About Me
(I’m the one on the left)
These days, the sort of branding I do still energizes me viscerally, especially when I see it energize others, and I’m only horrified at when things are flagrantly off-brand. I’ve spent two decades designing for and leading in-house design/marketing teams in consumer electronics, nonprofit, healthtech, and prosocial gaming.
- Design Identities & Rebrands
// AnitaB.org • ProUnitas • Replicate Technologies • Chivaz • many more
- Build and lead in-house design/brand teams
// Speck • Sol Republic • AnitaB.org • IMVU
- Concept and execute brand strategies + integrated campaigns
// Speck: Clever+friendly underdog at events • IMVU: Cause Marketing • Sol Republic: Sub-premium lifestyle challenger • Clover Health consumer launch campaign
- Lead creative engagement and collaboration with agencies
I thrive leading and nurturing communicative, creative and mutually-inspiring teams. I love applying human-centered design (a.k.a Design Thinking or UX process) to marketing and visuals. I excel at big-idea ideation and details-oriented iteration.
I take to heart ex-RISD president John Maeda’s challenge to designers (and Bruce Mau, Debbie Millman or IDEO’s strong examples) to use lateral and divergent thinking to take on larger problems.
(I’m the one on the left)
Owen was our second designer at Clover and was instrumental in developing the brand and leading the marketing design efforts.
I worked closely with Owen throughout our intense open enrollment selling season. He pushes for perfection, but understands when tradeoffs need to be made to meet timelines and move quickly.
Owen is also passionate about defining culture. His calm and peaceful demeanor is a welcome addition in a high-paced environment.
Selected Skills and Aptitudes
Branding
From visuals to voice and tone to marketing funnel-appropriate creative, for brand resonance and relevance with audience insights
Creative Direction
Ideation, direction, creative team growth, mentoring, motivation, and management; working with remote, outsourced, and agency creatives
Design Thinking/UX
My skills and knowledge of user-insights-based human-centered design practice are high. My design practice has mostly been in the “second diamond” of the double diamond model.
Experiential Design
From events and activations to packaging and point of purchase displays using behavior design principles and touchpoint-specific hierarchies and strategies
Copywriting
Naming, surprise/delight writing, brand voice, and tone; I pair well with a skilled copywriter or (obviously, dear reader!) editor
Adobe Creative Suite/Cloud
Decades of expertise in Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat, Lightroom, proficient in After Effects, and XD
UI tools
Solid grasp of best practices and emerging trends. WordPress. Some experience with paper prototyping, Balsamiq, Figma, Sketch+Zeplin, Framer and Invision + HTML/CSS
Other
Google Ad Creator and SketchUp; art direction of photography and videography; letterpress and silkscreen; lettering and illustration; lots more
What they say about me
Owen was part of the core team at AnitaB.org that I worked with on an intensive user research project. From the project’s inception to our final presentation, Owen was a true partner and collaborator in our work.
His commitment to serving the target audiences and users that could benefit from AnitaB’s resources was inspiring. As we embarked on persona development, he was always sensitive of the perceptions often placed upon underrepresented groups; and equity and inclusion was at the heart of all his recommendations and creative direction.
Owen was truly a pleasure to work with every step of the way, and I look forward to when our paths might cross again!
To work along side a genuine creative talent is truly good fortune . . . and that’s how I view my time working with Owen. His unique, creative style and solution-based approach to marketing was pivotal in delivering growth and traction for our brand and products.
Owen is a transformational leader and his design team thrived under an intellectual and collaborative environment. Further, Owen sought to support our field team in an influential way – by seeking to understand the retail environment; identifying opportunities in a competitive landscape, and producing collateral and merchandising to help establish our place in a cluttered field of products.
Owen tackled each assignment with a sense of urgency, passion and thoughtfulness and made the creative process an inclusive and productive collaboration . . . and his contribution was instrumental in establishing the playful design, fun and recognizable brand we are today.
I worked alongside him at a Medicare health insurance startup on a small marketing team, and though Owen’s specific role was Senior Designer, he lent on-the-spot project management skills to produce down-and-dirty marketing campaigns on tight timelines. When working with Owen, one has the feeling they’re being listened to, having their viewpoint authentically considered in depth.
Owen’s professional skillset becomes evident immediately upon working with him. What’s more, I have Owen to thank for my introduction to mindfulness practices, as he was solely responsible for developing a daily meditation at our company, which was a staple part of several coworkers’ days and work-life balance. Owen is professionally talented, but more importantly, is truly his brothers’ and sisters’ keeper.