A serious challenge is posed when attempting to encapsulate all the work that has happened in my five years as Design Director at Steppenwolf. Being a small company and a small creative department the “director” aspect of the title is only part of the job. The role of Design Director is part art director, part graphic designer, part illustrator part brand guardian/historian, part photoshoot coordinator, part project coordinator… and the list continues into minutia and tangents. Since displaying and describing the work in its entirety would be an undertaking of epic proportions, I give you this extensive albeit incomplete list:
• 4 renewal campaigns
• 4 acquisition campaigns • 5 holiday campaigns • 44 single ticket campaigns • Approx. 50 program books • Over 132 posters for steppenwolf-specific productions • Over 2,500 print and digital ads • Refresh of brand (2015) • Complete rebrand (2017) |
• Branding LookOut (2016)
• Refreshing LookOut brand (2018) • Over 28 photoshoots • 1 amputated pig arm • 1 monkey • 15 ensemble portrait illustrations • 8 illustrated posters (main series productions) • Branding new flexible membership • 5 Fulfillment Packages |
• Hundreds of postcards and direct mailers
• 1 lobby redesign • 1 30’ neon sign • 3 Brand presentations for The Theatre School at DePaul University • 1 animated video |
Below is the document I created back in 2013 to catalog the brand history from a design perspective. It proved important as the brand was refreshed in 2015 and then became helpful in explaining the complete rebrand which began in 2016 with the design firm Grip. The document continues to grow and modify each year.
Ensemble member Bruce Norris is not a fan of being photographed or filmed. In 2016 this meant we had to get creative when it came time to promote his play Domesticated. The result was one of the most enjoyable projects I've had. I created a hundred-ish illustrations which I then passed off to Steppenwolf Digital Content Producer Joel Moorman who assembled the interview/trailer with sound and motion.