About Us

Our Origins

The journey started over two decades ago, when Flash reigned supreme, mobile was point on the distant horizon, and Design was yet to earn a place at the leadership table. Times have changed.

Today design has earned a coveted C-suite position in many segment leading start-ups and enterprise organizations, Flash is a distant memory, and mobile is the platform of choice.

As experience designers, consultants, and leaders, our founder and peer network helped shape design culture at one of the Bay Area's most design-centric companies while helping innovation focussed clients to envision, build, and deploy next-gen digital experiences. Experiences that have informed today's evolving digital landscape - from early mobile to some of the most widely used platforms in existence today.
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We've seen the impact of good design, and know what it takes to plan, build, and lead a team towards success. We're here to help you do the same.

Leadership Snapshot

Joel den Engelsen

Kotori, Principal

With global and regional design leadership experience at companies like Adobe, Joel brings the expertise clients need when building and leading world-class design teams.

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Global teams

Across countries

14B+

Dollars in design driven revenue

Years of experience

A-Z

Startup to enterprise and back

100M+

People impacted

Our why

Design impacts how we experience the world. It shapes culture, defines categories, and separates the leaders from the followers. It's the great differentiator.

At Kotori we've made it our mission to help design driven organizations to plan, build, and lead design teams in the name of making a material difference in how we experience an increasingly digitized world. We appreciate that design plays a pivotal launching the next unicorn, securing funding, establishing and maintaining a market advantage, but more importantly we understand it's people, not pixels, that form the foundation of great design.

Our Thoughts

Great design leaders inspire and create visionary design teams.

Inspiring, guiding, building, and planning: seasoned design leaders know how to do all four while creating world-class experience design teams.

Visionary design teams create impactful digital experiences.

Innovative, disruptive, creative: the most talented design teams have the ability to see beyond the horizon and envision tomorrow’s digital products and services.

Impactful digital experiences have the power to change the world.

Beyond being merely useful, usable, and desirable, digital experiences have the power to impact culture, influence our view of the world, and change how we interact with it.

To change the world, first you need the right design leadership.

Enter Kotori. We’re here to help iconic and emerging brands plan, build, and lead tomorrow’s experience design teams.

Our Experience : Your Advantage

Enjoy the benefits of a partner with over decades of global experience at the crossroads of design, innovation, and leadership in your corner.

Today, more than ever, building the right design team—structure, talent, and leadership—is essential for success.

25 years

Kotori draws on a depth of design and leadership experience spanning decades. Our experience allows us to deliver value and strategic insight were you need it most.

Walking the walk

Our insights come from first hand experience as designers, innovators, leaders, and founders. We know your journey, because we've walked the path your on.

Startup to enterprise

From nimble start-ups to globally distributed UX/UI design teams, our experience spans the spectrum, allowing Kotori to adapt to each unique challenge and deliver bespoke solutions.

Global experience

We've built and led successful design and innovation teams in the Bay Area, New York, Tokyo, Sydney, Vancouver, Toronto, Delhi, and beyond. We can help you do the same.

Who we work with

From founder-led startups, and venture-funded scale-ups to established market leaders. We partner with those creating tomorrow.

Startups

We provide advisory services to startups, helping to hire foundational team members and establish team structures and roles. Tomorrow's success is built on today's foundations.

Scale-ups

We deliver insights and advisory services to scale-ups that have achieved product-market fit and are ready to scale, lead, and evolve their design practices for the next growth stage.

Enterprise

We assist market leaders in cultivating a culture of innovation while navigating the complexities of global scaling, ensuring they remain competitive in dynamic markets.

Dedicated to building world-class design organizations