About Helle Creative

Asheville-based graphic designer who actually does the work — branding, web design, and collateral without the agency runaround.

I'm Claire — the only person at Helle Creative, which is exactly the point. Designer, project manager, and the one who answers your emails.

I'm based in West Asheville, North Carolina, and I work with businesses and organizations across the region and beyond. If you're doing work that matters to you — building something, making something, running something you actually care about — I can help you look the part. I translate your vision into design that works: clear brand systems, functional websites, and collateral that does its job. No agency runaround, no freelancer flakiness — just consistent work and straight answers.

Behind the Name

“helle” (heh•leh, German) → bright + clever

Helle Creative’s name was inspired by my transformative and meaningful experiences during my several visits to Austria over the years. From studying abroad in Vienna to spending our honeymoon in Styria, my experiences in Austria have always made a positive impact. I strive to have that same kind of impact in my business as well.

Helle Creative began as Claire Allen Design in 2017, but I’ve been working in design for well over a decade.

I'm self-taught, which means I didn't learn design in a vacuum — I learned it by doing it. It started with school yearbooks, friends’ event posters, my parents’ work presentations, and eventually grew into real projects for real clients with real stakes. That's given me a different kind of toolkit: I'm not beholden to "the way things are done," I don't assume I've figured it all out, and I'm always willing to try something unexpected if it serves the work.

When you work with Helle Creative, you get someone who's pragmatic, curious, and genuinely invested in making your project work — not just look good.

Non-Design Things

HOUSE
Ravenclaw

FAVORITE COVER BANDS
Rumors, Somewhat Petty

HOBBIES
Hanging out with my horse at the barn, video games (third-person RPG preferred), binging complicated TV shows, dominating at Harry Potter trivia, planning our next (likely European) adventure

FURBABY COUNT
Horse (Sweet T), Cats (Jarvis + Juniper), Dog (Quinn)

POST-WORK MEETING COCKTAIL
Aperol Spritz (apparently even my beverage choices are on brand)

CURRENTLY WATCHING/REWATCHING
Foundation, Bojack Horseman, Task, Talk to Me, The Morning Show, Mad Men, never not rewatching Doctor Zhivago, several true crime docs

Client
Love

  • Claire is professional, knowledgeable, prepared, available, very responsive, a design problem solver and cared about us understanding the what and the why of what she presented.

    She is very creative and allowed us to also be creative. She heard us, got it, and helped us do what we needed to do while adding her unique touches. We were able to enter into a collaboration with her which was very important to us. We couldn't be any happier with the results and will definitely return to her for future needs. Thank you, Claire!!!

    — Chris

  • Claire Allen at Helle Creative is an exceptional designer. For Conserving Carolina, she has come up with designs that are bold and surprising while perfectly capturing the feeling we want to get across. She is responsible, organized, communicative, and easy to work with.

    — Rose

  • Not only is Claire extremely knowledgeable and gifted at what she does, it's also truly a collaborative process.

    That is why I really came to her, and what I really needed.

    Claire was referred to me from a friend and I instantly knew she was the one to go with! Claire helped me birth my vision into reality, my dream into existence. No words can adequately thank her for that. I am eternally grateful. I threw the kitchen sink at her, and she handled it. I feel confident she can handle whatever I throw her way.

    — Lauren

  • Claire has an amazing eye for creating not only a lovely platform but also an efficient website that flows and leads the viewers to the right info. Claire is a wealth of knowledge and super easy to work with. The people and horses at Hope for Horses thank you for a perfect website!

    — Kathleen

  • Claire was referred to us by not one but two trusted friends. Having worked with her for nearly a year now, I know why.

    She is smart, listens well, asks meaningful questions, and is always pleasant. She's reliable and willing to ride out the variety and timelines indicative of our work. We've given her many different tasks and she's succeeded with them all. We will continue to use Helle Creative and recommend Claire wholeheartedly!!

    — Anne

  • I am grateful to have found such a talent and look forward to the next project! Highly recommend!

    Claire has been amazing to work with from beginning to end of every project I've thrown her direction. Her talent, experience, hard work and confidence all combine to create artistic, beautiful layouts and designs that are inspiring and original. Her ideas encompass my vision but then go above and beyond to create the perfect design. Thank you, Claire!

    — Katie

80% of Helle Creative clients return for another collaboration. Let’s get started on your first.

Finally, you can just focus on what you do best. I’m here to be your design expert so that you don’t have to be.

Get in Touch