Powerful & Effective Programs To Build & Support Long-Term Success
Education: Bachelor of Fine Arts, Arizona State University
“Ken has a vivid imagination, and he’s not afraid to use it.” So read the teacher’s note on my third grade report card. Proof, perhaps, that from an early age an excited spirit of curiosity and unconventional creativity was already brewing. Some 15 years later, an exasperated professor would criticize me for thinking “too much.” Happily, some things never change.
Interests & Hobbies
I’m an avid reader, especially of non-fiction and American history. I enjoy writing about design and branding. I’m hungry for trivia. I thrive on lively debate (my wife calls it arguing, but I disagree). In 2010 I began studying judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, to purposely step outside of my comfort zone and try something “not me”. After all, as Yoda said, ”Vader. You must confront Vader. Then, only then, a Jedi will you be.” Though I’m not a Jedi yet, it turns out that mixed martial arts is more “me” than I’d imagined.
Cultural Influences
Americana, pop culture ephemera, science fiction, westerns, cinema, rock ‘n’ roll, Dada art, Modernism, the books I read, the internet, social media, 24 hour news, talking with strangers at coffee shops, differing viewpoints, the fantasy of Frank Frazetta, the vision of Walt Disney, the playfulness of Paul Rand, the structure of Armin Hoffman, the modernism of Alvin Lustig, and the swagger of Han Solo.
My Early Career, A Real Allegory Summing Up the First Eight Years of My Life as A Designer
(apologies to Gustave Courbet)
Armed with a degree, and a cocksure attitude, I entered a dismal job market in 1996. Opportunities were few, and none offered an attractive first step on a promising career path. Rather than take a mediocre job, I took a chance. Swallowing my pride, I agreed to an unpaid, three-month internship with a renowned design firm. As a newly minted graduate it was a humbling concession, but I was betting the experience would be valuable, and would open doors. It would.
I worked my butt off at the design firm during the day, while maintaining a night job to pay the bills. It quickly became clear they were working me like a salaried employee and applying the title “Intern” to avoid paying the salary. I rolled with the punches, because I was gaining tremendous knowledge and skill while immersed in amazing projects. Within a couple months they offered me a full-time, salaried position.
Thus began a rat race of long hours, late nights, agency hopping, and climbing the professional ladder. Six years of award-winning branding and design for clients ranging from hospitality to high tech, pro sports to start-ups, culminated in a high-paying position as Art Director at a prestigious design firm with an enviable roster of high-profile clients and a docket of fun and exciting projects. It was the sort of job, with the sort of firm, that every designer dreams of, but I was dreaming of something more. Something more challenging, more rewarding, and more fulfilling. More on that later.
Those early years, leading to the dotcom boom, people in my industry were making big money, or thought they would be once their client’s IPO rocked Wall Street. Then the bubble burst, and a lot of people lost their jobs, and a lot more. One shocking day I hurriedly dialed 9-1-1 as a 48-year-old colleague lay dying of a heart attack on the conference room floor, his last earthly utterance an apology for his files not being in better order.
Through it all, lying, cheating, backstabbing, substance abuse, greed, incompetence, sexism, racism and bigotry abounded – to my naive surprise. I labored under Creative Directors so narcissistic that they probably saw their own likenesses in tortillas. At one firm, a boss with a raging cocaine habit ran off with the fiancee of our biggest client. They got married… then divorced. The firm folded, and so did the client’s business.
On the flip side, I witnessed acts of quiet kindness from another boss extending a helping hand to an employee suffering from personal loss. I admired a determined woman making difficult decisions to keep her business afloat after a painful divorce. Along the way, I met and collaborated with many talented people, some of whom remain good friends and mentors.
Through these experiences I determined how I wanted to conduct myself professionally, and what I wanted from my career.
