Design. Art Direction. Strategy. Client Relations. Creative Thinking.

I have over two decades of graphic design experience, largely as an independent operator. I’ve worked across print and digital and my specialty is bringing humanity and personality to a project with voice, elegance, and intelligence. I like creating order out of confusion, clarity where there was none, and communication where once there was merely information. I believe in taking the long view while attending to the details. In any project, I strive to cut to the heart of the matter and uncover first principles.

For the great majority of my working life I’ve been self-employed, entrepreneurial, and diligent about maintaining great relationships with clients and collaborators. This has habituated me to adapting quickly to the needs of any given problem without ego or prejudice. These are qualities I bring to every working engagement.

Some marquee projects:

Initial UX/UI of The New York Times iOS crossword app
Signage, packaging, posters, books, branding, websites for the original Brooklyn Superhero Supply Co. and 826NYC
Book and jacket design of John Hodgman’s trilogy of complete world knowledge
Initial consumer information tools around paying for college for the CFPB, at IDEO NY
Complete branding for IFC Center, the Independent Film Channel's flagship theater in New York

This talk, which I gave at the 2016 AIGA national conference, grew out of a contribution to a book about how to stay creative. Rather than explain my ideas in an literal, expository way, my approach was to demonstrate creativity in the answer itself. Proud of this one.

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Lastly and furthermore

Furthermore

I love that there can be an art to nearly everything. I love that geometry is ancient. I love that Frank Lloyd Wright was shameless. I love that the littlest things can make biggest differences, like cufflinks or a pinch of salt or 8 seconds on the last day. I love that some things are inexplicable, in fact more things than you’d expect. I love that no expertise is needed to appreciate a well-made thing. I love that you can pretty much always assume there is a better way. I love that anything can seem new. I love that a computer is referred to as a machine. I love that music doesn’t have to mean anything to be beautiful. I love that there are theories about handwriting, the composition of matter, and horse racing. I love the knuckleball. I love the lightbulb joke about how many boring people. I love that the things worth remembering are usually the things that get remembered. I love a gumshoe grammarian. I love the moment at dusk when the F train comes out of the tunnel after Carroll St. and fills with golden sunset light and feels like a cathedral. I love the slow motion replay. I love that Japanese architects deliberately inserted mistakes into their designs to appease the gods, who believe only they are perfect. I love that the heart is a muscle. I love the simplicity of punctuation. I love the Radiator Building, the Queensboro Bridge, and sunrises. That perfect swing. I love that line about how memory is like a train. I love that anything is interesting if you look at it closely enough. I love that even a cheap hamburger is still pretty good.