After more than twenty years in the agency world, Brandi Parker made a decisive break - stepping away to focus exclusively on sustainable brand work. It was a move that allowed her to pursue what truly energizes her practice: radical collaboration with diverse teams working toward a sustainably designed future that's multidisciplinary, humane, and optimistic.

As Founder and Owner of Parker Brands, Brandi serves as a brand-level sustainability consultant, often finding herself acting as a bridge between two worlds that don't always speak the same language. "Bringing each topic to the other," as she describes it—translating design thinking for sustainability professionals and sustainability imperatives for designers. Her expertise in brands and consumer packaged goods extends across printing, structure and manufacturing, materials, sourcing, marketing, strategy, and messaging across business verticals and sectors. She also maintains a public speaking platform spanning podcasts, webinars, conferences, and keynotes.

Brandi works with all manner of clients - brands and startups, organizations and design agencies. "But the one thing I am most excited about is when I'm surprised and delighted by a project that desires to push against capitalistic ideals and create for good at all costs," she says. It's in these moments, when clients prioritize impact over convention, that her work feels most meaningful.

Remembering Human Power

Outside her consulting practice, Brandi maintains an art practice - a deliberate counterbalance that serves a specific purpose. It informs her response to one of design's current anxieties. "I'm worried about people who forget their own power in creation," she says. "With all of the discussion about AI, I hear a lot of fear and a lot of downplaying what we humans bring to the table and will always bring."

For Brandi, her art practice functions as a reminder. "This helps me remember my power and that while visuals can be mirrored or copied, they cannot be created from scratch by anyone other than us." It's a grounding force against the erosion of confidence she sees emerging in design discourse.

Simplicity Without Complication

As jury captain for the Sustainability category in the 2026 Core77 Design Awards, Brandi will bring her sustainability lens to evaluation—but with an important nuance that extends beyond standard calls for simplicity.

"In my practice, I'm not just focused on simplicity, as a sustainability professional, I'm also focused on not introducing complexity into someone's life," Brandi explains. "I've found these things aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. In other words, it's fine to make something simple, but also make sure it doesn't complicate anything for anyone...because sometimes it can."

It's a sophisticated distinction, recognizing that minimal design doesn't automatically equal minimal friction in someone's actual experience with a product. Her final guidance brings it back to fundamentals: "And, always make sure that function and form are properly balanced."

For entrants to the Sustainability category, the challenge is clear: create work that's both elegant and uncomplicated, sustainable and functional, beautiful and useful, all at once.

2025 Winner

The 2025 Professional winner in the Sustainability was the FREITAG Mono[PA6]: Circular Backpack from FRIETAG lab ag and the team comprised of Jeffrey Siu, Tu Van Giang, Ilke Tokdede, Inge Hettich, Silvio Trionfini, and Denise Eugster. The new Mono[PA6] Backpack is circular—from the fabric to the zippers and buckles, it's made from a single material and can be easily recycled in its entirety at the end of its life. By launching this innovative product, FREITAG is closing a material loop and taking a significant step towards a circular economy.

If you have a forward-thinking idea that could spark a fire with our jurors, share it with us through the 2026 Core77 Design Awards.

Enter the C77DA before February 27 to lock in regular pricing.