Brian Lueck Email & Phone Number

Chicago, Il

In late 2018, I joined Orbit Media Studios, an award-winning web design agency based in Chicago. In my time at Orbit, I've been fortunate to have a variety of responsibilities on a variety of projects for a variety clients. Primarily, on a project-to-project basis, I'm responsible for the overall look & feel of the client's website, taking into account their existing brand guidelines (or in some cases, creating a whole new look & feel from scratch when no brand guidelines exist), while being mindful of UI/UX best practices and ADA Accessibility Standards. Our approach at Orbit is pretty collaborative throughout the life cycle of any given project, so I can be pretty heavily involved in the early stages, collaborating with our copywriters to fine-tune the sitemap and overall architecture, as well as create new wireframes that support some preliminary decisions about content strategy and layout. Depending on the project, I may also be pretty involved with front-end development, helping bring to life the newly-created designs (built in Sketch or Figma). On larger projects, ones where I'm working with a dedicated developer (or two), I've been leaning more heavily on Codepen to better articulate my design and interactivity intentions... I find building modular design components in Codepen can be a great asset when communicating with developers.While at Orbit, I've taken on other ancillary roles... On a few projects, clients have been interested in rebranding themselves in addition to building a new website, so I've been responsible in crafting a couple of identities. I've also served as a mentor to our newer designers, and even acted as interim Creative Director while our actual CD was on paternity leave. My responsibility consisted of making sure the team had everything they needed, that projects were assigned when needed.Worth noting, I've been working remotely since the pandemic began, and I have felt extremely proficient and productive this entire time.

Chicago

In early 2014, our radio stations were sold again, this time to Cumulus Media, one of the countries largest broadcasting companies. My department, the Digital Department, stayed intact during the transition to the new company, and my role remained the same: I lead a versatile creative department that developed custom design and content solutions that strengthened the radio station brands and complimented the on-air product for flagship Chicago radio stations 101WKQX (WKQX-FM), 97.9 The Loop (WLUP-FM), 94.7 WLS-FM (WLS-FM), and WLS-AM 890. Our work included branding, print design, web design & development, UX design, web content strategy & execution, video, and social media integration. I collaborated with other departments (Programming, Promotions, and Sales) to conceptualize and develop content strategies to craft meaningful audience experiences for my team to design and deliver. An example of one of these experiences was our Christmas concert series for 101WKQX called "The Nights We Stole Christmas", which was a 5 night concert series at the Aragon Ballroom. My team created the logo for the event, and all the supporting print marketing (posters, lanyards, stage backdrops, booth signage, etc), as well as all the online promotion (custom microsite with sponsorship opportunities) and social media promotion. We also had a small videography team dedicated to building hype before the concerts, but also responsible to capturing the events for sponsor-able recap videos that lived on the website and on YouTube.Although my role was management, direction, and mentorship, I took pride in a hands-on approach to various aspects of design and development, ensuring that my team meets accelerated deadlines that are common in the fast-paced world of radio.

Chicago, Il

In 2011, Merlin Media bought our radio station properties from Emmis Communications, so we quickly transitioned to the new company, and had our work cut out for us as we operated much like a start-up company. Luckily, my Digital Department from Emmis remained mostly intact, so there was a lot of continuity during some turbulent times.During these 3 years with Merlin Media, I managed the Digital Department, a design team that produced all the visual elements used for cross-platform promotion and audience engagement to enhance our radio station brands... similar to my previous role, however, now we had radio stations in Chicago, in New York, and in Philadelphia! So, my department was pretty busy creating all sorts of designs and branding for 3 major markets.From idea generation, to design, to final production, I supervised the implementation of new branding, printed promotional materials, web design & development, UX Design, web content strategy, CMS training, website support, email marketing strategy, design & deployment, social media integration, photography & video direction, video editing & production, and some video animation. These few years at Merlin were chaotic, yet amazing, because I learned so much about web design and building responsive websites using WordPress. I learned a lot about web development, and video, all of which fed into my hunger to grow as a design professional. These Merlin years really stretched me into becoming a solution-based professional, meaning, rather than reading a brief and saying, "no, I've never done that before, I can't help you", instead, I learned to read a brief and say, "I've never done this specific task before, however, I have done a variety of very similar tasks, and I'm confident that based on this experience, we can collaborate together to create an amazing solution!"Merlin helped grow my confidence as a design professional and design leader, and showed me that I was capable of whatever I set my mind to.

Chicago, Il

In 2010, I was promoted to Digital Manager and I supervised the Digital Department, a team of designers that produced cross-platform promotion & online content for Chicago's flagship radio stations Q101 (WKQX-FM) and 97.9 The Loop (WLUP-FM). We collaborated with multiple in-house departments (Programming, Promotions, Sales) to develop strategies to execute design work for revenue-driven programs to enhance our brands, build audience engagement, and attract large corporations through countless advertising opportunities. My role consisted of idea generation for print, web, video, and social media, and also included the responsibility of art direction, web design & content strategy, CMS training, print design, social media integration for our radio stations... our department effectively acted as an in-house design firm.

Chicago, Il

In 2008, I took a job with Emmis Communications, an award-winning broadcasting company with clusters of radio stations throughout the country. While working at Emmis, my primary focus was web design for Chicago's iconic radio stations Q101 (WKQX-FM) and 97.9 The Loop (WLUP-FM), where I learned how to work in an extremely fast-paced environment, building custom online solutions that bolstered the brands and drove revenue & ratings, oftentimes creating solutions for numerous LARGE global brands that advertised on our stations.I collaborated with other designers, to conceptualize, design, and develop website experiences that resonated with our fans. On a day-to-day basis, I also supported various departments and on-air personalities in the development and execution of vital website content.

Chicago, Il

I began my career in 2005, and spent several years learning print design, and branding & identify while working at Grady Campbell, an award-winning firm led by Kerry Grady. My team and I worked on compelling work for well known clients like Cars.com and MB Financial Bank, as well as for lesser known (yet tremendously successful) clients like Novum Structures and Amyris Biotechnologies. My role involved conceptualization and design for a variety of projects like branding, identity standards, stationery, advertising, signage, brochures, exhibit design, and even web design. In my time with GC, I developed a thorough design process, from research, to idea generation, to prototyping, to final production. I gained experience in collaborating with numerous printers, photographers, and illustrators to produce compelling design and communication for our clients. I also gained valuable experience in engaging with clients, I was exposed to productive dialogs in which we learned the client objectives through a series of thoughtful questions. At GC, I feel I learned what great customer service looked like, what it meant to truly listen to a client and their needs, and to identify what would make a project successful.

Bachelor Of Fine Arts, Visual Communication

After spending the first 2 years of my college career at Judson University, I transferred to Northern Illinois University (NIU) because I.

Visual Communications

I began my college career at Judson, studying in the Department of Art, Design, and Architecture. While at Judson, I was exposed to a lot.