I directed the Lazarus Naturals creative team to develop a seasonal direct to consumer campaign for the first quarter. The campaign conveys a message of optimism as we close 2020 and move into the new year. Moments of transition are represented in nature. Transformation, return to order. Charged energy propelling forward, ebb and flow, perpetual motion, balance and harmony. During the current social climate, people escape their worries by getting outside. Beauty in nature is simple, beautiful and visceral which creates an emotional response. These designs and concepts will be used to unify the look and theme of all direct to consumer communications including emails, banner ads, company website banners.

Creative Direction

I directed the Lazarus Naturals creative team to develop a direct to consumer campaign for the 2020 / 2021 holiday season that carried throughout the giving season. The system was consistent, yet flexible enough to keep the graphics fresh as the season evolved from Thanksgiving, Black Friday through Christmas and post Christmas. This campaign was a huge success for the brand bringing in over 1 million in revenue on Black Friday weekend alone. The campaign drew the most traffic of any hemp brand during Black Friday weekend.

Creative Direction

I created a graphic design for a holiday gift pack for Lazarus Naturals. The gift pack was sold wholesale to retailers to be in store during the 2020 / 21 holiday season. I used textural imagery, gold foil and soft touch treatments to add a luxurious texture. The white color was refreshing and looked great on the shelf.

Design

One of the first projects that I worked on for Lazarus was a new campaign for their pet products. The look and feel married with the design of their product packaging. The goal was to inspire trust in the brand to consumers by using an honest and friendly tone. We used situational humor to relate to pet owners. This creative was used for digital and print advertisements, emails, brochures and PR materials. In addition to this campaign, I directed several photo shoots on location and in studio.

Creative Direction

In 2018, the Outdoor Retailer trade show moved from Salt Lake City to Denver. KEEN took the opportunity to build a new booth. I worked with the KEEN marketing team, created the RFP, directed the booth designer and production vendors on this new build. In KEEN fashion, this new booth was repurposed from pieces of the old. We also repurposed materials including old scaffolding, barn wood and bleacher boards. More industry leading innovations were made. We used event trailers to reduce drayage and set-up cost. We brought the experience of being outdoors to the indoor environment by creating a wood and fabric dome with video projection mapping and sound of weather, including moving clouds, wind blowing through trees, birds and even thunderstorms. To echo what had been done in 2011, this new booth won the best booth award in 2018 from the outdoor industry.

Design Direction, Project Management, Installation

In 2011 a new KEEN trade show booth debuted. I directed the design of this booth working with KEEN events director. The industry changing booth design garnered the best booth award in 2011 and was responsible for pushing the outdoor industry toward a new way of thinking about sustainability in trade show booth design. KEEN’s mantra of “repurpose for a purpose” was exemplified through the use of reclaimed objects and materials. This booth design established the physical world look and feel for the KEEN brand, influenced the design of the KEEN retail store, the KEEN Garage, as well as the KEEN HQ. Key seasonal product stories are brought to life in dimensional and whimsical ways. This place is where KEEN debuts it’s new products to the world. For KEEN, it is the largest and best experiential space for the brand.

Twice a year since 2011, I have directed the design, production and installation of the booth for the largest outdoor industry trade show: Outdoor Retailer. In addition to the KEEN booth at the show, KEEN has hosted large industry parties outside the venue called KEEN Fest. I have creatively lead KEEN Fest as well, working on creative theme, large format graphics, signage, invites and swag.

Creative Direction, Art Direction, Production, Project Management, Installation

One of our premier KEEN ambassadors Jeremy Collins, an artist/social and environmental activist/explorer, wanted to paint a mural during a visit to KEEN in Portland. Our VP of creative suggested we use this as an opportunity to do something for Earth Day and also highlight it at the KEEN Garage (our retail store). I took this idea and ran with it. By collaborating with Jeremy, several other ambassadors, the KEEN Effect (CSR), KEEN Garage and our KEEN HR team I transformed and expanded this idea into an Earth Day marketing activation. It centered around an art piece and an event at KEEN HQ that involved KEEN employees and was open to the public as well. It was a great content generator for the brand. From this we created a blog post, social media post, e-commerce e-mails and website features. Jeremy designed an art piece that I helped direct and produce. It was an interactive piece that the public could take part in by creating their own “world” drawing inside the structure.

Design Direction, Art Direction, Project Management, Event Management, Installation

In 2011, KEEN launched its KEEN Utility brand which marketed work boots for construction, industrial work, nurses and chefs. I directed the creative for the launch of this new brand for KEEN. The brand design that I established for KEEN Utility helped propel the KEEN business forward. Today KEEN Utility is the fastest growing product category at KEEN and rivals that of its competitors such as Timberland PRO.

Working with a writer, art-director and designer I created a brand toolkit, brand catalog and other collateral pieces to support the launch of the brand. I was also responsible for the production and print production of these pieces. I established a graphic design language of shapes inspired by tools and machinery. I concepted and art directed the first technical exploded views, photo illustrations of the KEEN Utility boots which are used as the standard for the KEEN Utility brand materials. Over the years, I have art directed and produced many KEEN Utility creative projects including several large photo shoots for the KEEN Utility brand.

Creative Direction, Art Direction, Project Management, Production, Installation

One of KEEN’s premier franchise products, KEEN UNEEK, was debuted in 2015. I art directed the Spring/Summer 2015 campaign for the brand. I partnered with KEEN ambassador Nick Greece on the content creation for this campaign. Leveraging KEEN’s outdoor industry connections I was able to generate photo and video content in order to maximize value with the budget available. Materials created for this campaign included retail graphics, traditional print media, digital media, website layouts, video, social media posts, swag and more.

Art Direction, Design, Project Management, Production, Installation

When KEEN, along with the ad agency North, debuted its new advertising campaign Recess is Back, I was responsible for the in-house creative portion of the global roll-out of the campaign. I briefed the agency along with the marketing team leaders and collaborated to develop, design and ensure consistency of campaign execution across all channels.

Leading the in-house creative to support this campaign, I directed the design of a KEEN font that was used throughout the campaign and produced seasonal photo shoots to be used for global retail, website and brand materials. In addition, I art directed and produced a variety of print and digital materials in support of this campaign.

Design Direction, Art Direction, Design, Project Management, Production, Installation

One of my favorite things that I worked on at Nike was the design of exhibits for the Blu House, a Nike activation center located on Venice Beach. The Blu House hosted parties/brand exhibits for cool kids and influencers. It looked like a regular house from the outside, but the inside transformed every couple of months to highlight a new brand story.

I lead the design of a comic book themed show for Nike Basketball which highlighted all of the iconic, illustrative and comic style imagery that Nike had created over the years. It featured a life-size comic book installation that was written by Scoop Jackson about “the haters” that were trying to bring down the game of basketball.

Art Direction, Design, Installation

Since 2010 I have art directed and produced the displays and materials to support our seasonal launches of key materials for sell-in of products to wholesale partners. I’ve partnered with the marketing, product and sales teams to visualize seasonal product stories into practical tools and sales meeting displays.

From 2009-2015 I directed the design and production of the KEEN seasonal product catalogs. Utilizing pre-existing photography and a limited number of new product shots each of these pieces were put together and printed in as little as one month, as time between product completion, delivery and our sales meetings were very short. In 2015, KEEN stopped printing catalogs and has evolved to using an automated sales software line-sheet.

2018 marked the 15th anniversary of the KEEN iconic sandal the Newport. I art directed and produced a set of a-frame curated displays to highlight KEEN’s unique connection to its Newport fans. These pieces were displayed at the 2017 summer sales meeting.

Design Direction, Art Direction, Project Management, Production, Installation

I worked with the retail marketing director on the direction for a new POP fixture system for KEEN called “scrappy yellow”. We worked together with Vehicle SF and Fleetwood Fixtures to create the program. I helped create the RFP, chose and directed the design and production agency, reviewed prototypes, art directed and produced graphics for the fixtures. The goal of this new concept was to disrupt the retail environment and bring KEEN’s brand values and aesthetic of re-purposing to life. The fixtures were made of scrap wood, repurposed metal pieces, tires and paint cans. Everything was dipped in yellow paint, the KEEN signature yellow color.

Design Direction, Art Direction, Graphic Design, Project Management, Production, Installation

The "re-purposed" design aesthetic that I helped establish through the creative direction for the 2011 KEEN trade show booth, also helped to inform the design of the KEEN flagship retail store in the Pearl District of Portland, called the KEEN Garage. The success of the retail store allowed the brand to expand. Now there are several KEEN Garages— one in Palo Alto, one in Harajuku (Japan) and a few more in Asia. Since the opening of the first store, I have directed and produced window displays and shop-in-shop displays for large seasonal launches at these KEEN Garages. These images show our shop-in-shop displays featuring the KEEN UNEEK shoe installed at our Portland and Palo Alto Garages.

Design Direction, Art Direction, Design, Production, Project Management, Installation

At Nike I worked on the Nike Presto initiative while working in Global Brand Design. I worked with the team on the development of the brand identity doing iterations of logos and patterns as well as collaborating on retail and event concepts.

I collaborated on the Nike Presto dimensional retail pieces and I designed the graphics and window displays that were installed at all Niketowns. I directed renderings of some of the retail pieces, reviewed prototypes and attended shop-in-shop and window installs for the launch of the program.

Design, Production, Installation

While working with the Nike Brand Design Basketball group I collaborated on the branding and graphic design for the launch of the Air Force 1 shoe 25th Anniversary. I worked on a lot of branding presentation decks, art directed photo shoots, designed collateral pieces, retail graphics, displays and exhibits.

Art Direction, Design, Production, Installation

As a designer for the Nike Women's Brand Design group, I worked on several large branding exercises, including the rebrand of the entire women’s category. My favorite project from this time was the branding I created for Nike Women’s Yoga. I also collaborated on the Nike Women’s catalogs and art directed several product and lifestyle photo shoots.

Art Direction, Design

While working with the Nike Brand Design Basketball group, I collaborated on window designs showcasing LeBron James footwear, then I adapted the designs for multiple retail windows across the US. I took the flat graphic design and brought it to life in the 3D world by working in the Nike Retail Lab to test different options for materials and positions of graphic shapes within the windows. I saw this project through to completion, directing the installs of these displays in key accounts in LA.

Design, Production, Installation

The Nike SWOP Tokion footwear (Shoes With Optional Personalities) were shoes that had replaceable covers with different graphics on them. One of my projects as a designer at Nike was to create product graphics for this line, including a display for an art and design conference sponsored by Tokion magazine in New York City. Eames cards were the inspiration for this dimensional product display system.

Design, Production, Installation