CVGB Works

Bureau's marketing and creative team contracted me in late 2021 to create a voice for this Utah-based real-estate focused tech startup. I overhauled the content and tone of the investor deck and promotional materials, crafted biographies for executives and staff, generated language for three websites, provided an approach for property listings and brand communications, and developed stories for the digital magazine we created called HomeBook.

HomeBook did something that has never been fully realized in the real estate space: it bridged the emotional importance of home and tied it to the buying and selling experience. The concept of home means many things simultaneously: it is a place we associate with refuge and comfort; it is the center of community and family; and whether purchasing or selling, it is among the most important financial decisions we make in our lifetimes.

HomeBook spoke to each of these categories with glossy magazine-style installments published online: interviews with top designers and landscape architects; profiles on local artisans and celebrities; functional how-to segments on design and decorating; and seasonal articles speaking to the many ways we can protect and enhance the value of our investment.

These are among my favorite pieces appearing in HomeBook. The hours I spent interviewing and drafting profiles for interior designer Philip Gorrivan and landscape architect Geoffrey Valentino were among the most interesting, enlightening, and satisfying of any I spent on the project.

Working in close concert with the company founder, executive leadership, and a dynamic team of creatives, data engineers, and designers, I was contracted to help shape the messaging needs of this rapidly expanding data analytics company based in Burlington, Vermont.

One of my first assignments was a presentation deck outlining the company’s efforts and record of success with a globally recognized automotive company. This entailed an overview of work completed, a summary of efforts currently underway, and most importantly, a conceptual roadmap that reframed what both companies could achieve together in the near future. This inspirational blueprint energized the room and created conditions that would propel the client-partner relationship forward into the coming year.

The need for a website that presented a detailed complement of IXIS service offerings was my next assignment. After a series of meetings with top executives, I assembled a branding profile highlighting key elements that differentiated IXIS offerings in the marketplace. Principal among them, a new Business Intelligence tool called ATLAS that allows divergent teams to collaborate around shared data sets and analytic insights in real time. From these initial building blocks, coupled with key takeaways from the presentation, the website began to take shape.

Bureau's marketing and creative team contracted me in late 2021 to create a voice for this Utah-based real-estate focused tech startup. I overhauled the content and tone of the investor deck and promotional materials, crafted biographies for executives and staff, generated language for three websites, provided an approach for property listings and brand communications, and developed stories for the digital magazine we created called HomeBook.

HomeBook did something that has never been fully realized in the real estate space: it bridged the emotional importance of home and tied it to the buying and selling experience. The concept of home evokes many things simultaneously: it is a place we associate with refuge and comfort; it is the center of community and family life; and whether buying or selling, it is among the most consequential financial decisions we will make in our lifetimes.

HomeBook spoke to each of these categories with glossy magazine-style installments published online: interviews with top designers and landscape architects; profiles on local artisans and celebrities; functional how-to segments on design and decorating; and seasonal articles speaking to the many ways we can protect and enhance the value of our investment.

These are among my favorite pieces appearing in HomeBook. The hours I spent interviewing and drafting profiles for interior designer Philip Gorrivan and landscape architect Geoffrey Valentino were among the most interesting, enlightening, and satisfying of any I spent on the project.

In 2020, I was introduced to the External Affairs and Business Development team at Metrc—the largest and most successful cannabis regulation company in the country. With legal cannabis markets opening up all over the world, Metrc was growing in many different directions simultaneously; the new head of EABD was looking for help in telling the company’s story in a more directed, impactful, and effective way.

Among the first projects I was tasked with was a case study detailing Metrc’s critical role in helping states respond to the 2017 vaping crisis. My intent was to showcase Metrc as a responsive state partner, helping officials quickly identify, isolate, and quarantine the black-market vaping cartridges that were responsible for the health emergency. This was followed by other case studies demonstrating how Metrc’s approach provided a reliable regulatory framework for banking and other law-abiding cannabis businesses in the private sector.

Special care was put into designing the documents for maximum impact. We provided readers multiple points of entry in absorbing content while ushering in several new design templates that informed broader company branding efforts. The reception from both internal and external audiences was hugely positive, opening the door to a series of more robust branding and messaging projects for Metrc.

In addition to broadening and enhancing the Athena logo and all client-facing collateral, the creative team embarked on a four-month effort to completely revamp the company's most important calling card and sales driver, its website.

Working closely with department heads, project leads helped reframe and summarize the work director-level staff performed for clients. We went from four original practice areas to six and reorganized how these functions supported and played off each another in the field. We embarked on a project to repackage capabilities offerings and instead transformed the way the company marketed its services.

My next project for Metrc was substantially larger than the first: redoing the company’s service summary—a 24-page brochure that outlined the company’s primary mission, highlighted key differentiators, and detailed industry-leading hardware and software innovations that explain its commanding lead over marketplace rivals.

We built out our photo library with bold images, selected to complement Metrc’s technically modern and innovative approach to cannabis regulation. Metrc’s systems are able to store and retrieve millions of pieces of data input by growers, manufacturers, testing facilities, and retail outlets so they can be retrieved and examined at any point in the supply chain by state officials.

Unpacking Metrc’s capabilities and explaining its offerings in clear, easy-to-understand language was an early core objective. I sought at all times to take the mystery out of Metrc’s approach, to move away heavy jargon and industry shorthand, so that anyone picking up the brochure could come away with a full understanding of the company’s value, regardless of how much experience they had with cannabis regulation.

In January of 2020, Athena was given a unique opportunity in enhance the City of Philadelphia’s bid to be one of ten American host cities selected to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Working with the Philadelphia Convention and Visitors Bureau and under a pressing four-day deadline, Athena’s creative team completely redesigned the city’s pitch, bringing its branding effort in competitive contention with those advanced by other American cities.

The Athena team presented three fleshed-out branding concepts, which fronted efforts designed to boost citywide engagement. The collateral from the winning concept would be broadly incorporated into a full stream of public events, which would coincide with a visit by the FIFA Selection Committee. Athena’s creative team was instrumental in adding fresh power, drive, and coherence to the City of Philadelphia’s bid and definitively advanced its efforts to be named a World Cup Host City in 2026.

Overhauling Metrc’s website was the next order of business. Although the then-current version provided decent enough service to state clients and the licensed cannabis businesses operating within them, restricted access to these portions of the site kept this level of service out of public view. The old site provided very little insight into the kind of services Metrc provided or its value in creating secure and well regulated cannabis markets, and very little information for those hoping to learn more about what the company offered and to whom.

Working in close coordination with designers and developers from The Lori Group, we engaged working teams in each department of the company, prioritizing must-haves, nice-to-haves, and wish-list items to build out a workable site map. We incorporated video and visuals collected at partner facilities. We overhauled messaging front to back, and gave the entire site a new visual identity, more in keeping with the company’s leadership profile, accomplishments, and future ambitions.

The changes went beyond a messaging and branding focus. We overhauled how some departments reviewed and approved licensees in the state-owned sections of the site, streamlining work flows and providing client-facing teams with new tools to make day-to-day task management easier. We provided regular updates and progress reports, building in time for internal security tests and checks, and we did it all within the confines of an unmovable 12-week production timeline. The completely redesigned Metrc website launched on schedule on November 1st, 2021.

To celebrate the National Football League’s centennial season, key stakeholders at the NFL wanted a nationwide campaign that would translate into real and lasting benefit to communities big and small all over the country. The solution Athena delivered became the philanthropic centerpiece of the 100th season—Huddle for 100. This far-reaching national initiative was created to unite the NFL and its 32 Clubs together with fans all over the country around volunteer efforts designed to give back to those in need.

Athena’s goal was to make participation in the Huddle program as turnkey as possible for participants and volunteers. Working in close cooperation with the activation team, Athena’s creative team assembled information flows to effectively communicate program goals to stakeholders throughout the NFL organization and to all 32 clubs. Athena also created toolkits and included the messaging framework, complete with FAQs, for different elements of the campaign rollout to ensure alignment across the league, while providing information for the media that put the Huddle for 100 story into context.

The Soulfull Project is an oatmeal company founded on a simple promise: every sale of every product results in a direct donation of that same product to a local foodbank. The company’s founders approached Athena with expanding the visibility of this “You Buy One, We Give One” model to help build national recognition for its mission and to expand its reach into new communities all over the country. In addition to the development of an in-depth brand advocate and outreach program, Athena embarked on a wholesale reinvention of the Soulfull Project’s messaging platform and social media presence. The creative team revamped The Soulfull Project website and expanded the company’s visual vocabulary with new photography and dynamic graphics. This aspect of the creative-led effort reoriented Soulfull’s messaging strategy to simultaneously play up the appeal of the product, the emotional act of sharing that powered its philanthropy, and the real-world impact of its mission. With robust enhancement of its photography and messaging, Athena’s creative team also greatly expanded the frequency of its social media posts, yielding a sizable increase in traffic and number of followers.

Loren Hope approached Athena with the opportunity to enhance its brand profile, build and expand its product offerings, and to generate new sales with new audiences. In this creative-led execution, Athena focused attention first on revamping the look and feel of the Loren Hope website. We streamlined and rationalized new product offerings on the site, creating a bold new presentation format that could be easily refreshed with the company’s newest creations. We selected new color palettes that aligned with core brand offerings, elevated the presentation of new designs, removed storyline elements that downplayed or degraded the brand’s aspirational profile, and revamped its social media presence. In support of its social media initiatives, Athena introduced brand-supportive storylines, highlighting the Loren Hope approach to design and adding clarity to its unique relationship to its audience. We also began the work of facilitating meetings with key players in the design industry to enhance the brand’s national profile.

In what became a passion project for many at the company, Athena teamed up with Riverwards, a Fishtown-based sustainable grocer that sells locally and responsibly sourced produce, baked goods, meats, cheeses, prepared foods, spices, and more. This small but mighty operation is predicated on bringing high-quality food at affordable prices to everyone in the city and to building a supportive culture around the creation and enjoyment of shared meals. Athena played a critical role at a crucial time in helping the company to manage its growth and its burgeoning regional profile. In addition to performing various social media and communications services for the company, Athena entered into a joint venture partnership that resulted in the creation of new Riverwards-branded product line. Athena’s creative team was intimately involved in the design of the packaging, the sourcing of vendors and distribution partners, the creation of brand product profiles, the development and communication of the company mission, and the growth of goods—both in volume and selection—being brought to market under the new Riverwards Select label.

How can you invest in the future if you don’t understand the present? Rather than focusing on the short-term gyrations of the market, Oppenheimer Funds empowers investors with a broader and deeper understanding of the dynamic forces shaping global growth. In partnership with the WP Brand Studio, I was hired to highlight three mega-trends shaping the world economy in the 21st century: an aging world populace, how educated women are reshaping economies at every stage of development, and the dizzying pace of technology-driven change. 

The Lori Group is a New York-based agency with roots in fashion, design, publishing, and the arts. The creative director approached me for help in crafting language to support a rebranding effort on behalf of Meritas, a private for-profit chain of college-preparatory schools. We worked closely together over the next several weeks to complete seven stand-alone brochures and mailers, a small sampling of which are shown here.  

MEXICO TOURISM 2015 

Capping a highly successful multi-year partnership with Mexico Tourism, the New Yorker Creative Studio produced a six-page section in the magazine's 90th Anniversary Issue, documenting 90 years of cultural achievements in Mexico. The print section, which was complemented by digital and online extensions and a live event, detailed the contributions of Mexican artists, performers, and thinkers to global culture. 

Compared to the rest of south Florida, the New Smyrna Beach Area around Cape Canaveral and the Canaveral National Seashore offers travelers a unique nature-rich respite from crowded beaches, traffic, and miles of sprawl. With a co-branding assist provided by Coast Living, the Foundry @ Time Inc team took what was once a fold-out brochure distributed by the local visitors bureau and transformed it into a 64-page editorial-driven marketing vehicle that highlights the area's most compelling attractions in a way designed to appeal to readers of glossy travel titles. 

To build on the appeal of Scottsdale as something more than a spa and resort destination, the Arizona Tourism board charged Architectural Digest with creating a campaign highlighting Scottsdale’s lesser known cultural attractions. Working closely with Scottsdale’s lively arts community, we opted to drive reader focus to its diverse gallery offerings and artists in residence. A dedicated portion of the section was also devoted to the city’s embrace of modern architecture, beginning with the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and his much-admired Taliesin West.  

As one of the principle branding vehicles for Caesars Entertainment, the quarterly publication of Total Rewards magazine brings the full universe of benefits to top-tier program participants in one light, fresh, and engaging package. Each issue showcases key pillars in the mighty Caesars empire, spanning high-end resort destinations, marquis entertainment, five-star dining, gaming tips and strategies from professional players, program incentives, special offers, and much more. 

Just how important is a good night’s sleep? As the long-form articles I wrote on the subject detail, regular restful slumber not only makes people feel better and stay more alert during the day, it improves creativity, reduces stress, burns calories, and can make marked improvements in overall health and well-being. The three-article custom-content series was written in partnership with the Airweave mattress company and appeared on the New York magazine digital imprint, the Science of Us.

DISCOVER ONTARIO

As part of a long-running partnership highlighting Ottawa, Toronto, and smaller towns and cities in Ontario as prime vacation destinations for Americans, the New Yorker Creative Studio developed a signature look that was replicated with Ontario’s own promotional materials. The four-page section highlighting summer activities was so successful, Ontario followed up with a winter showcase, featuring holiday-themed destinations. 

The desire to create a new and more approachable brand presence for the Bon Appétit brand began in earnest in 2007. Under the leadership of then-Publisher Paul Jowdy, the magazine’s promotional arm contracted a new lowercase title treatment that better reflected the magazine’s casual but stylish approach to food and entertaining.

These efforts were quickly supplemented by live consumer-facing events such as “Uncorked” in Las Vegas, and the Bon Appétit Café in New York. It was essential for all sections and mailers created during this period reinforced the magazine’s new brand identity, underscoring our new hands-on, can-do approach with readers and advertising partners.

RAYMOND JAMES  

Using the humorous tone of Raymond James’ “Life Well Planned" campaign as a jumping-off point, the New Yorker Creative Studio was able to expand and build upon the company’s existing print campaign to give it fresh resonance and vitality. Artist Brett Affrunti, working closely with the copywriting and design teams, drew custom illustrations dramatizing key points in three original character-led narratives, created expressly for readers of The New Yorker. 

One of the challenges facing any epicurean title is appealing to non-endemic advertisers in a way that feels natural. From car makers to electronics to banks and other financial institutions, creating cohesive programs that resonated with sponsors and readers in a way that didn't feel forced was one of the more creative problem-solving challenges we faced at Gourmet. In an effort to bring a liquor partner, a salad dressing advertiser, and a high-tech sponsor together under one umbrella, we created this winning Super Bowl "Big Game Bash" promotion, featuring recipes and original celebrity-chef likenesses.  

For this cooperative in-book section incorporating multiple spirits, our goal was to tell an engaging story that would fit comfortably within Saveur’s editorial focus on authenticity and enduring culinary traditions. Working closely with the designer, we chose an adaptable design that worked across different liquor categories, incorporating history, takeaway facts, and the personalities behind each brand to showcase what made each distinctive and memorable. 

The New Yorker has long-running relationships with many of the world's best-selling authors and the screenwriters who often bring their work to theaters all over the world. Hundreds of best-selling novels, movies, and non-fiction titles began with short pieces in the pages of The New Yorker.  Working closely with authors and the marketing and publicity arms of their publishers— the following is a sampling of the collaborative work between various houses and the New Yorker Creative Studio. 

“Cop Town” by Karin Slaughter – Random House

This promotion generated more than 17,000 reader submissions who were tasked with identifying the location of Karin Slaughter’s new story  setting based on the clues in the illustration, created by artist Brett Affrunti.

“Shotgun Lovesongs” by Nickolas Butler  – St. Martin’s Press

For this widely praised fiction debut from Nickolas Butler, the New Yorker Creative Studio launched a special promotional program called “Writers to Watch,” featuring a full page profile and interview of the author. 

“The Tools” by Phil Stutz and Barry Michels – Random House

Conquering anxiety and self-doubt are the cornerstone accomplishments of an approach to positive self-reinforcement pioneered by authors Phil Stutz and Barry Michels. The word-cloud visual created by our creative team communicates this concept with grace and efficiency. 

“Too Good To Be True” by Benjamin Anastas – Little Brown

Incorporating the book cover into a scene of disorder and mounting despair, this treatment captured the author’s struggles with a bitter heartbreak and a crumbling career—a dramatic representation of this funny and moving memoir by Benjamin Anastas. 

As part of its public-awareness campaign, the Cancer Treatment Centers of America approached the New Yorker Creative Studio to bring its unique approach to care management to New Yorker readers and influencers. Using custom infographics and supplied photography, the creative team broke out the CTCA’s approach in three four-page sections, highlighting their focus on genetic profiling, customized gene therapy, and holistic health, including reparative nutrition and family counseling. 

In a customized extension of HSBC's “Your Personal Economy” brand campaign, The New Yorker Creative Studio contracted and filmed three subjects—New Yorker artist and cancer activist Marisa Acocella Marchetto, venture capitalist and women-in-technology networking advocate Kelly Hoey, and event designer and family entrepreneur Bronson Van Wyck—each of whom spoke of their unique commitments to balancing the demands of work, home, and family in New York. The videos were housed in interactive ad units which featured a slide-show collection of original infographics, illustrating how various elements of personal economy play out in regions across the globe.  

In support of a marketing strategy designed to appeal to both endemic and non-endemic luxury partners, Condé Nast Traveler commissioned the creation of these high-impact sales pieces highlighting the content of upcoming special issues. Working in close collaboration with CNT designers, we created these boldly designed and dramatically oversized units to capture the attention, imagination, and aspirations of clients hungry to reach the magazine's influential audience of global travelers.