Meet the Maker: Kalohe Designs
Get to know the artist behind Kalohe Designs, whose creative journey spans from graphic design and concert posters to linocut prints and a passion for tattooing. Learn how this maker evolved their business through experimentation, community connection, and a love for the occult.
We met Kalohe of Kalohe Designs through the Brewhalla Craft Markets and love seeing the variety of artwork they create, and not just variety in the artwork itself, but the mediums used as well! Get to know more about the maker below from living in Florida to attending Concordia College and jumping into the world of art markets!
Tell us a bit about yourself!
I’m originally from Lakeland, Florida where I grew up in the heat and the swamps. After graduating from a technology high school, where I majored in graphic design, I moved up to Moorhead to attend Concordia College from which I graduated in 2019 with a BA in Pre-Professional Graphic Design and studio art. During college I also found a new love of mine, the local music scene. When I wasn’t in the studio or working front counter at Addictions Tattoo; I was at a hardcore show with my friends. Whether it be a downtown venue or someone’s basement, I was getting my eardrums unnecessarily damaged and hanging out with the coolest people in this town. This led me to being passionate about posters and I ended up collaborating with a bunch of bands and events to create their promotional flyers for shows, markets, and other events.
After college I hopped directly into the big design world and became a sticker designer for a local design company where I spent four years creating and leading a team of amazing artists and keeping up my art business on the side. I eventually realized that graphic design, while it had gotten me to a lot of cool places, just wasn’t what I wanted to be doing anymore, at least in a corporate space. I left the office and headed back to kitchen work in 2023 and kept up my art business in the background while I worked to pursue my true passion, tattooing. While I still haven't quite broken into the space yet, over the years I have designed many of mine and others pieces. In my free time, I'm either listening to music, such as La Dispute or Ashnikko, partaking in a horror or true crime podcast, like Radio Rental or Last Podcast on the Left, all while cuddling with my cats or baking bread, cookies, or making pizza from scratch in my kitchen for my girlfriend.
Describe what type of products you create as Kalohe Designs.
I love to dabble in many different mediums, but I fell in love with the printmaking process and tend to gravitate towards those items. But I also love watercolor, oil painting, digital drawings, pen and ink, and woodworking. I have a lot of pieces turned into stickers and recently have added art prints of my digital and traditional media pieces to my inventory. I love to find new ways to get my art onto things so I've recently picked up handmade keychains and patches as well.
Tell us how you got started with your handcrafted business? What inspired you?
I've been painting and creating since I was little. My first award was in 3rd grade, I won first place for a watercolor painting of some orcas. My mom still has it in her house to this day. I just never stopped after that. I have this innate need to find new mediums to try and love to learn new ways to create. I was asked one day if I would want to sell my pieces at a benefit show after a tragic passing of one of our local music scene members, which I also had the pleasure of designing the flyer for. I had never participated in a market before but quickly set on getting pieces together. It was beautiful to be a part of and I felt like I truly belonged and was appreciated for my work in the scene. Ever since then, I expanded on my market set up, adding new products and enlisting my father in hand designing and crafting displays for my pieces. I wanted to stand out and have something unique. If you’ve ever been to a show I've participated in you would know my spinning spider web sticker display and my light up coffin painting stand. Which fits my vibe perfectly.
You have a wide range of work from concert posters to branding to linocuts and stickers! How has your business evolved over the years to include this variety?
I just love to try new things and experiment. I get bored when things get easy so I give myself a new challenge of learning something I've never done before. Sometimes it’s not great, like my experiments with clay and sculpting. 3D is just not my thing. But I also change with the seasons of life. When I was in college I was focused on logos and branding. At the height of my concert and show attendance I was always working on a new poster or tshirt design: especially at the height of my career at the graphic design company. After leaving, I turned to a more traditional route, really focusing on oil painting and watercolor along with pen and ink. I even got into wood carvings for a little bit while I waited for my wood stains to dry on some furniture I was refurbishing. I like to have a variety because I can either learn something new or go back to one of my old loves. Right now I’m in a big linocut kick and have about 4-5 blocks in various stages of carving and printing. It’s just that season for me and I never know what my next big kick is gonna be.
“I get bored when things get easy so I give myself a new challenge of learning something I’ve never done before.”
You do a lot of custom work, what do you enjoy most about that process?
I love a good collaboration. I think that’s what’s so cool about being asked to do something for someone, whether it’s for a band or a business or just a personal request. They see something in you and your art and you get to work together to create something. It has a little piece of both of us in that design. Talking to a client and getting to see what they like and design something for them is always cool, especially when it ends up in a fun space, like my painting in Carmine and Hayworth. A witch friend of mine, Hex Hilde, reached out to me and I created an anti theft painting, which they then hexed, and now hangs proudly in their store, warding off those with sticky fingers. It's also fun to see my poster around town and be like, "Hey! That’s me!” And just knowing people are getting their eyes on my stuff is such a cool feeling.
I saw the incredible flash art you are creating and sharing online! Can you tell us more about that?
Now, that is a little hush hush. At least the intimate details with it. But let’s just say that I've been working really hard toward my goal of becoming a tattoo apprentice and I've been gearing up for that. I've been really putting in the foundation for that to come to fruition. And hopefully very soon there will be something to announce. You're definitely going to want to stick around for that.
Tell us more about your linocut work! What is something someone might find surprising about working with linocut prints?
I fell in love with printmaking due to my wonderful art professor at Concordia, Heidi Goldberg. She was such an important figure to me and had a hand in molding me into the artist I am today. She was so passionate about prints, intaglios, woodcuts, lino, aquatinting, and all forms of creation. I think the coolest thing about linocut is the process and the history. While I do many linocuts, my true love is intaglio, but it is very hard to do in a small studio in my apartment and requires things like copper plates, acid, water baths, and more chemicals and steps than I could possibly handle in my studio. Linocuts are my cost-friendly alternative that I'm still very passionate about and love to do them. I even host art nights in my home where I teach my friends how to do it. I even had a friend who brought a newbie in one night and they fell in love with the process so much that I gifted them some tools and they still make them to this day. There’s something about taking a block and carving it for hours, inking up, and hearing that tack of the ink on the roller, and pulling up a freshly inked run that is just unmatched to any other art process that I've dabbled in. I highly suggest anyone to give it a try! You won't regret it.
“There’s something about taking a block and carving it for hours, inking up, and hearing that tack of the ink on the roller.”
Where does your inspo come from for new pieces?
I definitely love to pull from tattoos, old flash books, and the occult. Anything witchy or based in general creepiness is a good inspo for me. I also like to pull from song lyrics. A lot of the lyricism can just create vivid mental imagery that just has to be brought into the world, and I love to be the one that does that.
What has been the most challenging part of this handcrafted business?
I think it’s the sitting part of a market, in front of potential clients and trying to not seem too scary, or scared, to talk to them about my pieces. Also keeping up a stable online presence. Sometimes editing a video is the last thing I want to do, but I've been having some fun recording my process and posting it on TikTok! I've made a couple friends with return clients and met some really cool and interesting people through the market and online space. There’s also a lot of random barriers of having an online business and a lot of it revolves around having enough money to pursue it. The domain costs, the market entry costs, the costs of materials and different product lines, can add up and really be discouraging and make you feel like you’re missing your chance. So I try to just focus on making cool stuff and when I can get out to a market or get something new I revel in it and try to make the best out of it I can, which has all been really rewarding.
What has been the most rewarding part?
The connections and the feeling of accomplishment. When those Facebook memories pop up of some of my first markets I can’t believe how far I've come. Or even just looking at some of my old art from high school that I thought was the absolute peak of my career that turns out to just be the beginning. The friends I've made are all so supportive and having people care about my creations and the artist behind them is just only describable as COOL AS HECK! There’s just no other way to say it, it just feels cool.
What advice would you have given yourself five years ago?
Five years ago I would’ve been a year out of college, in an office cubicle, single, stressed, and living alone with my two cats. But I don’t think I would’ve changed anything about what I was doing. I was just anxious about everything and sometimes too scared to make a decision. So I guess I would say, you've got this. Keep going. It all works out. Because if I hadn’t done what I did I wouldn’t be doing what I am now and truly starting to chase the dream I've thought of since I was young. I think I needed the rumination and that second guessing and turmoil. I think it made me a better artist and got me to the point where I don’t have to do the anxious dance and tribulations anymore. It was all practice.
“You’ve got this. Keep going. It all works out.”
Where can people find your work or connect with you?
I am working on being a part of a few markets right now, so to catch where I'll be for sure follow my Instagram! I also have random sales there and you get first dibs on pieces there! If you wanna watch process videos and more in depth on my art follow my TikTok! And if you just like to see the pretty pictures and market announcements then my Facebook is for you! I'm Kalohe Designs on all those platforms!
Website: kalohedesigns.com
Facebook: /kalohedesigns
Instagram: @kalohedesigns
TikTok: @kalohe666
KALOHE DESIGNSKALOHE DESIGNSRead It in the September Issue
Kalohe Designs FAQ
What does Kalohe Designs make?
Linocut prints, stickers, art prints of digital and traditional pieces, handmade keychains and patches, plus custom posters and designs for bands, businesses and personal requests.
Where can I buy Kalohe Designs art?
At local markets (announced on Instagram), through Instagram sales and at kalohedesigns.com. Process videos are on TikTok at @kalohe666.
Does Kalohe Designs take custom work?
Yes. Kalohe has created concert posters, flyers and custom pieces, including an anti-theft painting for Carmine and Hayworth.
Where did Kalohe study?
Kalohe graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead in 2019, with a BA in Pre-Professional Graphic Design and studio art.
Photos provided by Ashley Morken
Ashley Morken is the owner of Unglued, a modern handmade gift shop featuring over 300 local and regional makers in downtown Fargo. She also a founding member of the Creative Mornings Fargo committee.
Published September 23, 2026
