I’m a designer, art director, writer, and illustrator.
Primarily, I’m an explainer.
Over the years, I have designed thousands of visual pieces for hundreds of companies— all hungry to stand out.
The common thread? Every client has their own brand of a serious problem to solve. My approach is simple—find the most essential idea and communicate it with authenticity, enthusiasm and wit to those who stand to benefit.
Positioned to succeed. In 1987, a little company called Trimble Navigation was pioneering a new technology called GPS (Global Positioning System). They initially made a device for wealthy yacht owners but in the following five years grew into the survey, aviation, military and consumer markets. We designed over 150 pieces of collateral and advertising including the company's first two annual reports in 1990/91. For six years we created a brand based on educating audiences on the potential of a technology that would redefine location accuracy. We wrote and published GPS-A Guide to the Next Utility—a book that would eventually become the layman's manual for this revolutionary technology. We coined the phrase 'GPS-the ninth utility’ in predicting its future in our daily lives. Today, GPS is indeed a part of our daily lives, at virtually no cost to the user.
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Knowledge is power. Symantec takes ownership in the PC market by predicting the ubiquity of the personal computer. The book was written and illustrated with such simplicity and clarity as to make the theory completely logical and believable—they were right! Keep in mind, this was 1997! Symantec Annual Report 1997.
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Positioned to succeed. In 1987, a little company called Trimble Navigation was pioneering a new technology called GPS (Global Positioning System). They initially made a device for wealthy yacht owners but in the following five years grew into the survey, aviation, military and consumer markets. We designed over 150 pieces of collateral and advertising including the company's first two annual reports in 1990/91. For six years we created a brand based on educating audiences on the potential of a technology that would redefine location accuracy. We wrote and published GPS-A Guide to the Next Utility—a book that would eventually become the layman's manual for this revolutionary technology. We coined the phrase 'GPS-the ninth utility’ in predicting its future in our daily lives. Today, GPS is indeed a part of our daily lives, at virtually no cost to the user.
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A, B, see. Critter typeface, Adobe. Initially designed as a kid's book, these living letters caught the eye of Adobe and was converted into an everyday typeface in 1991. In 2013 I redesigned each of the characters for an Adobe pop-up store printing on-demand t-shirts. W is for…
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Beep, Beep. Brochure introducing Kia Motors to the U.S. consumer market. Positioned the Korean car manufacturer as a ‘people’s’ car for under $9,000. The copy was particularly conversational and self-effacing including the cover headline, “What the heck is a Kia.” In addition to the snarky copy, we populated the pages with bright graphics and mischievous kids. As it turns out, Kia did in fact, gain market acceptance and is a major player today proving that being nice is a marketable strategy.
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Sticky design. US Postal Service stamps designed to make an envelope lovely. Worth every cent.
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Return of the mascot. LucasArts trademark. Designed in 1991 for George Lucas' entertainment and gaming company. Initially drawn with a spackling knife and paint, the character intended to avoid the sameness of slickly produced vector design that was springing up at the time (and continues to). Is he holding a sun or does he become an eye? As he became know as the Golden Guy, he served to be animated and perform light-saber wielding gymnastics on gaming screens for years to come. His crusty incarnation would extend until 2005 when he was recreated in a slick vector version.
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Pollution stinks. The Energy Foundation Annual Report 1995. The Energy Foundation is a non-profit organization that at the time was spearheading the scientific discussion about air pollution and the measures necessary to put electric cars into play. The piece was written by and intended for thought-leaders and policy-makers. There were no punches pulled in the portrayal of deadly information. It is clear that they made a convincing argument for change.
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Pull up a chair. Steelcase consumer ad campaign (16 ads). Steelcase was repositioning itself from being a trade-only manufacturer to a consumer accessible retailer. As a heavyweight manufacturer amongst the interior design profession, Steelcase had a lot of work to do to establish a reputation to the actual customers that sat in their chairs. We mounted a 3-year campaign in trade and consumer publications that focused on people as much as furniture and told real stories about products, service and design. The ads didn't look like ads at all. They were designed with stark simplicity—elegant photographs, sparing large type and no ad hype. This sat very well with their new customers.
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Posters for San Francisco Ballet, Mill Valley Film Festival, Steppenwolf Theatre, Fillmore Jazz Festival.
Realm Cellars. Limited edition wine labels and packaging. Numbered and ridiculously expensive.
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Good going. Goodwill San Francisco rebrand 2012-present. Goodwill had long suffered a reputation of being a second-hand store for the thrifty when in fact it is much more. Studies indicated that people didn't know you could get good appliances, tools, books and sports equipment—or that it was a good place to donate such goods. With a fleet of 50 trucks they had billboards on wheels. With 9 different messages and a catalogue of 100+ custom icons, we were able to feature the wide variety of goods available—both repositioning Goodwill as a viable retail outlet and inspiring donors to donate things they would have not otherwise.
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Problem fixers. In 2003, a small Chicago consulting firm called Navigant was in need of a visual identity in a business drowning with photographs of businessmen with brief cases shaking hands. My style of thinking (and illustrating)resonated with senior management in their hunt to stand out. In an industry of abstract products and services, my illustrations served to build a visual brand that staked their claim to ‘thinking differently’. Over the following 13 years Navigant would have one of the most recognized and provocative brands in the consulting business. As both an illustrator and design consultant, I built a visual library of over 75 images and icons that served 11 distinct vertical business divisions worldwide. I created visuals and consulted on how to use them across all media. A public company since 2008, Navigant has been known as the company with the ‘little-headed guy in strange predicaments’. Amongst 9 annual reports, Fortune magazine covers, ads, and hundreds of brochures and web pages--my illustrations reached thousands of business men and women with a 3-year campaign on the walls of O'Hare Airport. My images not only branded Navigant in the minds of their core constituency, but renamed Terminal C as Terminal Navigant.