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Ethos
A designer's journey doesn't begin with a tool. It begins with a way of seeing the world.
BIOGRAPHY
The Origin Of The Ascent: From the Birthplace of Aviation to the Frontier of Digital Experience
Some places mark you for life.
Dayton, Ohio marked me early.
Born and raised in the shadow of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base — in the city the world knows as the Birthplace of Aviation — the Wild Blue Yonder wasn't a metaphor growing up. It was the atmosphere. The hum of aerospace research was the soundtrack of my childhood. The legacy of the Wright Brothers wasn't history — it was a living standard. A reminder that two determined people from an ordinary city could look at the horizon and decide, with absolute conviction, to go toward it.
But Dayton's DNA runs deeper than flight.
Long before Silicon Valley rewrote the rules of commerce, Dayton was home to NCR — the National Cash Register Company. The original interface of global trade.
Before the touchscreen, before the digital wallet, before the product designer had a name, there were the engineers and craftsmen of Dayton building the mechanical logic that made the modern world possible. Whether you were engineering a 1905 Flyer or perfecting the precision of a mechanical tabulator — the details were everything.
My design sensibilities were forged in the high-contrast energy of the 70s and 80s. The raw, hand-drawn soul of skateboard culture colliding with the precision of aerospace engineering. The neon pulse of early Atari and Nintendo pixels. The larger-than-life storytelling of 80s blockbusters that proved technology could have a heartbeat. These weren't just cultural artifacts — they were proof that even the most technical systems could carry emotional weight. That form and function weren't opposites. That the best design makes you feel something.
To turn that conviction into a craft, I attended The Ohio State University — studying under design legends Noel Mayo, Charles Walshlegger, and Reinhart Butter. They pushed me past the what of design and deep into the why. They taught me that design is a rigorous discipline — a fusion of engineering and art, of logic and soul.
That foundation has shaped every frontier I've crossed since.
The Evolution: A Career Built Across Every Frontier Design Has Crossed
I came up in a different era of design — when typography meant kerning a printed page, when identity systems were built for letterheads before they were built for browsers, when "responsive" wasn't a category yet. That foundation gave me something invaluable: the discipline that comes from working with permanent materials in physical space.
Then the web changed everything. And I evolved with it.
Print became digital. Static became responsive. Brand became product. Product became experience. Experience became system. And now the system itself is becoming intelligent. Each shift required new tools, new methodologies, new vocabularies. None of them required leaving the foundation behind.
That's the through-line of my career — and the philosophy behind Yonder.
I evolved as technology evolved. And I'm continuing in that journey.
The designer who learned to set type by hand learned to grid systems for screens. The designer who built identity systems for print built design systems for products. The designer who navigated the rise of mobile and responsive is the same designer now integrating AI into active workflows. The technology changes. The discipline doesn't. The horizon keeps moving — and so do I.
That's not a pivot story. It's a journey.
And the next frontier is already here.
A CATALYST FOR COLLABORATIVE INNOVATION:
Partnering with Global Brands and Visionary Agencies
The frontier has never belonged to those who waited.
For over two decades I've operated at the leading edge of brand strategy and product design — embedded within global organizations, collaborating with world-class agencies, and navigating the complex terrain where ambitious business objectives meet the humans they're built to serve.
My approach is fundamentally partner-first. I don't parachute in with a predetermined solution. I move into the terrain alongside the team — learning the landscape, understanding the legacy, and charting a course that honors where a brand has been while building boldly toward where it needs to go.
These engagements have spanned the full spectrum of human experience — from high-performance athletics and emerging technology to healthcare, education, energy, and cultural institutions. Nike. PepsiCo. IBM. Microsoft. MGM. Macy's. Lucky Brand. Each one a different terrain. Each one navigated with the same commitment: to find the essence of the story and carry it forward with clarity, craft, and intention.
The common thread across every partnership isn't an industry or a deliverable. It's a belief — that design done with genuine rigor and human empathy creates something that outlasts the moment it was made in.
That's the work. That's always been the work.
EXPERTISE + APPROACH:
A Multidisciplinary Practice Built for Complex Problems and Uncharted Terrain
Great design doesn't live in a single discipline. It lives at the intersection of all of them — and a career like mine has had the privilege of working across every one.
Experience Strategy & Product Design End-to-end UX/UI design and product thinking — from discovery and wireframing through high-fidelity interface execution and Design System architecture. Built for scale. Rooted in human behavior.
Brand Development & Identity Visual identity systems, logo development, and brand strategy that bridge a brand's legacy values with the terrain ahead. Design languages that work as hard in a digital product as they do on a printed page.
AI-Integrated Design Leveraging Claude, ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Midjourney, and Adobe Firefly as active instruments of the creative process — for ideation, UX writing, research synthesis, image generation, and prototype acceleration. Not as a replacement for human creativity. As an amplifier of it.
Creative & Art Direction Visual systems thinking, motion design, and interdisciplinary art direction that bring coherence to complexity — ensuring every touchpoint of a brand experience feels intentional and unified.
Graphic & Communication Design Multi-channel campaigns, communication design, and visual storytelling that move people — across print, digital, and everything in between.
Interdisciplinary Practice From silk-screen prints to analog mixed media — the tactile, the handmade, and the analog have always informed the digital work. Balance is everything.
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS:
Validating Excellence Through Industry Standards
Great design is measured by its impact on the people it serves. It's validated by the peers and institutions that hold the industry to its highest standard.
These recognitions reflect a career-long commitment to craft, strategic clarity, and the belief that there is no separation between doing meaningful work and doing excellent work. From digital product launches to integrated brand campaigns — every accolade here represents a standard worth maintaining and a bar worth raising.
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Sammy:
Technology Award · PepsiCo x Canvas · IBM iX -
Addy:
Silver Addy Award · New York & Company · Alliance Data -
VSCO:
Photographer's Honorable Mention · Soufriere -
RX Club:
Award of Excellence · inVentiv Health -
RX Club:
Award of Excellence · inVentiv Health -
RX Club:
Award of Excellence · inVentiv Health -
RX Club:
Silver Award & Award of Excellence · GSW Worldwide -
RX Club:
Award of Excellence · GSW Worldwide -
In Awe:
Gold Award & Honorable Mention · GSW Worldwide
PUBLISHED WORK:
Contributing to the Global Design Discourse
Design is a public-facing discipline. The work doesn't end at the deliverable — it continues in the conversations it sparks, the methodologies it advances, and the visual narratives it contributes to a broader cultural landscape.
These publications represent moments where the practice extended beyond the studio — into the hands of students, educators, designers, and curious minds navigating their own frontiers.
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Chasing Einstein: Insights & Advice for High Achieving & Gifted Elementary & Middle School Students
©2015
By Alexa & Dan Twibell (Authors)
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LogoLounge
Volume 7: 2,000 International Identities by Leading Designers©2012
By Bill Gardner (Author), Catharine Fishel (Author)
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LogoLounge
Master Library Volume 3: 3,000 Shapes and Symbols Logos
©2011By Bill Gardner (Author), Catharine Fishel (Author)
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LogoLounge:
Master Library, Volume 2: 3000 Animal and Mythology Logos©2010
By Bill Gardner (Author), Catharine Fishel (Author)
Start Your Ascent
The frontier rewards those who move first — and move with purpose.
If you're building a product that needs to scale, modernizing a legacy brand for an AI-driven world, or simply trying to find your North Star in a landscape that won't stop shifting — let's chart the course together.
The horizon is already out there.
Let's go toward it.
