I've spent more than thirty years working across advertising, marketing, branding, design, photography, media, technology and education. The job titles have changed considerably over the years. Making things hasn't.

After thirty-plus years, I’ve learned that the most valuable things you accumulate isn’t software, credentials, awards, or even a portfolio.

It’s perspective.

Knowing when an idea is working.
Knowing when it isn’t.
Knowing when to push.
Knowing when to simplify.
Knowing when to listen.

And, occasionally, knowing when to tell someone that the problem isn’t the logo.

OTHER DUTIES AS REQUIRED

The interesting thing about a career like this is that it doesn't really fit neatly into a job title.

I’ve been a creative director, art director, designer, photographer, strategist, producer, educator, entrepreneur, consultant, manager, mentor and, depending on the day, the person who gets called when nobody else knows quite how to make the thing work.

A designer who takes pictures. A photographer who designs. A professor who still makes things. A musician who probably should know better.

I’ve built brands, designed campaigns, written copy, directed creative, photographed people and places, produced work for print and screen, managed teams, solved complicated problems, taught classrooms full of aspiring creatives, designers, and entrepreneurs, and learned more software than I’d care to admit.

I’ve worked in print, radio, television, digital, social, interactive, photography, video, motion and, more recently, generative AI.

I’ve also played guitar in bands.

Because apparently there wasn’t enough going on.

THE COMMON THREAD

Somewhere along the way, I realized that the common thread wasn't advertising, design, photography or teaching.

It was making things.

Good things, preferably.

Useful things.

Interesting things.

Things that communicate, persuade, clarify, entertain, solve, connect, teach, sell—or occasionally just make someone stop and pay attention.

The medium is secondary.

The idea isn’t.

I've been fortunate enough to work with some extraordinary organizations and people along the way—from global brands and national institutions to smaller companies, creative teams and entrepreneurs with little more than a good idea and the willingness to see where it goes.

Some of that work is here.

A lot of it isn’t.

Some of it is confidential. Some of it lives in archives. Some of it happened before everything was photographed, documented and immediately posted to the internet.

And that’s okay.

THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DESK

I'm incredibly passionate about being an Educator. These days, teaching has become an increasingly important part of my work.

I currently develop and teach curriculum across several Canadian post-secondary institutions, covering everything from graphic design, typography and portfolio development to entrepreneurship, business design and generative AI.

I enjoy it enormously.

Teaching keeps me curious.

It also has a useful side effect: it forces you to explain what you know, reconsider what you think you know, and stay reasonably current in an industry that has never been particularly interested in standing still.

And I’m still making things myself.

Still photographing.
Still designing.
Still writing.
Still learning.
Still experimenting.
Still occasionally wondering whether an idea is brilliant or completely ridiculous.

Usually both.

PLOT TWIST

I'm also working toward becoming a professional golfer.


Because apparently after three decades in advertising, design, photography and education, I decided what I really needed was another discipline with an unreasonable learning curve.

The goal is to earn my pro card and eventually teach a game I’ve been playing most of my life.

So no, this isn’t really a reinvention.

It’s more of an evolution.

The experience is still here. The curiosity is still here. The desire to make interesting things is still very much here.

What’s changed is simply the perspective.

I have a much better idea now of what I enjoy, what I’m good at, what I’m still learning, and where I want to spend my time.

That’s a pretty good place to be.

And after all these years, I’m still curious about what’s next.

Which, frankly, is probably the whole point.

For Context Yet, Completely Irrelevant

I’ve spent most of my life making things. Photographs, music, businesses, brands, campaigns, courses, and a statistically unreasonable number of playlists.

Meanwhile, Elsewhere...

THE MOMENT OF CONTACT

Questions?
Comments?
Kudos?
A New Project?

Let's Talk

Have a project, an idea, a question, or an interesting problem that refuses to behave? Something that needs making, fixing, rethinking, photographing, designing, or otherwise coalescing into existence? Make contact. I can’t promise to say yes, but I can promise to have an opinion.

 

Photo Credits:

@ Russ + Daughters, NYC: Rachel Slaven
@ Delphi Beach, Collingwood: Julien O’Malley
@ Gibson + Company Laneway, Collingwood: Julien O’Malley
@ Industrial Park, Newmarket: Justin Lawrence