Out Now
The Strategist's Leap
How Designers Stop Selling Pretty and Start Selling Value
Clarity creates alignment.
Alignment creates momentum.
Momentum creates growth.
For graphic designers who know there's more to offer. A practical guide to becoming the strategist your clients need.
What This Book Is About
You're a graphic designer. You're good at what you do. Clients respect your work. But somewhere along the way, you realised that the work alone isn't enough.
The design execution is becoming commoditised. AI is getting better at the visual output. And meanwhile, the clients who make real money and do fulfilling work aren't the ones selling pretty pixels. They're the ones selling strategy.
The Strategist's Leap is a guide for designers making that transition. It's not about abandoning design. It's about using what you know about communication and clarity to help clients make better business decisions.
Inside you'll find:
- Why designers are already halfway to becoming strategists (and don't know it)
- The Clarity Advantage framework: how to position strategy work so clients understand the value
- Real client examples showing the leap in action
- How to price strategy work so you're not undercutting yourself
- What the machine can't do (and why that matters)
- Permission to make the jump, even if you think you're too late
Why You Should Read This
If you're frustrated with how design is valued
Design is treated as a cost centre, not a strategic lever. This book shows you how to reframe the conversation so clients see the value in clarity before pixels.
If you're worried about AI replacing your work
AI is getting brilliant at execution. But it can't make business decisions. It can't interview a founder and understand what they're really afraid of. It can't position a business in a way that makes it easy to choose. That's where you come in.
If you know you could charge more
The jump from £2k for a rebrand to £5k for strategy isn't about confidence. It's about clients understanding why clarity is worth paying for. This book shows you how.
If you made the leap late and wish you'd done it sooner
Kris made the jump in his late thirties. This book is written as permission, not a lecture. If you're on the edge of the jump, this is for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to stop doing design work?
No. Many strategists still design. The leap is about what you lead with, not what you stop doing. You're moving from "I'm a designer" to "I'm a strategist who designs."
Is this book just about rebranding projects?
No. The strategies work for positioning, naming, service definition, market repositioning, diversification, and any project where clarity is the real deliverable.
How long is it?
This is a focused guide, not a textbook. Read-through time is about 2-3 hours, but you'll find yourself coming back to sections for reference as you work with clients.
Will this work for my market?
The framework works across industries. The examples are mostly B2B and founder-led businesses, but the thinking applies wherever clients have to make decisions about who they are and why they're chosen.
Ready to make the leap?
The Strategist’s Leap is out now on the Amazon Kindle Store, and it’s included in Kindle Unlimited. If you’re a designer ready to stop selling pretty and start selling value, this is the map.