About Nikolai

Hey! I’m Nikolai Paquin, a graphic designer, art director, illustrator, content creator, writer, history nerd, and YouTuber (Damn that's a lot of hats to wear…) from Upstate New York who teaches how to become more successful in business, life, and relationships by studying history.

The answers to all our problems can be found with a little bit of research and by reverse engineering the success of others. That is why I believe history is the best teacher and why I use it as the basis of everything I do.

Image of Nikolai Paquin

My Clients Have Been Featured In:

Selected Client List:

Full Client List:

02Trainer®
Allegiant Stadium
Amazon
AMC Networks
Badtone Belts
Banza
Bartley & Dick
Bas Rutten
BBC
Bell
BET
Big Loud Records
Big Yellow Tattoo
Black Berry Smoke
Black Seas Brewing
Burlap & Barrel
Cameo
Cedar Grove Vineyards
Cen-Tex Smokers
Changing Work Collective
Coffin Maker Hot Sauce
Copper Hollow Coffee Co.

Discovery Channel
Eagle Elixir Bourbon
Embrace Your Shadow Co.
Emerald Horizon
Engine 7 Design
Ernest
Explorer's Elixir Coffe Co.
Folk & Fable Studio
Fortuna Olive Oil Co.
Front Royal Mercantile
Gas Monkey Garage®
Golden Company Brewing
Goodtimer®
Gorilla Glue®
Grime & Glory
Gypsy Forest Gin
HDCNY
hi! Human Improvement
Holy Tree Meadworks
Honeypot
Horizon Pharmaceuticals
I Love NY®

Ingredion®
Intel®
Jack Links®
Johnny Bohmer Racing
Juneberry Ridge
Kirgan Consulting
Knorr Foods
Kodiak Distilling
Lainey Wilson
Las Vegas Raiders
Luchiano Visconti
Lyssa Jackson
Mercier Dairy
Microsoft®
Miles Deodorant
MOCSE Credit Union
Morgan Wallen
NFL
Ocampo Capital
Offcourt®
Old Guard
Old Souls Clothing Co.

Olive Morada Olive Oil Co.
One-Ton Barbell Club
Raven Ridge
Sara's Kitchen
Seed + Mill
Seven Barrels Balsamics
Smokey Hollow
Sonoma Briney
Sunstone Lodge
Sweet & Boozy Ice Cream
Swift Saint Supply Co.
The Chai Box
The Kennedy
The Mandrake Hotel
The Queen's Cask
The Walking Dead®
True Crime Crawl
Unilever®
Washington County Tourism
WETV
White Orchard Artisans
York Athletics

Here are the core services and products I create that can help you.

etching illustration of Fortuna

Branding & Illustration Services

Starting a successful online business starts with having a strong brand identity system. Whether your new to business or have been around for 100 years you need a logo, and branding assets to help gain trust with your customers. I can help bring your business to life.

Hand Drawn Fonts & Design Assets

If you are a creative or a Design It Yourself (DIY) business owner, I have hand-drawn fonts, and design packs to help you design branding materials, logos, and assets for your business or for client projects.

The Ancient Wisdom Newsletter

Every week I send out a newsletter the breaks down the success of the most famous people, leaders, and businesses into systems that you can use.

Guides To Help Online Business Owners

In addition to the Ancient Wisdom Newsletter I have guides that answer the frequently Asked Questions I get about design, online business, history, and how to become more successful. 100% free and available 24/7.

Licensed Designs

If my branding services are out of your current budget I also have a selection of designs that you can license. You can use these designs in your business, on merch, or buy outright to use for whatever you want.

Youtube Channel

Every week I publish a youtube video covering different design, history, or business topics. Learn how to reverse engineer success one-on-one with me every week on my YouTube channel.

I’m a graphic designer, turned entrepreneur, turned creator.

In 2019 I founded Noble Prince Design Co. A full-service digital marketing and design agency that specialized in working with 6 to 7 figure food, craft beverage, and lifestyle businesses helping them to improve their digital marketing, sales funnels, and content creation strategies.

During my time running that agency, I worked with over 250+ businesses to increase their reach, sales, and organic customer acquisition. Along the way, I learned a little bit about how to grow a business, scale it to millions of dollars in sales, and create engaging content that organically connects with an online audience. 

Along the way, I also launched a creative supply company (Swift Saint Supply Co.) and a print-on-demand AI Art Print business (Folk Fable Studio), running those as side projects while learning skills in adapting AI creative processes into online eCommerce. 

In 2023 I started my journey as a content creator launching my YouTube channel, and started creating content consistently online under my own name. My content helped businesses systemize their workflow, marketing, and content creation processes. But in the sea of people doing the same thing I could not stand out.

Until I found out my secret for success…

which was combining my love of design, history, and storytelling into content that could help anyone. 

In 2024 I reworked my personal brand, and my content to be personal to my interests and found instant success. By focusing on what I love I can find people just like me who need solutions to the same problems I was passionate about solving.

Coming to this realization, I closed my agency, scaled my design practice down to just the work I love to do, and focused all my efforts on creating content, digital products, and education content to help creatives, new business owners, and content creators just like me.

Through this journey I have collected a wealth of skills, resources, and lessons that I share all for free here. My goal is to write about skills, resources, and reviews that help entrepreneurs, creatives, and freelancers, create faster, work smarter, and design a better life through the lens of history, and offer amazing products and services that help them grow their businesses.

Portrait Of Nikolai Paquin