I put this slide together as part of a presentation I gave to the DSVC National Student Conference. It gives a quick glance at some of the clients I've done work for over the years. As a design challenge to myself, I skipped all the formal presentation apps and built this entire presentation with the Paper app on my ipad. There were lessons learned in this process. Namely, that it's ok when things aren't perfect, and not to take yourself too seriously.

I love speaking to students. Mentoring, being involved in the design community and helping share some of the lessons I've learned over a long career are part of the fun for me.

I've won dozens of industry awards, including some big ones, but I stopped keeping track of them long, long ago. In the end, the awards don't matter. Relationships do.

“I JUST WATCHED A 3MIN COMMERCIAL. AND LOVED IT!”

AVG "We Protect Us."

From early concepting at a pub about a crazy, to being cast as the spokesperson in the cage looking directly into the eyes of a 600lb tiger less than 10" from my face, this project was easily one of the most amazing things i have ever been a part of. The key lessons here are that, in a world of digital content and paid “influencers”, don’t be afraid to have some fun, try some crazy idea and be real about it. Tell a story that people will find interesting, inspired or moved by. And let those interested behind the curtain to see behind the scenes.I could talk for days about this experience. so if you really want to know more, contact me and we'll meet for a Singha or Tiger beer : )

For those in the ad world interested here are a few stats:

- video is currently at 4.8Million views with 3.5k likes. Hundreds of great comments, a few funny ones, and of course a few disgruntle ones.
- product and brand awareness: +50% (goal was 3%)
- unaided product and brand awareness: +20% (goal was 10%)

The biggest lesson learned here is a growing issue I see with brands using digital content. By all measures this video was an enormous success. And while we had a series of these ideas, as well as ways for this idea to come to life in the real world. But this was the only video we produced. Brands need more courage to continue a great idea. In this case, bringing to life a digital threat was something people still don’t understand. The strength of AVG’s product is strength in numbers, networked security. The beautiful idea was to make an example out of this people could relate to. The series always challenged the idea of "How many _____ does it take to stop a _____?" I just wish we could have continued the story. Rhino vs legos, sharks vs grains of sand, gatorade cups vs Troy Polamalu, inches of stick tape vs Mike Madano, and a dozen other ideas!

CLIENT: AVG Security Software
AGENCY PARTNER: The Richards Group

This was a redesign of the traditional Coca-Cola online retail store for a more youthful oriented active lifestyle. Aware that younger generations around the globe were spending less time buying traditional Coca-Cola branded merchandise, the assignment was to design a new more youthful web storefront.

I believe the problem wasn't just the storefront itself. Although the old Coke Store was very antiquated in it's design, it also lacked and merchandise I myself would purchase - except for the 70's era Mean Joe Greene bobble head.  So I took the opportunity to also design new merchandise; including new clothing and fashion items like, jeans with a subtle branded mark and red cloth interior, shoe partnership ideas, hats, etc. 

AGENCY PARTNER: imc2

This was an incredible and amazing project to be a part of. To be fair the franchise restaurant business is a whirlwind of non-stop activity, so the challenges of rebranding the archetype of the casual dining space was challenging to say the least. This project started a few years ago with a major rebrand and new site design. But the entire design was laid on top of the existing antiquated architecture and bandaided code base.

The first step was really to do the research and find the right way to rebrand the TGIFridays restaurants into a more modern space while being authentic to their local-bar roots. 

The second step was to redesign the restaurants, the menu and finally fully redesign the website so that it was mobile friendly and could serve as a base for all the marketing and landing page needs from various media campaigns running throughout the year.

There is still a lot different I would have done with this design, but to look at it in contrast to what existed before is a complete breath of fresh air. Congrats to The Richards Group team who puts so many hours and incredible thinking into this client.

AGENCY PARTNER: The Richards Group

I was asked to be a part of some strategic thinking, planning and creative work to demonstrate a few celebrity integration ideas for the Cheetos brand. Our concept was based on the brand pillars of family fun and mischief. Using an iconic Chester Cheetah costume, we presented an idea about this playfulness and mischief that lives inside us all. Alec Baldwin, Ellen DeGeneres and Jon Hamm were great celebrities to help deliver the idea that family fun and mischief is a character we can all play. 

AGENCY PARTNER: United Entertainment Group

As a broad part of AT&T's "It Can Wait" campaign I was asked to help work on several strategic partnership ideas. One of these included this sticker which has now been translated into over a dozen languages around the world. It's fun to see a simple idea take on a new life.

Here's a simple reminder. Please don't text and drive. It really is super dangerous. And whatever communication you feel the urge to immediately respond to, really can wait a few minutes.

AGENCY PARTNER: United Entertainment Group

This was really one of my most favorite site designs of the last several years. Aside from the stunning photography we used and the glimmer of the fashion industry, i thoroughly enjoyed learning the history of Max Factor himself, as well as the brand he build through his impact with the early years in Hollywood film. His thinking of makeup took the industry to an entirely new standard.

To highlight not only a vast product line with interactive tools, I also designed the navigation and logo to have a three-dimensional sheen to it. Using subtle lighting effects behind the logo we could cue the user through navigation or exploring with logo interactions to enter into the the "behind the scenes" approach to the history of the brand. In this view, the users pov would be transported up and through the light coming out of the MAX FACTOR logo and into a brilliant white canvas where the history of the brand could be represented.

AGENCY PARTNER: imc2

Sometimes a little humor and honesty goes a long way. Especially when your delivery is beautifully styled and interesting.

We never needed to say what the creative brief asked for; "Normal glasses lenses are heavy, ours are super thin and lite." We all know what makes those little red indentions on the bridge of your nose. 

AGENCY PARTNER: Avrea Foster

The client request was for a new smarter website, that brought some sophistication to the brands color palette. The traditional rhodamine color of the logo needed some darker layers of light, paired with some beautiful off-set mono chromatic imagery. It also needed a few smart tools to help new visitors find their way through large product line - specifically being able to match it to a dog's age and size.

This was the first of several major projects we worked on for Eukanuba while I was at imc2. I had an incredible team of talented writers, designers and developers who brought several great ideas to life for this happy client.

AGENCY PARTNER: imc2

I always find ecommerce site design an incredible UX + Design challenge. There are so many given metrics about performance and product sales tied to pixel space it becomes a difficult challenge to make things simple and understandable from a Design POV. Animated feature banners, product highlights and every conceivable category as a navigation header are always challenges handed to the UX and Design teams.

This is an older site I designed, on along with some brilliant Information Architects. But I feel like, because of its simplicity and balance of a lot of complex information, it still holds up today. A few aspects look a little dated, but the fact that this template could be ripped off today for another major ecommerce brand i feel like speaks to the thoughtfulness of our solutions, as well as the standardization of UX in recent years.

AGENCY PARTNER: imc2

I often hear designers struggle working within the pharma industry. I've worked on dozens of pharmacutical brands over the years and I can say, it does have it's difficult challenges with legal and government oversight. But when an idea can be based in an authentic desire to be helpful and informative, you can often find a great deal of flexibility.

In this case, there was staggering research that connected cervical cancer to the hpv virus. This effected women of all ages, but the prevention aspect really started with young women as they were just choosing to become sexually active. Information was an incredible tool. 

Hyatt's Gold Passport reward program needed a little honesty. Reward program ads and direct mail are always full of the same old junk and messages. 

Let's just call it like it is, It is all about you. You earned those free nights and you should enjoy them however you like. There, done. See advertising doesn't have to be so hard, now does it?

AGENCY PARTNER: RAPP Worldwide

This was a concept that had been bounced around inside the halls of the agency as well as Samsung North American HQ for some time. The real insight for this idea came from a desire I had for the brand of Samsung electronics to become more of a visible partner instead of always trying to sell you something - which of course is the major point of an electronics manufacturer.

The additional insight came from all the traveling we did with this team. Airports at the time were antiquated in their design for human traffic and modern electronic needs (most still are). Outlets as we all know are limited. So, what better way for Samsung to be relevant and helpful than to provide charging stations in many US airpots.

We designed the pods with our internal engineers, and then partnered with an application company to develop a running application on a large touch screen within the charging station where users could find basic information like weather, news and play games while their devices are charging. Additionally this became a great place to integrate the Samsung partnership with CNET, displaying current reviews of all the latest electronic equipment.

AGENCY PARTNER: Cheil Agency

Imagine a team of the most talented freestyle soccer players in the world. Imagine they're wearing orange uniforms with a Cheetos logo across their chest. Now imagine this mischievous, playful, freestyle team playing against their arch rival - a team that represents the antithesis of playfulness.

Now build a beautiful pop-up turf stadium for 5,000 people on the beach in Long Beach, California on a beautiful warm day in November.

Now add Jorge Campos, the legendary goal keeper for El Tri, the Mexican National soccer team.

Now add exploding soccer balls, fans tacking penalty kicks and a 70yr old senior citizen becoming a freestyle hero right in the middle of the field.

And this was just the beginning! : )

After two years in the making one of the most favorite ideas i've helped create finally came to life. Los Cheetahs, I can't wait to see more of you guys soon!

AGENCY PARTNER: United Entertainment Group