Erika Goering

I’m a graphic designer with over 20 years of web experience. I taught myself HTML when I was 10, and I’ve been honing my craft ever since. In 2013, I graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute’s graphic design program. I have multiple local, national, and international awards and recognitions to show for it, including from the Kansas City chapter of AIGA, Design Ignites Change, Adobe, and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum at the Smithsonian.

I thrive at the intersection of design and development. I design with purpose and I bring my designs to life with code (or pixels, or ink, or cookies…).

Making the leap to starting a business straight out of college was not a decision I took lightly. I had freelanced off and on for several years before forming Cogneedo, so I had a bit of experience before solidifying everything. Like any job or venture, it continues to be a catalyst for learning and growing as a designer, developer, business owner, and a person.

I think what I feel fortunate about is that I am still astonished, that things still amaze me. And I think that that’s a great benefit of being in the arts, where the possibility for learning never disappears; where you basically have to admit you never learn it.
Milton Glaser

• Favorite typeface: I have a weakness for any Egyptian slab-serif. Slabs are love.
• Favorite designer: Milton Glaser. Dude was a badass and a half.
• My web design arsenal: My weapons of choice from concept to execution are: a good, old-fashioned sketch pad, Adobe Illustrator, Bootstrap, WordPress, and VS Code.
• In my spare time, I like to ___: Play violin in the Social Symphony of Kansas City (AKA “Drunk Orchestra”). You can find me in the 1st violin section, sipping on whiskey, playing either my golden-blonde Da Salò copy or my black 5-string fiddle, depending on how fancy I’m feeling.
• My unhealthy obsession: Asian food. Specifically the spicy ramen at Sama Zama.
• You can always find ___ on my desk: At least one Tamagotchi (or other brand of virtual pet).
• Fun fact: I’m officially a world-record holder! In 2019 I participated in the world’s largest lightsaber battle, and all I got was a lousy t-shirt (and bragging rights, I guess).