Jamel Williams

Jamel Williams Design Director, Rapt Studio

One Vision. Multiple Scales.

Creative Leadership Across Architecture, Interiors, Brand & Experience

I lead multidisciplinary teams to translate culture, strategy and brand into connected experiences across spaces, communications and the tools people use.

Explore selected workHow I approach creative direction

  1. The Library: shared seating, books and a setting for everyday exchange.
    Tinder HQ, 8800 Sunset
    • Culture & Strategy
    • Interiors & Experience
  2. Santa Monica Forum: entry and gathering, concept render.
    Intuit TurboTax Retail and Flagship
    • Culture & Strategy
    • Architecture & Place
  3. A white arched opening with glowing chevron paving leading into Room 98.
    Google Room 98
    • Culture & Strategy
    • Interiors & Experience
  4. Aerial view of a circular timber amphitheater with curved benches and people, surrounded by planting and paths.
    Kilroy Oyster Point
    • Architecture & Place
    • Interiors & Experience
  5. Orange modular seating and pale timber benches beneath a circular ceiling light in the GSO University gathering space.
    Google GSO
    • Culture & Strategy
    • Brand & Expression
  6. Departure: closer study of the ground-level landscape and building relationship.
    Watt Plaza
    • Culture & Strategy
    • Architecture & Place
  7. Lobby with dozens of suspended white tubes above a round white basin, with a person entering.
    Google Tokyo Partner Plex
    • Culture & Strategy
    • Interiors & Experience
  8. Curved aluminum tube bench resting on speckled stone blocks against a brushed metal wall.
    LSD Running
    • Brand & Expression
    • Interiors & Experience
  9. Open-plan workplace with exposed timber trusses, a large landscape artwork on the wall, and people at tables.
    Lightspark
    • Interiors & Experience
    • Brand & Expression
  10. Restaurant dining room with timber tables, patterned banquettes, a red bar at the back, and a glowing oval ceiling with a chandelier.
    Mama Rouge
    • Interiors & Experience
    • Brand & Expression
  11. A green two-storey corner building with a small projecting sign, on a street with a parked white van.
    Bar April Jean
    • Brand & Expression
    • Interiors & Experience
  12. Wide lobby with dark panelled walls, looping white light lines on the ceiling, and low black seating with two people.
    The Mark
    • Architecture & Place
    • Brand & Expression
  13. A hand in magenta light holding a glass in front of dark purple velvet curtains.
    Club Gemini
    • Brand & Expression
    • Interiors & Experience
  14. Folds of cream fabric draped over a wall in warm light.
    Napa Leadership Retreat
    • Culture & Strategy
    • Brand & Expression
  15. Overhead view of place settings with blue-patterned plates, olive napkins, candles, and green stemware.
    A Place at the Table
    • Culture & Strategy
    • Brand & Expression
  16. The finished wood stair at Bellevue with a lounge seating group at its base.
    OpenAI, Bellevue and Tokyo
    • Culture & Strategy
    • Interiors & Experience
  17. Library with pale wood shelves full of books and objects, a long pink table, and pink chairs.
    Tinder HQ, 8800 Sunset
    • Culture & Strategy
    • Interiors & Experience
  18. Chicago Forum: gathering and consultation, concept render.
    Intuit TurboTax Retail and Flagship
    • Culture & Strategy
    • Architecture & Place
  19. The Presentation Room with a large dark screen showing the Room 98 mark, ringed by timber panels and tan swivel seats.
    Google Room 98
    • Culture & Strategy
    • Interiors & Experience
  20. Double-height food hall atrium with a tree in a planted bed, a patterned floor, timber ceiling and a stair.
    Kilroy Oyster Point
    • Architecture & Place
    • Interiors & Experience

Set the direction. Give it momentum.

As Design Director at Rapt Studio, I lead a multidisciplinary team of 13 across seven concurrent projects, guiding creative direction from initial strategy through delivery.

I am accountable for project profitability and internal resources, guide client relationships and team development, and contribute to business development.

Work

©2010 to 2026

Selected projects show how I establish creative direction, guide teams across disciplines and carry an idea through changing contexts and scales.

View All Work

Fields of application

Five creative practices guide how I work. These four fields describe where that practice takes form, connecting organizational ambition with places, interactions and brand expression.

Select a lens to highlight the projects.

Jamel Williams seated on a wooden chair with legs crossed, in a black sweater and olive trousers, against a draped rust backdrop.

My background is in architecture, and my practice has widened from buildings into interiors, brand and creative strategy. As a Design Director at Rapt Studio, I lead multidisciplinary teams that set direction early and keep the central idea present through design and delivery.

Direction that a team can build on.

Experience

  1. Design DirectorRapt Studio2024 to present
  2. Senior DesignerRapt Studio2017 to 2024
  3. Associate ArchitectCollective Architecture2010 to 2017

More about me

Project and studio recognition

Approach

Set a clear direction. Give teams the tools to carry it through.

I translate research and ambition into a creative idea, then establish shared criteria that help teams develop it across disciplines. Through critique, client dialogue and delivery, I keep decisions connected to the intent.

Explore my approach to creative direction

Availability

Open to Creative Director roles

I am interested in Creative Director opportunities where spatial design, brand, and human experience meet.

Based in Los Angeles. Open to opportunities in the US and internationally.

Get in touch