Creative Direction, Brand Strategy & Marketing

DNAnexus® is the world’s most secure, trusted cloud platform and global network for scientific collaboration and accelerated discovery. Partnering with big pharma and the world's largest biobanks, they tackle the world’s most exciting opportunities in human health and beyond.

After nearly 10 years of breaking through some of precision medicine's most daunting technological obstacles, DNAnexus was overdue for a powerful redefinition of its own.

Brand and Product Strategy • Audience Identification and Targeted Messaging • Company Rebrand and Design • Website architecture, content strategy, and Design • PaaS Product Naming and Branding • Platform and Marketing Email Strategy and Design • Brand Awareness & Product Launch Campaign • Big Pharma and Clinical Diagnostics Campaign Videos • Video Concept and Production • Sales Collateral Design Systems • Employee SWAG store • Social Media • Convention and Conference Brand Activation • Company template design

Brand Strategy, Creative Direction, Project Coordination, Campaign Strategy & Production, Design

Device Repair. Wherever and Whenever you need it. Seriously. The average person does not care how their technology works, they just want it to work... and fast. Especially as tech devices become more complicated and ingrained in our daily lives. iCracked bridges the ever-widening gap between people and that "moment of magic" they experience when their technology simply works the way it should.

Bridging the Gap: iCracked needed to evolve along with technology and target new consumer need states that could withstand the test of time. We changed the consumer perception of the iCracked brand from stale, generic, transactional, technician-focussed and solely phone-repair-capable to a vibrant, consumer-engaging, and relatable world-class platform and trusted partner in repair, installation, education, troubleshooting and beyond.

The evolution required an extensive company audit, new brand positioning and messaging strategy for audience targets. These became the springboard for a new identity, color pallet, and complete redesign of all things iCracked.

IMAGES:

Identity + Website: Color/ font psychology audit, site re-platform, re-design, SEO audit, content creation & copywriting.

Photography Style: New color treatments and focus on "wherever, whenever" aspect of the iCracked service, as well as a delightful customer experience.

Brand Relaunch Viral Video & PR Campaign: Video concept, script, and production. Scene styling and editing direction.

Brand Engagement Event & Press Kit: Featuring free phone repairs in exchange for social media sharing and press releases. Event announcement, press bag with repair voucher and shot glass, blog graphics and article featuring Cinco de Mayo phone trivia. Snapchat geo-filter.

Digital Display: Web banners and ad spots for paid search and social media with stronger CTA architectures and clearer RTBs.

Packaging & Swag Store Launch: DIY Kit package redesign. Launch of swag store for use by the technician network. Branded uniform shirts, business cards, promotional giveaway items.

Technician Network Identity & Social Media Skins: Developed for a streamlined and professional representation of iCracked’s tech network.

Technician On-Site Profile & Locator

Technician Network Smart Car Wraps: Fleet of 1000+ “mobile billboards” driven by top performing technicians nationwide.

Brand Platform & Tone of Voice: Audit, brand strategy, positioning, mission statement and manifesto.

Role: Design Director, Designer

Novartis Brand Lab is an interactive digital tool used to provide templates, materials, visual assets and guidance in brand asset usage to corporate employees and affiliates all over the world. 

The Problem… 

Brand Lab was lacking sufficient instruction on how to use assets, and it neglected to provide any guidance in most valuable digital categories (ie. video creation, use of infographics and photography). Additionally, there was no established consistent style for key brand visuals (ie. representing physicians, people, etc., infographics, and icons).  Finally, most of the asset libraries were severely incomplete. They did not provide users with frequently needed content, which resulted in a myriad of inconsistent visual representations of the company worldwide.  

What we did…. 

Brand Lab Audit.

Functionality (UI/ UX assessment).

Brand Video Creation (storyboarding, production).

Infographic and Data Visualization Design. 

Photography Library Organization (build out).

Icon Design, Library Organization (build out).

Layout Design templates showing new assets in action and establishing usage rules. 

Style and usage guides for all of the above. 

Role: Event Producer, Creative Director, Designer, Marketing & PR

Side Hustle - From Passion to Profit is an event series I launched and produced in 2016 which spotlights working professionals striving to convert their “extracurricular” creative passions into their full time gig. Curated exhibitors included, painters, digital artists, photographers, entrepreneurs, winemakers, film makers, and music producers. Guests are welcomed to interact, network, sample and purchase the products, services and art, as well as learn about the industry tools available to fuel their own Side Hustle. With 350+ guests in attendance opening night, the event was a huge success!

Strategy, Design Direction, Art Direction, Design

Scotch, one of the most trusted names in home and office products, sought to capitalize on DIY and crafting trends by repositioning 54 core skews into a new segment directly targeting millennial crafters. 

A Simplified Strategy for a Complex System: Scotch’s one-off method for patents and product releases posed a significant challenge for creating consistency in online communications, packaging, product descriptions, nomenclature and overall brand message. One example: Which glue is strongest? Super, Max, Ultra, Advanced Formula, Tacky, etc.? And which one dries fastest? Rapid-dry, Quick-dry, Speed-dry?

After an extensive Scotch portfolio audit, store walk-throughs with client and customer, and competitive brand analysis, my team streamlined product nomenclature and developed a consistent visual system for adhesive strengths, applicators, and product naming. 

A “Brand NEW” Inspired Design: The Scotch Create brand identity and package design concept was born from millennial crafters’ craving for inspiration. The rise in popularity of "inspiration collecting" on sites like Pinterest, told me our demographic was constantly looking for new and interesting ways to use common products. The system was designed to feature a unique craft image for each SKU, and each craft had to be created using the product on whose PDP it would appear. 

"Craft-a-palooza" begins. After extensive craft project research, sourcing materials, and trial and error, my team crafted a unique item for each of the 52 SKUs. I led art direction and photoshoot. Scotch was so pleased with the outcome, they green-lighted us to develop an online brand experience campaign to accompany the launch of the new Scotch Create line.

The “Step-by-Step” Campaign: In keeping with the trending DIY theme, we turned 10-12 of the best performing SKUs into branded step-by-step tutorials designed for Pinterest, the official Scotch Create microsite, and other social media.

Role: Design Director, Designer

Walmart came to us with the idea of borrowing equity from their popular Sam's choice brand to create a thoughtfully curated sub-brand of imported products all about origin. 

Through the design thinking process, brand audit, and a brand/ sub-brand hierarchy study, I determined the level of equity from Sam's choice that should be kept in tact vs. evolved. 

Because the sub-brand was to be a significant step up in quality, I started by exploring more premium treatments of the Sam's choice identity. 

My biggest challenge was developing a clear design architecture system that could live in tact across many different product segments, structures, and hundreds of SKUs while embodying the new brand's promise of "affordable imported luxury."

Sam's Choice Italia was then debuted in stores and translated to e-commerce, where it was given a dedicated brand page on Walmart.com and merchandising support through digital ads, video, recipes, and product pairing ideas.

Role: Creative Director, Designer

Gloria Ferrer's annual Catalan Festival in Sonoma celebrates a Spanish fusion of wine, music, food and cultural performances. Coincidentally, it has grown to become one of the top grossing events for the winery, and I was honored to give the festival its first official face lift in 22 years. 

The project included identity design and exploration, along with execution of print and digital assets. (Printed flyers, billboard, social media and direct response banners, and "website takeover" assets.

Role: Design Director, Art Director, Design

The Meyer Corporation came to us with a complex challenge for their entry level cookware brand, Farberware. In addition to an identity refresh, the brand visuals and packaging needed 2 unique adaptations (Standard and Premium) for each retail partner (Walmart, Target, JC Penny, Khols, and Macy's) in order to qualify for distribution by the chains and justify varying price points to consumers.  We were also to introduce 3 new segments (Bakeware, Ceramics, and Hispanic) into the Farberware line at the mid level distribution (JC Penny and Kohls). Finally, all design differentiation needed to take into account that Farberware belongs to  a large family brands at Meyer and could not look more premium than the others. 

To accomplish all this, I started by choosing base colors and a simple photography style for the Standard and Premium offerings at Walmart (lowest price point). From there, I used gradual evolution of those colors and photography propping with environment to build up premium cues through the rest of the tiers. For the highest price point at Macy's, I designated new colors (silver and gold) and a more sophisticated style of photography lighting.

Once these tiers were approved by client and distributor, I executed the new bakeware, ceramics, and hispanic segments with the design language of the JC Penny/ Khol's tier. Differentiation was achieved through design architecture variance and sub-brand type treatments. 

Role: Art Director, Designer.

Spending the first 7 years of my career branding and designing for the premium wine industry wasn’t too shabby. I had the privilege of working on strategy, design, and art direction for over 200 national and international brands. I owe my keen eye for detail, love of brand strategy, and obsession with typography to this gig. Here are some of my favorite label, packaging systems and display still on the shelf today.

Clients Included: Constellation Brands, Diageo, Kendall-Jackson, Robert Mondavi, Sterling, Gloria Ferrer, and White Rocket Wines.

Role: Art Director, Designer. 

Much like my work with wine brands, brand strategy and design for spirits was an incredibly rewarding experience. This world demands precision, expert craftsmanship, profound knowledge of latest and greatest printing techniques, and rich brand narratives. 

Clients Included: Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Brown Foreman, Margaritaville Spirits, Varela Hermanos, Heineken, Hiram Walker.

Role: Design Director, Art Director, Design

Safeway's private label brand, Open Nature, is all about transparency. Made with the highest quality, all-natural ingredients, it has quickly become one of the store's most visible brands and popular alternative to mainstream and boutique health food brands. In an effort to prove it has nothing to hide, the visual system features a strong color-coded tear, which represents a "tearing back" of misleading language or hidden ingredients often found on other brands. In most cases, the tear reveals a literal window to the naturally beautiful product inside. But where photography was necessary, it's kept simple, un-propped, and displays the product in raw form.

My challenge with these three segments: How do we maintain brand concept consistency when the raw form of the product is visually unappetizing or needs to compete in a category known for decadence and hyper realistic graphics?

Frozen Seafood: With this segment, I made the decision to move away from the previous "windowed" bag and feature photography to gain more control over product differentiation and appetite appeal. I also had to account for the addition of 5 new SKUs. Because there is almost zero visual difference or appetite appears in the look of frozen fish, I decided to style raw cuts with minimal propping. I chose ingredients based on common ways to prepare each fish variety, as well as to provide a pop of color and extra SKU differentiation. Finally, careful sourcing of a natural surface and background with use of daylight vs. artificial lighting brought everything together. 

Dessert Pints: The biggest challenge in this category was differentiating between 4 sub segments (Ice Cream, Gelato, Sorbet, Frozen Greek Yogurt), each with many flavors, while capitalizing on the latest "natural trends". After choosing to change the container from opaque to clear for a stronger brand message, we differentiated each sub segment by varying typography style. In order to accommodate the flavor cues and maintain an extra layer of brand consistency, the tear was brought back into the design architecture in white, serving as a consistent background that wouldn't distract from the natural product.

Gelato Bars: As a new segment for Open Nature, I was able to maintain consistency in the brand by borrowing from the design language established for the Gelato segment of pints. However, this category demanded richer colors and extreme appetite appeal to compete with the popular non-natural brands on the shelf. 

Role: Design Director, Art Director, Design

Role: Creative Director, Strategist, Designer

Over the years, I've had the pleasure of working with brands big and small, established and emerging. Diving into the psychology and strategy of a brand, or creating it from scratch, is one of my favorite types of design challenges. This is a collection of my favorite projects where the identity design played a dominate roll in brand visuals. 

Creative Direction, Brand Strategy & Design

The founder of MNGE Properties aspired to create a new kind of property management company; one with a more forward-thinking and people-focused approach for the younger, more tech savvy generation he saw entering the market. With a tight window for success, we conducted market research, brand workshops, created messaging, executed design, and launched MNGE in less than 2 months.