About
I’m a designer with 20 years of experience in brand, product design, and creative direction. I have an international reputation for creating warm, smart, and effective design for a variety of companies in technology and publishing. Among these is Abstract (acq. Adobe), which I co-founded in 2014. I’m head of brand at Modern Treasury, directing our creative output across go to market, including the visual identity, website, video production, and event design.
I also write and speak about design. Several of my essays and lectures are assigned in design classrooms around the world and act as foundational texts in the web design industry, including Everything Easy is Hard Again, The Web’s Grain, and What Screens Want. In 2012, I wrote, illustrated, and published The Shape of Design.
Read My Book
The Shape of Design explores the secrets of crafting meaningful, emotionally resonant designs and the opportunity of making things for others.
Contact
Select Writing
Everything Easy is Hard Again
Presented at Awwwards Conference in Berlin, GermanyA talk about longevity in technology: can a person have 20 years of experience or five years, repeated four times?
The Web’s Grain
Presented at Webstock in Wellington, New ZealandIs there deeper understanding in using a browser’s built-in affordances to guide web design decisions?
What Screens Want
Presented at Build in Belfast, N. IrelandDigital’s medium is the screen. What’s does it mean to natively design for this canvas?
The Shape of Design
Purchase at Amazon or BuyOlympia (Support Indie!)A little philosophical handbook about design and making things for others that focuses on the Why questions.
Work Experience
Head of Brand at Modern Treasury
NYC/SF & RemoteCreative direction and design team building for go to market, with responsibilities spanning the website, video production, event design, and more.
Creative Director at Fictive Kin
New York, NY & RemoteSetting creative vision, providing design leadership, establishing process, and managing client relationships, while participating as an IC at a leading digital agency whose clients include Sweetgreen, Ogilvy, National Geographic, TripAdvisor, and Samsung.
Self-employed Designer
New York, NYDesign and consulting for early stage startups and established leaders at the intersection of brand and digital product. Clients included: Etsy, Meetup, Kaplan, Abstract, and many YC startups.
Co-founder at Abstract
New York, NYThe traditional set of founder responsibilities: setting vision, creating product definition, fundraising, and company leadership. Lead design across brand and product, and helped define the company’s go-to-market approach.
Self-employed Designer
Portland, OR & New York, NYProduct design, web design, publication design, branding, and illustration. Clients include: Nike, Microsoft, NPR, Adobe, Facebook, WIRED, Bloomberg Businessweek, O’Reilly Media, The Atlantic, and Justin Bieber (sorta).