# Kirsten Ritschel

> Brand and Experience Designer @ Food Ethnographer | Chocolatier Certification

Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Profile: https://flows.cv/kirstenritschel

Curious about the mechanics of creation, I was drawn to the art of printing, captivated by its intricate processes and the profound power to shape narratives. This fascination led me to renowned agencies like Grabarz & Partner in Hamburg and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco, where I refined my design skills, particularly in motion graphics. At Google, I led visual storytelling initiatives for the internal Marketing and Communications team, employing design thinking to craft content. I also had the privilege of creatively co-directing the publication of a gorgeous coffee table book chronicling the innovative development of Google’s Bay View campus.

I wear many hats in support of Food Ethnographer. As a Visual Storyteller, I translate the essence of our Food Ethnography brand across various mediums, including website design and (video)production. Acting as a Community Catalyst, I am managing cohorts of people eager to share their stories. I contribute to a sense of community  through my involvement in event co-production and the creation of immersive experiences infused with flavor.

My love of chocolate created Kiki’s Cocoa. When I moved from Hamburg to the US in 2000, I found myself disappointed in the quality of available chocolates — that’s how I decided to do it myself, combining culinary acumen with graphic design chops to create my own confectionery of carefully crafted chocolates. San Francisco is now home.

## Work Experience
### Designer, Chocolatier @ Food Ethnographer
Jan 2023 – Present

### Design Strategist @ Google
Jan 2017 – Jan 2023 | San Francisco Bay Area

### Sr. Media Designer @ Autofuss/Google
Jan 2012 – Jan 2016
Autofuss is a studio of diverse creative talents. We are poets of technology, finding the story inside a product and telling it through multidisciplinary levels, from installations to films to media campaigns. One of my favorite parts of being an autofuss employee is filling a dozen different roles, from core design work to purposeful perspective shifts, lending a designer’s eye to areas normally delegated elsewhere.

### Sr. Media Arts Designer @ Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
Jan 2007 – Jan 2012 | San Francisco Bay Area
Graphic Designer/Concept Artist for broadcast and interactive advertisements for brands including Sprint, Chevrolet, Hyundai, Saturn, Comcast, Hewlett Packard, Adobe, Motorola, Doritos, NBA, Netflix,
Häagen-Dazs, Specialized, Starbucks, and more. Came up with visual concepts and communicated those to a team of editors, motion graphic artists, and the audio team for multiple projects on different timelines. Worked on countless new business pitches.

### Designer/Design Manager @ Self Employed
Jan 2003 – Jan 2006 | San Francisco Bay Area
Focused on bringing stalled, underfunded, and behind-schedule projects successfully back on track and to completion.

### Motion Graphic Designer @ Neeson & Pearl
Jan 1998 – Jan 2003 | Boston, Massachusetts, United States

### Junior Art Director @ Grabarz & Partner
Jan 1995 – Jan 1997


## Education
### Graphic-Design Masterprogram in Graphic Design | Typography
Hochschule für Künste Bremen


## Contact & Social
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/kirsten-ritschel-84bb29
- Portfolio: https://kikiscocoa.com
- Portfolio: http://panalogue.com/

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Source: https://flows.cv/kirstenritschel
JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/kirstenritschel/resume.json
Last updated: 2026-04-13