Iconic yacht builder Bertram had suffered from growing irrelevance in the
luxury yacht community. With new leadership at the helm, our team at Spark was
tasked with reinvigorating the brand through the launch of their newest model, the 35.
Their new positioning, Forever Original, gave them permission to move forward
in a way that offers reverence to the past, but is not beholden to it.
The boats and brand offer an attention to detail that mirror each other, giving
enthusiasts the currency through which to engage with one another and Bertram.
Produced as Creative Director at Spark, 2017
Photography by Louis Meschino and Patrick Guyer
Shifting established perceptions is a tough endeavor for anyone, especially
an organization with as many stakeholders as the University of Florida. Known
for decades as a “football school,” our team was brought on to help push them
into the top 10 in the US News and World Report rankings. To do this, we needed
to expand the conversation to include more than athletics, but not shut it out
completely. The University’s excellence touches a number of areas, and we just
needed to connect those dots for those on the outside.
Over the course of the multi-year Gator Good campaign, we featured the people
making change at a global level and those impacted by their efforts.
Each year featured a series of specific areas of focus targeted audience materials
to not only give their ambassadors new success stories to talk about but show their
peers the breadth of their impact to move the rankings needle. The result has been
a jump from #14 to #8 and now the University has its eye on top 5.
Gator Good Year 1
The campaigns featured multiple points of interaction, including a website
to house the stories and encourage fans to participate as part of the larger
Gator Nation network.
Gator Good Year 2
As each year was being crafted, further peer-specific messaging and opportunities
were developed to deepen the well of relevant content when it came time to vote.
Further participation tools were included on the website and social media for the
die-hard ambassadors and others who have been affected by the University’s
people to broaden the dialogue.
UF alumni and WWE superstar Titus O’Neil also joined the fold, having gained
notoriety for his humanitarian gestures for underserved groups. He became the
greatest Gator Good ambassador and brought along some other famous friends to
join him. The result was greater earned media impressions and engagement from
additional audiences brought in from other outlets.
Gator Good Year 3
In its third year, the aperture widened even further, with paid placements in other
university publications asking to collaborate in shared areas of specialty. This
included conference support where UF’s experts were making appearances.
Additionally the overall content theory for the campaign and website itself focused
on seeding and aggregating content from across the Internet. Rather than starting
its own conversation space, the University sought to lead the conversations where
they were already happening, again bringing a new group of constituents who
believed in the causes UF’s researchers were impacting. We not only sourced and
built all the content, but also developed the plan to connect the dots with
these existing outlets.
The PSA approach in this third year also focused more on the specifc causes,
while the site itself and the accompanying content plan seeded the stories of impact.
Biodiversity PSA
Brain Development PSA
Produced and designed as Associate Creative Director and Creative Director at 160over90, 2014-2017
Additional creative direction by Greg Ash.
MetLife was looking to enter the space but with a twist to help
people make lasting change. To launch their emotional finance app,
Upwise, MetLife wanted to break out of their typical look-and-feel
but still remain true to their brand.
Produced as Design Director at Mythic, 2021.
Designer Josh Malchuk. Copy by Mark Fisher.
Welcome to weird! The Hippodrome is known as Gainesville, Florida’s eclectic
little theater, never giving you quite what you expect. When they sought out a more
appropriate identity to align with their sensibilities, we built this play on
expectations. Taking a cue from their name, we built a stoic looking stallion in
motion with a slight twist. They loved how at first blush, it seemed like an ordinary
horse, but upon further inspection, your assumption was completely subverted, just
like the experience at their shows.
We also built a graphic and messaging language for them to use in promotional materials that keeps the
same sense of irreverence but unites all the varied programming they offer.
Produced, designed and illustrated as Associate Creative Director at 160over90, 2014
As the Zeal Optics brand leaned into the snow sports native to its home base in
Boulder, Colorado, they sought to layer on a visual approach that reflected its
local design sensibility.
Produced as designer Quaker City Mercantile, 2011
Creative direction by Steve Grasse, Ron Pushkar
Photography by Michael Dwornik