally.”
Her designs are on everything from posters to T-shirts to Christmas cards to beer cans. In addition to clients like the Koch Family Children’s Museum of Evansville, Sixth and Zero, Forefront Therapy, and the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science, Wambach long has shaped the branding for Haynie’s Corner Arts District — designing posters for the neighborhood’s annual Front Porch Fest.
Wambach’s widespread community presence, she says, can be attributed to word of mouth, especially in a place where “everybody kind of knows each other.”
“It’s all really fun, getting to translate folks’ ideas and bring them to life,” she says. “I really love rooting for people starting their business from the ground up.”
