Honoring the Packard Family Legacy

For me personally, this was the visual identity project of a lifetime. I have always maintained that identity design is the most difficult (and most rewarding) challenge for a designer.  Why? Because the personality, or identity, of an organization is multifaceted and complex. A designer must be curious, rigorous, and wide-eyed, absorbing everything like a … Read more

How to Be A Courageous Brand

There’s no hard or fast rule that says a brand has to be loud about its values… or even that it has to communicate values openly to its consumers. While most marketers tend to agree that having a few core brand values that are clearly-identified and well-articulated for audiences helps those followers establish a deeper … Read more

Jamming. It’s Our Jam.

How do you conduct a brand identity and website refresh for one of the oldest, iconic bakeries in San Francisco? With as much passion as the bakers themselves have for their craft. …and with food photography that tickles your taste buds. The Cinderella Bakery on Balboa Avenue in San Francisco is a community cornerstone with … Read more

A Lesson for Young Creatives…

Every time I check my bank balance or make a financial transaction on my mobile phone, tablet, laptop, or desktop, I’m reminded of a brand identity solution I created for VeriSign in the mid-1990s for the sum of ~$3,000.00. Fifteen years later, Symantec would acquire Verisign’s authentication business to the tune of $1.28 billion in … Read more

Building A Brand: 3 Key Learnings

I’ve been designing and stewarding brands with for-profit companies and nonprofit organizations since leaving Apple in the early 1990’s. If you use the internet, you’ve likely come across some of the work; Symantec (formerly VeriSign), TinyPrints (acquired by Shutterfly), Zenfolio (acquired by Art.com), Bill.com, Sonic.com, eBay Bucks, Whole Foods and others). It has taken me … Read more