A design wizard
After years in large advertising agencies surrounded by creative talent and comprehensive services, I noticed something: many clients simply needed smart, strategic design without the overhead of a full agency team.
My favorite professional experience came at a small agency housed in a charming carriage house. Working directly with clients—hearing their needs firsthand and delivering results personally—proved immensely satisfying.
In 2000, I left agency life behind to establish my own design studio. My mission: provide intelligent creative solutions for businesses, non-profits, and startups that need agency-quality work without agency-level fees.
With more than 30 years of advertising and marketing design experience, modern AI tools, and a network of talented collaborators, I deliver fast, strategic projects tailored to your brand and messaging. From brochures and banners to websites and social media, I help organizations build their brands without breaking their budgets.
What could we create together?
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Concept, meticulous design development, and comprehensive project management for a wide range of print advertising materials are essential components of our approach. This includes crafting distinctive logos, innovative packaging solutions, engaging exhibition graphics, and various types of promotional collateral, all intended to effectively promote and enhance your brand's visibility in the marketplace.
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100 Club of Buffalo
Allentown Art Festival, Inc.
Alliance Animal Hospital
Avery Dennison
Bertholon-Rowland
Buffalo & Erie County Workforce Investment Bureau
Buffalo Center for Arts and Technology
BioEconomy Partners
Buffalo Emergency Associates
Buffalo Heritage Unlimited
Buffalo Niagara Business Ethics Association
Buffalo Olmsted
Parks Conservancy
Buffalo Museum of Science
The Buffalo News
Buffalo Niagara Business Ethics Association
Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra
Buffalo Seminary
The Burchfield Penny Art Center
Buffalo Public Schools
TimeCruiser Computing
Constellation Brands
Canopy of Neighbors
Castellani Art Museum
Challendon Vineyards, England
Chamber of Commerce of the Tonawandas
Chason Development
Child & Family Services
Childrens Guild Foundation
Cliffstar Corporation
The Cofeld Judaic Museum of Temple Beth Zion
Columbus McKinnon Corporation
Coordinated Care
Delaware North
ECIDA
EcoVerde Compost
Eye Care ad Vision Associates
ElderWood Senior Care
Electronic Management Services
The Empire Grill
First Niagara Bank
Fisher-Price
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Graycliff
Forest Lawn Cemetery
Ford Dealers of WNY
The Foundation for Jewish Philanthropies
Gardens Buffalo Niagara
Garden Walk Buffalo
Girls Inc. of Houston
The Gow School
Hispanics United of Buffalo
Horizon Health Services
Hospice Buffalo
HSBC Bank
Keenan Communications
Joy Kuebler, Landscape Architect
Kodak
Lumsden McCormick CPAs
Maid of the Mist
Marrano Homes
Masiello, Martucci, Calabrese & Assoc.
Medaille College
Mercedes Benz of Buffalo
Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor Commission
Katherine Mohney, Morgan Stanley
Mt. Calvary Cemeteries
NCCC
National Fuel
Nektar Martini Bar
Nichols School
Niagara Falls Bridge Commission
Niagara Frontier Veterinary Society
Niagara University
NOCO BioProducts
North Shore Country Day School, Chicago, IL
Open Air Autobus
Paper Earth Company
The Park School
Progressive Direct Marketing
Read to Succeed
Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center
Three Chords Bourbon
The Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site
Tipton Mills Beverages
Toro Tapas Bar
Trinity Episcopal Church
Uncle Jumbo Vodka
UB Art Galleries
UB Engineering
UB Information Technology
UB Family Medicine
UB Law
UB Baldy Center
UB Research
UB School of Social Work
UNYTS
Urban Roots Cooperative Garden Market
Verdi & Company
Visit Buffalo Niagara
Westminster Presbyterian Church
World Trade Center Buffalo Niagara
Xerox
Young Audiences of WNY
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American Advertising Federation's Buffalo Chapter's David I. Levy Award for outstanding achievement and service in the communications industry
Recipient of the Frank Lloyd Wright Graycliff Diamond Award for the that has had a dedication, contributions and impact on the mission of the Graycliff Conservancy, stewards of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home and house museum.
International Garden Tourism Promotion Award for work on Buffalo’s National Garden Festival from Toronto’s International Garden Tourism Conference.
The Buffalo News Creative Advertising Awards various awards (including Best of Show)
Inclusion in LogoLounge 2, 2,000 International Identities by Leading Designers representing the best logo designs of the year as judged by a panel of top international designers.
Two logos featured in Logo Lounge’s Master Library Series, Typography & Enclosures (Fall 2011)
Logo featured in Logo Lounge’s Master Library Series, Shapes & Symbols (July 2011)
Inclusion in PRINT Magazine Design Annual
Brainstorm/Ad Club of Buffalo Awards, various awards
Financial Institute Marketing Awards, various awards
Art Directors/Communicators of Buffalo (ADCB) various awards
Print House Craftsman, various awards
Professional Communicators of WNY, various awards
WNY Awards for Creative Excellence, various awards
ADCB Special Service Award
Awards show judging: Binghamton Ad Club Genesis Awards and the Albany Ad Club Nori Awards
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The Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens (current board member)
Gardens Buffalo Niagara (GBN) (past board member, current committee chair and emeritus board member)
The GBN Garden Art Sale (current chair)
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Graycliff, a house museum (past vice president, board member)
Garden Walk Buffalo (past president, current committee member)
Castellani Art Museum Advisory Committee (past member)
Visit Buffalo Niagara Marketing Advisory Committee (past member)
Art Directors Communicators of Buffalo, now AAF Buffalo (past president)
Forever Elmwood Design Review Committee, now the Elmwood Village Association (past member)
Organized and co-curated exhibition U.S. Poster Design since 1980 at the Castellani Art Museum of Niagara University
Collaborated with photographer Milton Rogovin’s Windows on Main Street project
Organized a live painting event/exhibit with caricaturist Philip Burke at the Castellani Museum
Committee member, Underground Railroad Exhibition at the Castellani Art Museum at Niagara University
Past Associate Professor of Advertising Design, Daemen College
Urban Roots Cooperative Garden Market, (past marketing advisory committee)
Speaker on horticultural tourism and garden design.
Want more? Read this interview from Buffalo Spree magazine, or here in Buffalo Business First, or even in this video produces for the Burchfield-Penney Art Center.
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Creative Supervisor, Mower, Buffalo, NY
Sr. Art Director, Mitchell DeTine & Neiler, Buffalo, NY
Sr. Art Director, Eric Mower and Associates, Buffalo, NY
Sr. Art Director, Eric Mower and Associates, Rochester, NY
Art Director, Eric Mower and Associates, Buffalo, NY
Art Director, Levy King & White, Buffalo, NY
Assistant Art Director, Ellis Singer Advertising, NY
Graphic Designer, EZ Graphics
State University College at Buffalo, B.S. Graphic and Advertising Design
My books
My most recent book is Harry Potter, Herbology Magic: Botanical Projects, Terrariums, and Gardens Inspired by the Wizarding World (2023) with Jodi Revenson for Warner Brothers Entertainment. Inc. and published by Insight Editions. It’s packed with gardening tips, wizarding-world inspired terrariums, and enchanting uses for a wide range of plants. It’s an indispensable guide that would make Professor Sprout proud.
My first book was Buffalo Style Gardens: Create a Quirky, One-of-a-Kind Private Garden with Eye-Catching Designs (2019) written with garden writer Sally Cunningham, for St. Lynn’s Press of Pittsburgh, PA. It’s a garden design book featuring the funky, quirky and fun gardens created the gardeners of Buffalo.
In addition, my garden photography has been featured prominently in a variety of renowned national magazine publications, as well as in several notable and acclaimed books including Cultivating Garden Style (Timber Press, 2014), Garden Up! (Cool Springs Press, 2011), Edible Spots & Pots (Rodale, 2014), and The Urban Garden (Cool Springs Press, 2022).