I'm a multi-hyphenate creative with over eleven years of experience.
I help brands, institutions, and individuals tell bold and meaningful stories. My approach to creativity is holistic, human, inquisitive, and strategically rooted. I would describe myself as a strategic mind with a poetic soul. I have lived and worked across multiple countries and traveled and photographed the world, which has made me an astute observer of culture and people. Everything I create is meant to make people think, connect, and feel. For me, creative ideas should always be grounded in a strong Why.
As a creative director, branding consultant, and copywriter, I have helped brands craft a unique tone of voice that makes them stand out, feel authentic yet aspirational, and resonate with audiences. My work spans a diverse range of projects, from communication strategies to digital content, branding, naming, 360 commercial campaigns, scriptwriting, and UX writing. My clients include creative studios, startups, NGOs, lifestyle, luxury, and hospitality brands.
My photographic and cinematographic work has been featured on Dazed, It's Nice That, i-D, NOWNESS, Travel and Leisure, The Guardian, British Journal of Photography, Atmos, VOGUE Italia, Marie Claire, El Pais, Elephant Magazine, VICE, Paper Journal, Another Magazine, Boys by Girls, Gaze, Afropunk, Hunger, Ignant, Paulette, Sand Magazine, Dear Dave, and Accent Magazine. My exhibitions have been showcased at Fotografiska New York/Stockholm/Berlin/Tallinn, Photo London, London Art Fair, Arte Fiera Bologna, Photo Australia, Photo Zürich, Foto Europea, Zona Maco, and Cadaqués Photo Festival.
I have published two books: "Democratize Creativity: A Middle Finger in the Shape of Words to Whoever Told You That You Are Not Creative Enough," a satirical manifesto that aims to inspire people to think outside expected norms and stop dividing humanity into "creatives" and "non-creatives," and "AGUA," my first photographic monograph that explores people's relationship with water through imagery and poetry.
Some of my commercial clients include H&M, Asket, Varier, Zalando, Louis Vuitton, Booking.com, Puma, Format, Frontify, and luxury hospitality businesses like The Fifth Avenue Hotel, MOLLIE Aspen, EDITION Hotels, and Waldorf Astoria New York.
Projects
- "Albinism, Albinism"“Albinism, Albinism” is an ongoing photographic project. The series is meant to capture the beauty of boys born with albinism - an absence of pigmentation in the eyes and skin and hair. It is meant to create awareness through beauty, highlighting its subjects rather than portraying them as victims. The first edition of the series was shot in Tanzania, a country with a history of violence, murder and segregation against albinos. The second edition of the series was shot in Uganda, a country whe
- Fuck Fast FashionSustainable clothing brand ASKET wanted to make a big statement to call out the fast fashion industry for its contribution to hyper-consumption and environmentally unfriendly practices. The medium to call out an entire industry on their irresponsible ways? A big and bold manifesto intentionally placed in the middle of one of Stockholm’s busiest shopping streets.
- Democratize Creativity“Democratize Creativity: A Middle Finger in The Shape of Words to Whoever Told You That You Are Not Creative Enough” is half satire, half social observation. It is meant to make us laugh, reflect and rethink about creativity, the creative industry and humanity as a whole. To better encapsulate the ethos of this literary piece, I shall leave you with its blurb: “This book is a verbal middle finger to whoever decided to split humanity into “creatives” and “non-creatives.” To the archaic, geriat
- "Q&A - Q for Queer, A for Africa - A Visual Celebration of LGBTQI+ People Throughout Africa"recently embarked on a journey to photograph LGBTQI+ people living in different corners of the African continent. My main purpose with this series was not to portray African queer people in a victimised or somber light like they usually are portrayed in most media. Instead, I wanted to celebrate and empower them through portraits that were more artistic, abstract and intimate. I’ve consciously taken on a personal mission to use photography to highlight the beauty of Afro-communities and other ma
- Bank of AmericansExhibition for San Francisco Design Week 2016 What if Bank of America were Scandinavian? Prior to the 2016 American presidential elections the term Scandinavian had exited American mouths during that year more than it had in the past... well, ever. Thanks to Bernie Sanders its Google search count was considerably off the roof and its search results now expanded beyond images of beautifully crafted Danish furniture or very functional Ikea shelves. One could argue that Sanders singlehandedly made “Scandinavian”, the lexical revival of the season –Thank you, Senator. But, how much did Americans actually know about Scandinavia? It is a region that is very upward, geographically, and very forward-pushing, technologically and socially. A place where innovation and equality already hold governmental seats and design potentially could, because that is how relevant it is to its people. Like our dear Senator pointed out, Scandinavia and America are pretty contrasting societies in terms of culture, but also when it comes to design. We thought, what if America and Scandinavia met and procreated? What would its offspring be? Its spawn, we named her California. California is technology and people focused, pro-public funding and design-driven. In the quest to visualize this thesis we decided to take an American icon and re-imagine it through Scandinavian eyes. Bank of America was founded by Italian immigrants as a bank meant for the people, so we decided to give it back to the people by changing its name to Bank of Americans. A nominal switch that would go from nationalist to people-ist. A very Scandinavian switch. After all, the people make the land, not the other way around. The gays, the homeless, the women, the immigrants, the atheists make the land. In order to highlight the people we used candid portraits of real American folk taken by Andre Wagner. We took the flag as a central symbol, because it felt like a natural choice and because there is no symbol more iconically American than that Star-Spangled Banner. We simplified the flag, again a very Scandinavian thing to do, by removing the stars. But, not solely for the sake of minimalism. By removing the stars, we remove the states, and by removing the states we remove borders. When you remove borders, you are left with people, people of all kinds and all creeds walking the same streets. Also, by removing the stars we remove the idea of “star treatment” since this would be a bank with equal treatment for all of its customers. The final result: Bank of Americans. A People-Spangled Banner, a starless equal bank.
- Common SansFull Project: http://www.denisseariana.com/projects/common-sans The incessant influx of refugees flooding European coasts and boarders in the middle of 2015 escalated into an actual humanitarian crisis, one only preceded by that of the aftermath of WWII. Media channels were equally flooded with the word refugee, sometimes using it carelessly and often with a xenophobic undertone. This was an issue close to us and we wanted people to stop and think about the words they use. To think beyond the w
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Projects credited in
- Championing Diversity: this Black History Month, meet 100 creatives inspiring changeWe asked 11 of our creative heroes to each nominate 10 leading black change makers and creators who are shaping the current climate with raw talent, big ideas and crazy hard work. There is still a huge disparity of BAME individuals in the creative industry. Currently only 13% of the creative industry workforce identify as coming from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds. In addition, only 8% of senior positions have BAME representation. Spotlighting this subject is as important as ever. True d138
Work history
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PhotographerProbation Agency
London, United KingdomFreelance
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Freelance Senior CreativeFreelance
Copenhagen, DenmarkFreelance
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Skills
- Creative Arts
- Photography
- Advertising Creative
- Creative Workshops
- Brand Content
- Branding Strategy
- Social Media
- Content Development
- Copywriting
- Facilitating Workshops