During Web 1.0 I cut my teeth learning branding, design, & coding from anyone who would teach me. Once I could readily craft work & my imposter syndrome calmed down, Adult Swim hired me as a Creative Director in 07 just as Web 2.0 was taking off.
How might we make Sprite.com culturally relevant for young millennials?
We redesigned sprite.com as a responsive site to be the megaphone for our teen audience. Teen voices would be heard loud and clear on this website, championed, liked, shared, retweeted, hashtagged, and rewarded with access to content exclusives. Where we looked upon "likes" as the coin of the realm, and sprite followers on Instagram would be worth more than cash.
How might I use the skills I have gained from building big brands to build big gains for meaningful causes with a small budget?
From 2011-13, I funneled the money and knowledge I received from my then corporate day job into supporting the Unfold Design Gallery, which I opened in the heart of the New Orleans French Quarter (Vieux Carré), post-Katrina. In this teetering gallery and residence architected by Benjamin Henry Latrobe and built in 1790, that rubbed elbows with Tennessee Williams old address, I hosted gallery shows (E.g., See the artwork from our "Tsunami of Support" show, shown above) and artists in residence like Ted Fellow Naomi Natale. We also hosted movie screenings, like the one we did for the HealthyGulf formerly Gulf Restoration Network.
I also ran a part-time shop using the first-gen square selling Bird Project products. In between shows, we also functioned as a design studio where we designed various works that supported our mission. We designed a "children's" book for The Greater New Orleans Foundation about giving back, pro-bono brand identity, and poster design work for local theatre company Mondo Bizarro (Cry You One), along with designing infographics and manuals for The World Stove, which supports communities in distress after natural disasters.
Was this the best financial business decision? Absolutely not, but it was the most rewarding one.
How might we make Golf coverage relevant for the modern PGA fan living online?
We created a responsive web app redesign concept. In this PGA Tour.com redesign, you're closer to the green, drama, and action every second. And for the die-hard fans, we created interactive comparison tools, social controls that let you share meaningful content, and the ability to follow the action of fan-favorite players, courses, and tours. Fore!
How might you grow Chick-fil-A fans through owned media channels?
Created campaigns for Cow Appreciation Day's scavenger hunt in NYC, Spicy Chicken Sandwich launch in Chicago, and Chick-fil-A Kids app w/ Cow Superheroes launched at Comic-Con largely.
All of which I co-created with my writing partner at the time, Katie Schoen.
We grew Chick-fil-A's owned social media channels to 3.7 million fans, tripling the base of fans in just one-year w/ 500k Facebook Interactions.
How might you rebrand an online comedy network from scratch for an audience that's consuming content in a fragmented way—Snapchat to Youtube?
I shaped and directed a small but mighty creative team. We maintained our site and web apps. We did so while simultaneously rebranding & redesigning all our design materials and products. e.g., TV spots, website (s) and apps, online/offline events, print collateral, fan schwag, sponsorships, outdoor ads, and motion graphics for show intros.
By the end of our run, we received millions of unique visitors monthly. A host of publications heralded us; The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The Onion, and the typically "pull no punches" New York Post said we're the "funniest site on the web..." Our most outstanding achievement. We also stacked up the awards from places like the Webbys.
