Back Edge Design
Creative Direction & Brand Design

About

ESEN PENCE
Principal & Creative Director

15+ Years experience leading creative teams & designing for fast-growing brands with a background in illustration & design, specializing in health & wellness, better-for-you food & beverage, and expertise in and bias towards digital and direct-to-consumer spaces.

Currently a founding member and employed full-time as the Creative Director at Blueshift Nutrition, Esen is fully immersed in the innovative supplement category and excited to be building a brand again. She cultivated her extensive experience crafting the visual languages for a variety of functional beverage product lines, marketing initiatives, and strategic advertising campaigns that over 11 years built La Colombe Coffee into a household name and eventually helped it sell for ~$1B.

When not hanging out at her favorite local cafe, she can be found snowboarding in mountains of Vermont or checking out new bands, especially those playing some heavy music 🤘, so drop a line if you got a new one for her.

For LinkedIn Profile & resume click here.

BACK EDGE DESIGN STUDIO
Esen Pence’s passion project / side hustle

If you have a business in food, beverage, hospitality, if you’re an artist or a musician, or if you know a non-profit that could benefit from design services, creative direction, or consulting in these areas, reach out!

Clients include:

  • AIGA - Professional Organization for Design
    2018-Present Non-Profit Management / Mentorship / Community Leadership

    2023-2025 Professional Development Director
    Created a series of events around "Personal Branding" and hosted 3 workshop / panel discussions for the community with industry mavens like Lisa Smith (ECD at jkr) and Meg Niman (Persona Project) as well as local Philadelphia design talent.

    2024 National Conference Planning Committee
    Reviewed 300+ proposals for the conference and evaluated based on considerations such as quality and fit.

    2020-Present Design Mentor, Portfolio Reviewer

    2018-2019 Volunteer on Civic + Community Engagement Committee 

  • University of the Arts
    BFA, Illustration/Design Concentration
    Orientation Leader and Peer Mentor for the International Students
    Graduated with honors
    Continuing Education Class, Foundations of Web, Web/Interactive Design: CSS + HTML

    Strategy Summer Camp by Mark Pollard
    The Frame Work Frenzy: 31-day strategy challenge

    UC San Diego
    Specialization Certificate - Online at Coursera, Human Computer Interaction Design

    Schule für Gestaltung, Basel Switzerland
    Summer Workshop, Inquiry by Design

    Yale University, CT
    Summer Classes, Graphic Design and Digital Video

    University of the Arts, London UK
    Summer Classes, Graphic Design and Exploring Art & Design

Ok fine - here are some fun facts.

We reunited our high school band and played at our wedding. I learned snowboarding in my late 20’s. I’m a double citizen of Türkiye & U.S.