interdisciplinary designcurrently open for bookinganything but casualinterdisciplinary designcurrently open for bookinganything but casualinterdisciplinary designcurrently open for bookinganything but casualinterdisciplinary designcurrently open for bookinganything but casual
About — Sarah Massarczyk

Hi, I'm Sarah

I'm an interdisciplinary designer who refuses to pick a lane. I see beauty in basically everything, which conveniently makes picking the perfect image the easy part.

Sarah Massarczyk
Sarah MassarczykAachen, Germany
Instagram @penumbral.design ↗ Instagram @penumbralsoul ↗ LinkedIn Sarah Massarczyk ↗ YouTube penumbralsoul ↗
01 — The story

A designer who refuses to pick a lane

I'm Sarah. A communication designer from Düsseldorf, currently based in Aachen, who treats “pick one thing” as a dare. Design, photography, art and music all share the same studio, and they keep borrowing each other's tools.

I finished my B.A. in Communication Design in 2025 and went straight into freelancing as penumbral.design. The name is the soft edge of a shadow, the in-between where one thing turns into another. That's the spot I like to work in.

My not-so-secret weapon: I see beauty in almost everything. It makes choosing the right image, the right type, the right colour feel less like a decision and more like identifying the right theme.

02 — What I do

Four disciplines, one studio

Design
Identity · Print · Web · Type

Brands, print, web & anything you want to bring to life.

InDesign · Illustrator · Photoshop · Figma
Photography
Portrait · Editorial · Digital

Portraits that just feel like you.

35mm · digital · natural light
Art
Mixed Media · Costume · Set

Image-making, costume and the slightly uncanny.

scissors & glue · fabric · found objects
Music
Singing · Songwriting

Covers, single visuals and the odd bit of sound. Made to be heard as much as seen.

BandLab · a well-loved mic
Hire me for
  • Brand & identity systems
  • Print & editorial — zines, sleeves, posters
  • Websites & digital design
  • Photography & art direction
  • Music visuals & cover art
03 — Path & facts

How I got here

2025 Went freelance as penumbral.design
2025 B.A. Communication Design
2019–25 Studied Communication Design @ FH Aachen
2019 Graduation
Based
Aachen, Germany — works remote, happily
Languages
German (native) · English (fluent)
Availability
Open for new projects
Rates
On request, every project's different
04 — For the record

A few preferences

Yes please
  • +Golden hour
  • +Oversized headphones
  • +The smell of fresh risograph ink
  • +A perfectly kerned headline
  • +Vinyl crackle
  • +Mixed Media
Hard pass
  • Generic themes
  • THE BIG LIGHT
  • “Just make the logo bigger”
  • Stock-photo smiles
  • Beige briefs