Before customers order a cup of coffee, browse a boutique, or sit down for dinner, they’ve already formed an impression. It’s in the mural on the wall, the logo on the front door, the hand-painted sign that welcomes them inside, and the atmosphere that makes a space feel distinctly its own.
For Ashley White and Shaurir Anand, founders of Delsa Designs, those first impressions aren’t simply aesthetic—they’re an opportunity to tell a story.
While the Dripping Springs-based creative studio is perhaps best known for its murals, the pair sees their work as something much broader. Through branding, hand-painted signage, environmental design, interior decor, and public art, they help businesses translate their vision into spaces that feel authentic to both owners and customers.
The journey began in 2013 when White left a career as a university advisor to pursue the creative work she’d always been drawn to. What started with hand-lettered restaurant menu boards gradually expanded into custom signs, murals, and branding projects, each one opening the door to another.
“I was expecting everyone to say no,” White recalls of those early days. “But everyone pretty much said yes.”
Years later, a branding project for a tea company introduced her to Anand. What began as a creative collaboration evolved into both a business partnership and, eventually, a life together. Today, the couple calls Dripping Springs home and continues to grow Delsa Designs while serving clients throughout Texas and beyond.
Every Business Has a Story
Ask White what inspires a project, and she rarely begins by talking about color palettes or paint. Instead, she starts with questions.
“Who are you? Why did you start this restaurant?” she asks clients.
“We’re not just saying, ‘Here’s my art style—let me put it in your restaurant,’” White says. “We’re helping business owners tell their story.”
That philosophy has become the foundation of Delsa Designs. Rather than applying a signature artistic style to every project, the team tailors each design to reflect the personality of the business itself.
“If your business is a person,” White says, “who are they? What would they wear? What would their playlist be?”
Those answers influence everything from murals and logos to furniture selection and interior decor, creating spaces that feel intentional instead of interchangeable.
More Than Murals
Although murals often become the most visible part of their work, they’re rarely the beginning.
For one cafe project, Delsa Designs developed the branding, designed the interiors, sourced furniture and decor, and created murals that reflected the owner’s multigenerational connection to the coffee industry. Every room contributed to the same narrative, allowing customers to experience the story as they moved through the space.
For White and Anand, that’s the difference thoughtful design can make.
“A lot of people make pizza,” Anand says. “But you have your favorite pizza place for a reason.”
The same is true, he believes, for nearly every business.
Visual identity isn’t simply decoration. It’s an extension of what a business stands for and one more way to connect with customers long before a conversation begins.
Creating Community Through Design
Now settled in Dripping Springs, White and Anand say the community has become central to both their personal lives and their creative vision.
“We’ve both lived in so many places,” Anand says, “but when we settled in Dripping we knew this was home.”
That sense of belonging shapes the projects they hope to bring to the area—from helping local businesses develop memorable identities to pursuing future public art that celebrates the community itself.
One of their favorite moments came after installing a mural for Twisted X Brewing Company. As visitors stopped to photograph the finished piece, the brewery’s owner remarked that it looked as though it had always belonged there.
For the artists, that’s the ultimate compliment.
“It’s not just throwing paint on a wall,” White says. “It’s really hard work. But what makes it fulfilling is the meaning behind it.”
Whether they’re designing a restaurant, refreshing an office, or envisioning a community mural, the goal remains the same: Create places that feel authentic to the people who use them every day.
“These people are our neighbors,” White says. “That’s our service to them. That’s our gift to them—using our talents and experience to help them tell their story.”
As Dripping Springs continues to grow, Delsa Designs hopes those stories become woven into the character of the community itself—one thoughtful space, one meaningful detail and, sometimes, one mural at a time.
DelsaDesigns.com | @delsa_designs
"If your business is a person, who are they? What would they wear? What would their playlist be?" - Ashley White