Hannah Salas

When words and imagery work in concert, the power of each is amplified. As a Copywriter at Element Three, Hannah Gjertson is a writer first—having studied Graphic Design and Writing at Indiana Wesleyan University she knows better than anyone what it means to craft messages in the increasingly visual world we all live in. “I understand how both typefaces and language can affect how people read and respond to certain taglines. As a writer in a creative agency, making work that will become visual, I have an understanding of linguistic tone and how that translates to the visual world.”

Hannah’s life as a writer started early—she identifies her junior high career writing One Direction fan-fiction as one possible beginning—but really, it’s more of a recurring theme across her life. Growing up religious, Hannah recalls praying to ask God “to help me make pretty pictures” without any direction past wanting to make people feel something. Along the way she picked up journaling, a personal tradition that remains unbroken from when Hannah was eight years old. “My childhood bedroom is filled with sketchbooks and journals from every stage of life.”

Once Hannah reached college she lasted about a semester studying graphic design before realizing something was missing—writing.

I like being a designer, but I love being a storyteller—and writing empowers me to write language that is compelling, and the design aspect allows me to decorate and ‘plate’ my writing in a way that fits.

With a passion for the written word and a deep understanding of how language and imagery work together, Hannah creates work that means something to audiences and crafts language that prompts them to respond.