New Website Design Work

These websites are not yet published, but here's a sneak peek at the homepage designs...

Work for DECK Monitoring

I have been working an in-house position for the last few months where I act as sole designer and marketing director. My employer is DECK Monitoring, makers of software to measure performance in renewable energy systems.

The project shown here is part of the marketing materials DECK takes to industry conferences and expos; they also send these materials to contractors and integrators who specialize in renewable energy projects.

The packet begins with the custom 2-pocket folder. A die cut in the cover accommodates a cardstock ticket insert with a medicinal motif... a nice interactive feature for these 'hands on' marketing events. Inside is the full group of 7 "one-sheets" to promote DECK products and services. Also note the business card inserted into the right folder pocket. I did all design and conceptual work.

When I arrived at DECK, the logo was about the only branding piece in place. I had a breakthrough while discussing the logo with a company principal... he mentioned that the logo (and even the company name) had been selected for appeal to the industrial/engineering market. Like John Deere, CAT, or 3M, they could target a largely male audience with clean, uncluttered layouts and no-nonsense messaging.

I suggested that they embrace the power-cord-orange color from the word "Monitoring" in their logo. They can own this color like John Deere owns green and gold. For the folder cover and pocket flaps, I added some texture to the bold orange with an electrical engineer's "one-line" circuit diagram.

Website Design

Lately I have been working with local web developer/filmmaker and all-around Renaissance guy Matt Schulte at Unified Studies. I have designed a half-dozen websites this year (not all online yet...). Here is a quick sample:

The Campaign to Save Vernonia's Schools

National Federation of Nurses

More to come soon!

Agency Work

Nike.net

Nike.net is a Nike internet service designed to help wholesalers generate retailer excitement (and orders) for upcoming product lines. R/West created 2 to 5 separate campaigns weekly for this client in addition to tech support for the nike.net website. Each campaign would include a full-page email (shown above) along with matching web banners in several formats. Although Nike provided product images, they typically did not provide any stock images or typography for these designs... we almost always started our designs from scratch. I executed a couple dozen unique campaigns during my time at the agency.

BridgePort Brewing Co

It seems like a cliche of Portland advertising, but so many agencies really do have a slice of the Nike pie plus a local brewery on their client list. The brewery of choice for R/West was BridgePort. The work shown above is a typical brewery project: "sell sheets" created for retailers to generate excitement for seasonal beer releases and other promotional events.

Start Making A Reader Today (SMART)

This project was among my favorites at the agency, and an opportunity for me to show my illustration skills. This may look like a child's reading primer, but it is in fact the annual report for this local reading advocacy group. In addition to writing and designing this piece, I provided detailed sketches for every illustration that were handsomely rendered in watercolor by our illustrator Jenny Haake.

Work for Local Businesses

Belle Epoque Salon

Branding Makeover

Like many small businesses, this salon had been getting by with the desktop branding efforts of the owner and a small circle of friends. I created a logo with an Art Nouveau-inspired framing device, suggesting luxury and aestheticism with just a hint of decadence. I also helped this client create a new salon website, writing the site map and contributing design templates for the project. Check out the Belle Epoque website here: besalonpdx.com.

Echo Restaurant

Corporate Identity and Branding Guidelines

I did all the initial branding work for this NE neighborhood bar and grill, from the lighted sign over the front door down to menus, t-shirts, matchboxes, mailers, and print ads. My color theme was even adapted to the interior design.

Agency Work - Portland State University

4 Projects for Portland State University Graduate Business Programs

Master of International Management (MIM) Program "Viewbook"

This piece was R/West's first project for the Portland State University Graduate Business Programs. The success of this piece was instrumental in securing more University work for the agency.

Called a "viewbook," this was a program catalogue aimed at undergrads who were considering graduate business education. This degree — Master of International Management — is an alternative to a traditional MBA program. The program focuses on business in East Asia and includes Japanese or Chinese language study in the curriculum.

Since this degree is unique to Portland State University, the viewbook had the additional burden of selling not only the school, but also to explain and sell the program as a valid alternative to an MBA.

I wrote this 36-page publication, and executed all design work following initial design direction from the Creative Director (initial designs for cover and 2 interior spreads provided).

Master of Science in Financial Analysis (MSFA) Program Catalogue

The University mandated that we use their color system and fonts. What's more, we were not allowed to create "logos" for individual programs. We created a systematic type treatment for each program's initials to forge consistent but individual brand identities within the larger University branding scheme (while flying under the radar of the university design guidelines). On this piece I executed all writing and design.

Graduate Business Programs Informational Brochure

This piece shows the full branding system we created for the 3 Graduate Business Programs, featuring each degree with its brand color and "logo." Again, I did all writing and design.

Graduate Business Programs Website

As you might imagine, this website project was the single largest job R/West did for the Graduate Business Programs. It was also the very first full project for the newly-formed R/West Interactive Department.

I worked with the Interactive Director to create a site map and organize the information architecture throughout the site. I executed most of the writing for the site and, once again following initial designs from the Creative Director, I built out all design templates for the site. I also chipped in with some odd jobs for this massive project, including directing the Flash animation production and the brand video that lives on the site home page. I even did some HTML coding as we approached our deadline.

Visit the Portland State University Graduate Business Programs website: gradbusiness.pdx.edu.

Student Work

...three projects from my student portfolio...

Print Ads for Lava Hand Soap

I worked with a creative partner, Gerry Sposato, on this project. Since Lava is soap for hands exclusively, we decided to make hands central to the campaign imagery. We created 3 scenarios for Lava Soap to triumph over his arch enemy, Grimy Hand. Building set pieces and shooting these images was easily the most fun of all my Art Institute projects.

Sin Zin Wine — Package Design

My inspiration for this project was the story of Adam and Eve, a natural theme to match the product name. The initial concept for this project was a one-piece label shaped like a snake to literally wrap the bottle. I redesigned as a full wrap label when I realized that label applicator machines could never guarantee correct alignment of visual elements on each bottle. Original illustration.

Spirit Places — Book Design

The theme for this book project was Japanese Gardens. I sought to incorporate some design principles from Japanese Gardening into the book design, working often with natural textures, irregular edges, and imperfect symmetry.