Growing up in the tranquil bayside suburb of Drumcondra, Geelong, Visnja Brdar recalls looking at the bright lights of Melbourne, thinking: “It feels like the promise of . . . more.” When, aged 29, she arrived in New York for the first time, she couldn’t help thinking: “It’s the promise of more, but more more.”

In her career as a graphic designer and art director, she has shaped the logos, the packaging, the looks and feels of some of the world’s most valuable brands. She’s helmed her own New York-based creative agency for two decades, yet is little known outside her industry; a quietly fabulous nebula who never shines more brightly than the client. But she’s always been ambitious.