CREATIVE DIRECTION FOR DESIGN

Copywriter by trade, I also have an education and background in design and have art directed and led various design-based projects.

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Film Pitch Design

I hand-painted a dozen poster collages for a documentary film series pitch for Pioneer Films. Design direction drew from ‘naive’ art, merged with graphic symbolism and 50’s and 60’s schoolbook cover paste-ups. I’m very overly critical about polish and detail, so this was a practice in creating intentional chaos that looks unintentionally chaotic, a mess of a situation that the viewer has to put together from the clues…yet still holds together as one style and theme (which is also a good synopsis of the story the series would tell about the complex, costly backstory in the fight to desegregate American schools).

180 X 180 Brand Book + Website

Advertising agency 180 needed a promo book and website that communicated their philosophy and culture. 180's philosophy was of an agency of individuals working together in a common spirit, and the partners saw themselves simply as stewards of that culture. So without the people, the agency saw their name as just a number. This book explored the meaning of 180. Each page was unique and contained a fact about 180, the number as well as a fact about 180, the agency. The book measured 180 X 180, and that was its title. The website followed a similar structure at 180 pixels X 180 pixels per section. Design partners: Caprice Yu, Dean Maryon, Dario Nucci, Rich Bullock, Daniel Carlsson. 

A few sample pages of the 180 book:

Clio Image Awards

All creative professionals know the obstacles that must be negotiated with to produce outstanding work.

For the Clio Award’s fashion & beauty awards call-for-entries, we commissioned artist Achraf Amiri to illustrate a series of stories that playfully acknowledged the behind-the-scenes realities that go into the creation of one final image.

Dunlop Calendar

Driver's Know was Dunlop's tag line, hinging on an experienced driver's keen awareness of performance driving and thus, the qualities needed in a tire. Dunlop also was a key sponsor of several Motorsport race events.

Limited to using existing brand imagery, the full-color photographs were desaturated and a single accent color was added to match the branding. The calendar was designed to incorporate abstractions of details drivers and riders would recognize - such as internal cam shaft movements, automotive physics, placement indicators, ECU map program codes and transmission gearshift movements. 

Design partners: Stuart Brown, Caprice Yu.