About Zarah Yaqub

Hi there — I'm Zarah, a brand and product designer passionate about building inclusive, human-centered work. Originally from Karachi, Pakistan, I now call New York City home.

My practice spans branding, product design, and visual systems — from identity and packaging to interfaces and digital experiences. I'm drawn to work that sits at the intersection of culture, accessibility, and craft, and I care deeply about designing for people who are often left out of the conversation.

I recently completed my MPS Communication Design degree from The Parsons School of Design (Class of 2026), building on a BA (Hons) in Communication & Design from Habib University (Class of 2025). Recent recognition includes first place at the Designpreneurs Hackathon 2026 and participation in FigBuild 2026.

Outside of design you can find me pop-up hopping across New York, crafting or curled up on my couch binging TV shows.

My email is zarahyaqubdesign@gmail.com if you want to work together, say hey, or just talk design!

Approach

I design for the people usually left out of the conversation — starting from culture, accessibility, and real context rather than a template. My work moves between brand and product, and I care most about systems that stay coherent and humane as they scale.

I like to work fast and concretely: prototyping early, testing with real people, and treating AI as a collaborator to explore more directions than I could alone — while keeping the craft, and the judgment, my own.

Experience

  • Freelance Designer

    2025 – Present

    Design systems, brand language, and social assets for clients including Strata G Consulting Group and Shado.

  • User Experience Consultant, Teesquare

    Dec 2022 – Mar 2023

    Led user testing and resolved UX/UI issues to improve app performance and accessibility across devices.

  • Social Media Manager, Sanam Jung

    Jun 2022 – Dec 2022

    Managed and grew Sanam Jung’s presence across Instagram, YouTube, and Wikipedia, and produced showreel and portfolio content.

  • Intern, Teesquare

    Jun 2018 – Aug 2018

    Created early-literacy digital content and consulted on the design and user experience of Team Taleem.

Awards & Competitions

  • Designpreneurs Hackathon

    1st Place

  • FigBuild 2026

    Participant

View my full résumé (PDF) →

Stack

AI & Generative

  • Claude Code
  • Cursor
  • Kling AI
  • ChatGPT
  • Gemini
  • Midjourney

Design

  • Figma
  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Framer
  • Blender

Development

  • HTML
  • CSS
  • JavaScript

About this Site

Site design — Zarah Yaqub

Site dev — Zarah Yaqub, Claude Code, Cursor AI

Typography — Manrope, Fira Code

Portrait of Zarah Yaqub