In 1995, Steve started his career at Arias Associates, Palo Alto, immediately after graduating from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a B.S. in Applied Art & Design. He worked under Mauricio Arias and Karin Byrant on the redesign of the look-and-feel of Pottery Barn, which won the firm San Francisco Ad Club’s 1997 “Agency of the Year“ award. Steve also contributed to the firm's award-winning work for Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts.
In mid-1997, Steve became senior designer of Arias Associates, directing a team of three other designers and managing the daily affairs of the office. One of the highlights of this experience was developing a 30-page brochure announcing the $50-million renovation of the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. The piece received numerous awards and was featured in several top design publications, including Graphis Brochure.
Having
started his career in the retail and hospitality sector, Steve brings
a fresh approach to his technology work,
softening the often-sterile
nature of the high-tech world. Steve believes a good identity should
have both a contemporary
elegance and a lasting appeal. With excellent studio and typography
abilities, as well as skills in multimedia development,
Steve strives for a
balance of strong conceptual thinking and
solid execution of design
fundamentals.
Steve's technology work began as art director of branding for marchFIRST, where his creative work was influential to the development of the new Alta Visa brand identity, launched in 2000. He also designed the identity and co-led the design of the Web site for Work.com, a joint-venture between exite@home and Dow Jones. Later, as senior designer for Apple Computer, Steve was responsible for maintaining Apple’s offline presence in their new concept stores. His collateral, environmental graphics and packaging work was approved directly through Steve Jobs and helped Apple successfully launch the stores.
Since venturing out on his own, Steve’s clients have included Cisco, Siebel, Rasvia Systems, Entrisphere and the San Francisco Film Arts Foundation. Steve’s identity and Web site designs for Rasvia Systems helped them launch the company and secure a second round of funding. For Entrisphere, Steve's redesign of their logo and Web site moved the company from their previous "start-up" image to a more established telecom company.
Steve
maintains strong connections with the Bay Area design community as a
regular participant/winner
of the Western Art Director’s Club’s annual show, and as
a long-time member of AIGA. He often works with his wife Dawn, a copywriter.
They have a daughter, Phoebe, and a beagle, Rudy.