Experiential Design
Spotswood Cultural and Heritage Sites
As a member of Spotswood's Cultural and Heritage Commission, I started my involvement as a part of the team that organized a celebration of our town's centennial in 2008. My role has continued to expand since then in a variety of ways:
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The creation of a permanent brick memorial at our town municipal building;
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The design of telephone pole flags that decorate our town's major streets;
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Two historic monument markers - one for the first railroad in the United States and one for the paper mill that created the paper for the currency used for the Continental Army;
NYC POPS Concept
In the Spring of 2019, New York City held an open competition to redesign the signage for its Privately Owned Public Spaces locations. Originally developed in the 1970's by famed branding experts Chermayeff and Geismar, the city thought the existing signage was dated and was looking for a refresh.
My solution was to create what I named the "POPS Path" solution, using two graphic indicators that are common today and easily recognizable - the "path" generated by GPS and online map sites, and the "pin" symbol also used with map locators to establish a destination. The arrow was flexible in that it could be pointed in any direction around the radius, and the path was designed to be easy to read at a distance of 50 feet.
Unfortunately, over 265 entries were received and the committee did not choose my solution as a finalist - although in seeing what they did pick, I do believe that my solution was possibly more useful in the long term than the ones that were ultimately selected.
LEGO self-portrait
Originally created as a project during my pursuit of my MFA in Design, this LEGO self-portrait was eventually accepted as part of a exhibit called "The Art of the Brick" at the Discovery Center on 44th street and Broadway in New York. Originally designated to be on display for about two months, I received a request to extend its presence at the exhibition for several more weeks, which I gladly agreed to (in exchange for more free tickets).
Scranton Electric City Exhibit maquette
Another MFA concept for a class with Keith Godard, this model was to be an exhibit piece for the historic Scranton "Electric City" sign seen in the heart of the city atop the old Board of Trade building.
NBA Store Window displays
For about three years, I had both the pain and pleasure of being the art director in charge of the window displays for the NBA store at its original location on Fifth Avenue and 53rd street in New York City.
I was given a generous budget and complete creative freedom, but the development of the windows was in addition to my other responsibilities and required frequent on-site visits to the store and the fabrication shops that made all of the models and props. Installation would take place at night after the store closed, and we would often work from around 7:00 at night to 7:00 in the morning to get everything installed and secured in time for the morning crowds. A great experience, but exhausting!
The images seen here are from the two main windows and display the set up that promoted the first WNBA All-Star game in 1997. The windows took about two months to design and fabricate in two scenic shops. They include 25-foot tall WNBA players in the streets of NYC, a 10-foot tall 3-D sculpture of the All-Star Game logo, one of the first LCD video displays with an early DVD player in the Times Square tower, and backlit signage. Not all of the windows were as elaborate as this one, but a couple came close!