As the President and Founder of Birch Design Group, a dynamic branding, website development, and design agency headquartered in the greater Chicago area, I lead a team of talented professionals in delivering exceptional creative solutions to our clients.In this role, I am responsible for setting the strategic direction of the company, driving growth, and ensuring the highest quality of work. I leverage my expertise in brand strategy, web development, and design to create innovative and impactful solutions that help our clients achieve their business objectives.Over the years, our clients have received:- Strong expertise in brand strategy, web development, and design principles- Exceptional project management skills, with the ability to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines- Excellent communication and presentation skills, with the ability to effectively convey complex ideas to both clients and team members- Strong business acumen, with a deep understanding of market trends and client needs- Demonstrated ability to build and maintain relationships with clients and key stakeholders- Entrepreneurial mindset with a passion for creativity and innovationAdditionally, we have a deep understanding that innovation is the cornerstone of achieving separation from your competition and business success. With that, we have developed cutting-edge Augmented Reality sales tools that enable our clients to showcase their products or services in an immersive and interactive way. These tools allow potential customers to visualize products in real-world environments, virtually try them out, and experience their features and benefits firsthand.If you are seeking a visionary leader with a passion for delivering exceptional branding, website development, design and innovative solutions for your business, I invite you to connect with me. I’d love to chat and learn more about your business. Increasing your creative vision is what we’re all about.

My experience over the years is now funneled into Birch Design Group. Business identity, brand development, website design and development, product ideation and design, UX/UI, promotional ideation, packaging design and development, concept illustration and finished illustration. Plenty of skills and experience to take on any creative assignment. Great working relationships are producing outstanding results!

Proven leader with 20+ years of design innovation and creative marketing experience, skilled in several critical design disciplines including concept ideation, illustration, and brand design. With extensive skills managing every aspect of marketing promotions with exemplary execution capabilities, I take projects from concept to completion while adopting new processes, implementing cutting-edge technologies in the digital marketplace, and partner with industry leading brands who thrive on being first to market with new ideas.As an award winning designer, I use the Adobe Creative Suite of tools such as Illustrator, Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe XD and InDesign, as well as quick sketch modalities to convey on-trend visual concepts with clarity. A detail oriented creative designer with strong decision making skills, I maintain a keen eye towards consistency with a results oriented approach to ensure high-quality output, reinforcing client confidence in reaching their marketing objectives.My passion is to deliver striking results consistently on time and within budget. My skills leading innovative digital marketing campaigns, handling confidential IP assets, developing brand identity, designing content for promotional gaming, and directing art content have proven successful for Fortune 500 companies year after year. For a sample of past projects, please visit my portfolio in the "Featured" link above.Specialties include:- Creative leadership- Ideation- Design- Illustration- Branding- Packaging- Promotions- Character development- App development- Web development

Primary Client: McDonald'sLead creative for more than 130 licensed partner promotional games per year. Delivered skillful integration of confidential intellectual property for a long list of companies including Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks and Universal, on time and within budget. Effectuated change within Creata to expand business from a product supplier to include a digital marketing business division, growing the digital department from 4 to 17 employees with disciplines including production, animation, and 3D modeling.• Happy Meal App – Led concept ideation teams, translating partner content into compelling digital marketing experiences. Supervised, directed and approved all animation of partner confidential intellectual property, resulting in consistent account growth, doubling project allocations in less than three years.• McPlay – Created branding for the McPlay app with implementation across all McDonald’s digital app media and print campaigns. Established the UX/UI to incorporate industry leading object recognition scanning functionality. Managed complex game integration to accommodate Apple and Google Play restrictions while complying with strict COPPA regulations. Led the development of three versions of McPlay over its successful five-year run, achieving top app position, year after year. • Happymeal.com – Designed and produced original games. Directed photography, retouching and directing toy demonstration videos. Integrated code enhancements.• McWorld – Built an innovative industry leading virtual world from the ground up as the lead creative. Designed customizable avatars in interactive personal spaces with inventory capabilities with an impressive six years of success.• Adult Promotions – Directed a multi-disciplinary creative team to produce on-trend adult and young adult marketing campaigns. Designed packaging, POP and merchandising toolkit for inter-agency use that won the Reggie Award for best international/global promotion.

Primary Clients: Chevron Cars/McDonald'sWorked closely with the lead Creative to ensure all production and marketing objectives were achieved. Leveraged a collaborative relationship with all copywriters and account executives to maintain deadlines and deliverables. Responsible for managing and directing all outside vendors and freelancers.• Chevron Cars - I oversaw brand consistency across multiple platforms for Chevron Cars Promotional Toys, ensuring proper evolutionary changes to the campaign. I supervised product photography operations and all retouching activities. Designed the in-pack brochure and partnered with copywriters to maintain brand specific language. Engaged with the marketing team to present themed products for upcoming programs. Partnered with the engineering teams to develop innovative functions and designs for toy concepts. Prioritized design requests and workload among internal designers and external vendors to maximize efficiency.• McDonald's - Built a collaborative working relationship with the team to produce promotional marketing games. Delivered clear art direction to meet clients marketing objectives, production requirements, clear and compelling call to action, all delivered in an actionable, on trend design. Designs were applied to game pieces, packaging, saver boards, POS, and promotional events.

Illustrator, storyboard and animatic artist servicing Chicago and Detroit advertising agencies. Worked alongside local production companies for the filming and creation of animatics. Bronze Medal Winner - Los Angeles Society of Illustrators