Adam Hajnos at his desk at night, black jacket, city lights in the window and string lights on the shelves behind him

Hi, I’m Adam Hajnos.The J is silent.

Senior Art Director in Raleigh, NC. 18 years in design, 10+ leading creative, and still the person most likely to check your hex values.

The short version.

My career started on the Subway $5 footlong campaign. If you can still hum the jingle, you know how far one simple idea can travel. From there I worked with UNC Health Care Children’s Hospital, where the stakes felt a lot more personal than a sandwich.

Since then, design has taken me through almost every industry: video tech with JW Player, healthcare marketing with the Point of Care Marketing Association, craft spirits with Pinetop Distillery, retail and music with Hunky Dory Records, and campaigns for Coca-Cola and Citrix along the way.

I’ve done both sides of the business. Agency life taught me speed and range. In-house, as the only designer at a tech company that grew from 150 to 390+ people, taught me to build brand systems other people can run without me in the room. Along the way I moved to Brooklyn and worked in Midtown Manhattan, then brought it all back to Raleigh.

Off the clock, I collect records and vintage trinkets, restore old jukeboxes, chase my toddler around the house, and watch a lot of hockey. Go Canes.

Adam transformed our complex vision into a seamless brand world across two continents. He made the entire process feel manageable while ensuring every detail was perfectly aligned with our strategic goals.
Director of Event MarketingJWP Connatix

Fair question

Do you use AI? Absolutely.

Every day. I’m an art director first, and AI is how I get there faster. It’s great for brainstorming, pressure-testing a brief, building moodboards and prototyping ideas, so we can react to real options early instead of debating them in the abstract. With it, I’m never stuck staring at a blank page.

What I don’t do is type a prompt and hand over whatever comes back. Every concept, layout, headline and file gets my eye and my hand before anyone sees it. I decide what’s right for the audience, what fits the brand and what will hold up in production. AI is a quick collaborator, but it doesn’t have taste and it doesn’t know your customer. That part is my job.

StageWhere AI helpsWhere I take over
The briefRaises questions and pokes holesI define the outcome and what the audience should do
IdeasGenerates lots of directions quicklyI pick the one worth building and explain why
Moodboards and prototypesGets rough versions in front of people fastI set the direction: type, color, image, tone
ProductionSpeeds up the repetitive partsI design, refine and check every final file

This site was designed and built with AI as a collaborator. Every decision on it was mine.

Away from the desk

Off the clock.

Adam, his wife and their toddler in a three-way hug on a sunny boardwalk
Home team
Adam, his wife and their toddler in Hurricanes gear, standing on the ice at center rink in an empty arena
Go Canes
Adam with pink hair sitting on a garden bed with his baby, who grins up at him
Garden crew
Adam at his home studio desk with his daughter on his lap and the dog in a purple hoodie beside them, under a dogs-playing-poker tapestry
Studio supervisors
A black-and-white photo of Adam in a ball cap flipping through the new arrivals bins at a record store
Crate digging
Adam, his wife and their toddler in a sunny selfie, all three in big sunglasses, Adam with teal hair and a mushroom-print tank
Shades on
A film photo of Adam with bleached hair and his daughter on his shoulders under a basketball hoop, his wife smiling up at them with the ball
Pickup game
Adam with bright blue hair in a pool, lifting his laughing daughter in a pink swimsuit and sun hat
Pool days
Adam with bright green hair carrying his laughing daughter on his shoulders in a sunny parking lot
Hair of the month
Let’s talkOpen to senior roles

Bring me
the problem.

Hiring a Senior Designer, Art Director, or hands-on Creative Director? If you need design strategy and the hands to carry it out, on brand down to the last file, I’d like to hear about it.