blog
Haunters Wanted!
I designed Haunters Wanted! as a reverse-haunt experience where kids and their grownups get to do the scaring! Called upon by the late candy heiress Carmelia Beuchaunters herself, guests help their ghostly hostess trigger different “haunted” effects in order to scare away the meddlesome and silly production crew of a ghost-hunting TV show. Young kids love to jump out and surprise people, and they’ll be giggling like ghouls when they see the over-the-top reactions the ghost hunters have to their scares.
Ocean Outpost at Sandy Bay, Jamaica
My inner pirate was incredibly excited to be commissioned by Melody Matheny of Melody Matheny Designs to create two huge murals for a newly developed mixed-use space at CHUKKA's Ocean Outpost. The first mural I created was for an 8'x28' wall and depicted the 160-acre property as it would have looked in 1746; the second mural was for the ceiling of the same space, and depicted many of the native species one should be on the lookout for when exploring the property. Both murals were rendered in the style of a mid-1700s map, with thousands of intersecting ink lines and lots of hidden illustrative details.
Dragonslayer
Dragonslayer is a hypothetical coaster which pays homage to 80s sword-and-sorcery films. I was inspired by equine motocoasters like Pony Express at Knott's Berry Farm or Steeplechase at Luna Park, but differentiated my concept by making it medieval rather than western… and adding this massive dragon!
Easter Bunny Eggspedition
Eggspedition: Easter Bunny is a hypothetical dark ride concept that takes riders on a tour of the Easter Bunny’s burrow via ride vehicles designed to look like Fabergé eggs. The Easter Bunny is reimagined here as a kind of renaissance master, sculpting chocolate statues and painting frescos on eggs within his burrow-based art studio. As guests travel down the winding tunnels of his burrow, they take on the role of his honorary apprentices and see just how the magic of Easter comes together.
Belen Aerospace
In 2021, Belen Aerospace was founded with the hopes of making new discoveries in the realm of space travel. Specifically, the organization seeks to find, cultivate, and promote breakthroughs in Internal Atmospheric Propulsion, a sustainable alternative to traditional chemical propulsion systems. To do this, Belen also hopes to inspire in the next generation a passionate interest in space exploration and its possibilities, driven not by fear but by hope. This inspirational and educational component is at the core of the Belen Aerospace brand.
Shackleton Exhibit
End of the World: An Antarctic Museum Adventure is a hypothetical immersive museum experience meant to educate and inspire families with the incredible story of Ernest Shackleton’s daring explorations of Antarctica. What could be depicted as a frigid story of survival is instead depicted as a colorful adventure, meant to inspire scientific curiosity in children even as it avoids the colonialism which tragically so often casts a shadow over the kinds of adventure stories traditionally aimed at children (Antarctica has never had a native people).
Known by Name Counseling
One of my favorite logos I've ever designed was for Known by Name Counseling, a private counseling practice based in Wheeling, West Virginia. I was inspired by founder (and my good friend) Tyler Kilbane’s mission to honor the addicts he serves as a name rather than a number, and also his personal old-world-aesthetic.
Logo: All Eyes on Isaac
My sister Rachael asked me to design a branding package for her nuptials as well. A sports psychologist and an app designer, she and her now-husband wanted a dynamic and edgy look that would match their personas.
My Wedding Logo
Why brand our wedding? It’s a question I’ve been asked by more than a few of my non-designer friends (the graphic artists I know, on the other hand, totally get it). For my now-wife Jessica and me, it’s because our wedding represented more than just our union. For us, it represented our aspiring to a higher set of values, a collection of charisms larger than ourselves.
Campfire Theatre
Campfire: Theatre in the Round began as a hypothetical solution to the lack of nighttime entertainment at a Midwestern amusement park inspired by the theme of the great outdoors. The question that inspired the project was this: if the campfire is where the community gathers at night, then how many more could gather if we made the fire larger?
Catholic Counselors Brand
Over five years, I spearheaded all multimedia and promotional design initiatives for the Pastoral Solutions Institute, an international telephone-counseling practice providing over 10,000 hours of mental health services per year to a global and diverse client network.
Catholic Family Life Symposium Brand
The Catholic Family Life Symposium was looking for a mark which would feel equal parts traditional and modern, clean and symbolic. I chose to combine modern vector line art with traditional stained glass art to depict a family as forming the Church itself.
Theology of the Body Institute Brand
The Theology of the Body Institute is the preeminent organization for instruction on Catholic/Christian sexual teaching in the world. In 2019, after exhausting their budget with other designers, the Theology of the Body Institute approached me to ask if I could help them arrive at a new logo and brand identity.
Cafe Fiona
Cafe Fiona is a themed restaurant designed hypothetically for the Cincinnati Zoo as part of my Masters thesis in interdisciplinary design. Inspired by the Zoo’s famous hippo, Fiona, this eatery allows guests to eat “with” Fiona while learning about human/nature impact.
Ekernally Yours Vehicle Wrap
When the Ekernally Yours Popcorn Company needed a vehicle wrap, the challenge presented was larger than it first appeared. At that point in time, Ekernally Yours had no brand identity beyond its logo, which meant that the vehicle wrap needed to simultaneously show off a new design and appear visually similar to what had been established through Ekernally’s other media outlets (web, etc.).
Wombat Security Exhibit
Wombat Security Technologies provides information security training to companies in the information technology sector. When Wombat needed a trade show exhibit, I decided to design their booth around a comic book theme and make grand use of their 20’ x 20’ space on the exhibit show floor.
Lent is for Lovers
I was hired to brand and design for Lent is for Lovers, a Lenten initiative run by the Dominican fathers of Cincinnati, OH. Under my creative direction, the program evolved from a simple talk series at a single parish to an international multimedia movement (website, videos, social media) with successful reach as far as Kenya.
Magee-Womens Research Summit
In 2018, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s acclaimed Magee-Womens Hospital held their first annual research summit. I was tasked by the event’s organizers with designing a poster to advertise the event throughout the city.
The Ol' Factory: Soap for Men
While studying package design as part of my Masters of Arts in Interdisciplinary Design at Chatham University, I was tasked with creating several original brands and products. A selection of my work from this course is as follows.
Thread International Package Design
The pattern shown here was designed as part of a packaging proposal for Thread International, a company which gathers and recycles plastic refuse in Haiti and Honduras, recycles it into cloth, and sells the product to benefit the original communities.