Noriko Joanna Hirai, professionally known as Nina, is a creative director with over 20 years of international experience in branding, design, advertising and communications across Japan, Europe and the United States. She is a former Executive Creative Director at Omnicom Group agencies, including TBWA, where she led global branding, design and creative communications.

Born into a family of calligraphers, she began studying Japanese calligraphy at the age of six, achieving the highest rank of 8th Dan at twelve and the highest rank of 7th Dan in modern calligraphy at fifteen. At fifteen she also became Japan’s youngest certified Assistant Master and calligraphy juror, and she qualified as a Master Calligrapher at twenty-three. She has received over 70 calligraphy awards, with international exhibitions and workshops across Europe, Asia, and the United States.

She was ranked No. 1 worldwide in the Global Brand Design Ranking for advertising brand design in 2023 and 2024, and No. 2 in the all-time Design Leaderboard for advertising design. She is a recipient of Gold and Silver A’ Design Awards and served as a jury member of the Effie Awards Global Best of the Best in 2024 and 2025.

Her work bridges traditional Japanese calligraphy and Western graphic design, exploring the relationship between letterforms, composition, negative space and cultural expression.