Tanya Kerluke

Why this persona fits the audience

She runs a solo brand design practice from Manchester, invoicing clients in the UK, Germany, and the US. She already uses a Wise Business account for GBP, EUR, and USD receipts and sends occasional payments to a motion designer in Portugal.

• Age: 31
• Location: Manchester, UK
• Occupation: Freelance brand designer
• Income: £58,000
• Education: BA in Graphic Design
• Company size: Sole trader (1 person)
• Years in role: 6

“Design isn't just about making things look good; it's about building a structure that makes sense for everyone involved, even when the numbers don't add up easily.”

Tanya Kerluke is a thirty-one-year-old freelance brand designer operating a solo practice out of a converted warehouse loft in Manchester's Northern Quarter. Graduating with a BA in Graphic Design from Manchester Metropolitan University six years ago, she quickly transitioned from agency employment to independence, drawn by the desire for autonomy and control over her craft. Today, she commands an annual income of approximately £58,000, serving a diverse roster of clients across the UK, Germany, and the United States. Her business model is lean but sophisticated; she manages the entire lifecycle of brand development, from initial research to final asset delivery, without the buffer of an in-house support team. Her workflow is defined by a rigorous adherence to craftsmanship and responsiveness. She utilizes a mix of industry-standard software, primarily Adobe Creative Cloud and Figma, alongside a robust digital infrastructure for administration. Recently, she integrated a multi-currency solution to handle the complexities of receiving payments in GBP, EUR, and USD, as well as remitting funds to a motion designer in Portugal. Despite this efficiency, the manual reconciliation of these transactions remains a persistent friction point, consuming valuable hours that could be spent on billable design work. Tanya's personality reflects high conscientiousness and moderate openness; she is deeply invested in the details of her output but remains curious about emerging design trends and global markets. She navigates the isolation of freelancing with intentional routines, including long walks along the Rochdale Canal and regular museum visits, which serve as both creative fuel and mental decompression. While financially stable, she constantly weighs the trade-offs between scaling her practice and maintaining the quality of her personal relationships.

Background & daily life

A day in their life

Tanya wakes at 6:30 AM to a quiet apartment, brewing pour-over coffee while checking emails across three different time zones. By 8:00 AM, she is in her studio, reviewing a typographic grid system for a German fintech client. At 10:30 AM, she takes a 20-minute walk to the canal edge to stretch her back and listen to a podcast on branding strategy. Lunch is a quick salad eaten at her desk while sketching ideas. Afternoon brings a Zoom call with a startup founder in San Francisco, followed by invoicing tasks that require juggling GBP, EUR, and USD balances. She finishes work by 6:00 PM, leaving the door open for spontaneous client queries but strictly protecting her evening for cooking or reading. Fridays end with a virtual drink with her remote team.

Lifestyle

Tanya lives in a sun-drenched, high-ceilinged loft in Manchester's Northern Quarter, surrounded by exposed brick and industrial steel beams that she keeps meticulously organized. Her days are punctuated by long walks along the Rochdale Canal to clear her mind before diving into creative sprints. She prioritizes health through yoga twice a week and cooks simple, fresh meals on Sunday nights. Financially, she is disciplined, tracking every penny in spreadsheets while maintaining a small emergency fund. Socially, she prefers deep one-on-one coffee chats over loud networking events, often meeting friends at independent galleries or quiet pubs in Didsbury.

Work life

Her studio is a hub of focused activity where she manages three concurrent rebranding projects for international clients. Mornings are reserved for deep design work in Figma and Adobe Illustrator, while afternoons handle client calls and administrative overhead. She relies heavily on digital collaboration tools like Slack and Notion, though she still prints physical mood boards for tactile review. The pressure stems from managing multiple time zones; a late-night call with a New York startup can disrupt her evening routine. She recently hired a Portuguese motion designer for a specific project, requiring careful coordination of cross-border logistics.

Relationships

Tanya maintains a close-knit circle of four childhood friends who live nearby, providing emotional grounding. Her mother, a retired teacher, offers advice on long-term planning, while her primary mentor is an older art director based in London. She feels a strong sense of belonging within the Manchester creative collective, attending monthly meetups where peers share struggles. However, she often feels the distance between her solitary work life and the bustling social scenes of her past university days.

How they decide

She is a methodical researcher who gathers data extensively before committing. She values peer reviews and third-party case studies over marketing hype. Decisions are driven by utility, reliability, and long-term cost-benefit analysis rather than immediate price points. She prefers platforms with transparent fee structures and intuitive interfaces, often testing free trials for weeks before upgrading.

How they sound

Her speech is articulate and measured, avoiding slang unless among close friends. She speaks with a soft Mancunian accent, dropping the 't' in words like 'water' but keeping it sharp in technical terms. She avoids hyperbole, preferring precise adjectives like 'inefficient' or 'misaligned' over generic complaints. She rarely interrupts, listening intently before formulating a response. When discussing money, she is direct and factual, devoid of anxiety or boastfulness.