Graphic Designer & Creative Director
Dallas, TX
Creative Director who has been building brands for over a decade, from NYC to Boulder to Toronto to Woodstock and now back home in Dallas.
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Through Herwood Creative, I develop comprehensive brand strategies, create custom apps, and design experiences that prove accessible design is actually the most innovative design. I've had my hands in all kinds of markets, built The Herwood Inn from a old Victorian into a boutique property (0 to 10K followers, sold for 3x investment). Created apps that actually work for real people. Produced events from intimate workshops to 500-person festivals. Designed everything from hospitality interiors to tech startup identities.
My theater background taught me that every element needs to work together and every person needs to feel like they belong. Whether I'm developing a brand system, building an app from scratch, or figuring out how AR can make print more accessible, I'm always asking: does this work for everyone? Because when it does, it just works better.
Currently pursuing my MFA at SCAD because I'm obsessed with emerging tech and how it can make design more human, not less. Based in Dallas but my brain is usually in three time zones at once. I change workspaces throughout the day because fresh environments create fresh ideas, and I genuinely believe beautiful design should be for everyone.
Design that works for everyone just works better.
The Herwood Inn
Founder & Creative Director · Woodstock, NY · 2018–2021
After managing 20+ NYC Airbnbs, my wife and I took those lessons upstate to build the getaway we'd always dreamed of. Every design decision served both guest experience and operations: platform beds, open shelving, custom iPad app. 17K+ organic followers, $0 ad spend, $1.25M exit.
The Full Story
From Housekeeper to Hospitality Founder
Started as a NYC housekeeper while auditioning for theater. Managed 20+ Airbnbs, couldn't renovate, but noticed every improvement opportunity. My wife and I took those lessons upstate to build the getaway we'd always dreamed of.
Platform beds flush with floor (nothing rolls under). Open shelving (guests don't forget items). Mini dishwashers in each kitchenette. "Alice in Wonderland" style instruction graphics. On-site laundry (controlled quality, no missing linens).
Complete brand ecosystem: direct booking site bypassing OTA fees, custom iPad PWA for guest info and local product ordering, content strategy that drove 17K+ organic followers with $0 ad spend. Sold 2021 for $1.25M at 23% cap rate.
The Full Story
After managing 20+ NYC Airbnbs, my wife and I took those lessons upstate to build the getaway we'd always dreamed of. Every design decision served operations.
Platform beds flush with floor. Open shelving so guests don't forget items. Custom iPad PWA for guest info. 17K+ organic followers, $0 ad spend. Sold 2021 for $1.25M.
CEDARS
South Dallas Heritage Platform · SCAD Design Systems · 2025
An inclusive district identity connecting transit, technology, and community storytelling. NFC-enabled plaques let visitors hear oral histories in residents' own voices, no app download required. Design that works for everyone just works better.
Routes & Roots
Designing Change With Community, Not To It
Growing up in Dallas, I watched neighborhoods change, sometimes erasing the stories that made them special. The Cedars is experiencing that tension now: gentrification pressure meets deep Black heritage that deserves amplification, not displacement.
The system meets people where they are. Tap your phone on a brass NFC plaque and hear a community elder tell their story, no app download, no barrier. The PWA works offline with full audio descriptions. Poppins for readability, Georgia for warmth. Every choice serves access.
DART integration is strategic: 50,000+ daily riders, many without cars, see the branded train wrap moving through the city. The station sits at the heart of the district. Transit becomes storytelling infrastructure.
Routes & Roots
Growing up in Dallas, I watched neighborhoods change, sometimes erasing the stories that made them special. This system meets people where they are.
Tap your phone on an NFC plaque and hear a community elder tell their story, no app download. DART integration reaches 50K+ daily riders. Seven touchpoints create a complete heritage journey.
The Herwood Collective
Small Spaces. Bold Impact. Real Community.
The anti-conference for independent hospitality hosts. After building and selling The Herwood Inn, I designed what operators actually need: properties as living labs, NFC passport networking, and a year-round platform with a 10-week course.
The Full Story
From Herwood Inn to Herwood Collective
After building and selling The Herwood Inn, I understood what independent hosts actually need. 79% manage alone. Major conferences cost thousands and cater to big tech and hotel chains. There's no intimate, affordable gathering for operators running 1-10 properties.
So I designed the anti-conference. Properties become living labs where you learn in real spaces, not ballrooms. Local coffee roasters, massage therapists, and tech startups provide services in exchange for direct access to 75 focused operators. No booth competitors, just real conversations.
The NFC passport system gamifies networking while keeping it analog. Phones down, hands on. Complete 8 stamp challenges, win founding membership. Every stamp represents a real interaction: touching fabrics, tasting coffee, learning techniques. Just humans helping humans.
The platform extends beyond the 3-day weekend. A complete 10-week hospitality course, community wins feed, operator directory, and ongoing education. Conferences end, but communities don't.
The Full Story
After building and selling The Herwood Inn, I understood what independent hosts need. 79% manage alone. Major conferences cost thousands and cater to big tech.
Properties become living labs. NFC passport gamifies networking while keeping it analog. Phones down, hands on. The platform extends beyond the 3-day weekend with a 10-week course and year-round community.
arc. pilates
Concept Project · NYC Boutique Studio · 2025
Social content system for a boutique Pilates studio on the Upper East Side. Mat and reformer classes with warm, cheeky energy. Your encouraging best friend who takes the 6 train and happens to be really into core work. Movement is joyful, not punishment. Very "ran to class from the L, grabbed a matcha, still made it."
The Concept
Joyful Movement, Zero Intimidation
The fitness industry loves intensity. Crush it, kill it, earn your rest. arc. takes the opposite approach. What if working out felt like meeting your best friend at the studio after she texted "running late, save my reformer"?
The brand voice is warm, cheeky, a little flirty. Never try-hard. Captions read like texts from someone who genuinely wants you to show up, not guilt you into it. NYC-specific humor that gets the struggle: subway delays, $18 salads, walking 40 blocks because the train wasn't coming anyway.
Visual system uses that signature coral + cream, retro-bubble logo, and lifestyle photography that feels aspirational but attainable. The kind of content that makes you screenshot it and send to your group chat with "us after hot girl walk szn."
The Concept
What if working out felt like meeting your best friend at the studio after she texted "running late, save my reformer"? arc. is warm, cheeky, a little flirty. Never intimidating.
NYC-specific humor that gets the struggle: subway delays, $18 salads, walking 40 blocks because the train wasn't coming. Content that makes you screenshot it and send to your group chat.
DONOTDISTURB
Luxury Refillable Hotel Amenities
Born from running a boutique inn and never finding the right product line: sustainable, vegan, nourishing, bulk-refillable, and beautiful. So I designed what I wished existed.
The Full Story
Designing What I Wished Existed
When I ran The Herwood Inn, I spent years searching for the perfect amenity line. I wanted something sustainable, vegan, genuinely nourishing, available in bulk for refilling, and beautiful enough that guests would photograph it. That product didn't exist. So I designed it.
DONOTDISTURB is named for the universal hotel ritual. The moment you hang that sign, you're choosing rest, self-care, privacy. The brand extends that feeling to every touchpoint: the shower, the sink, the yoga mat, the room itself.
The refill system is core to the concept. Hotels buy bulk refills, bottles stay in rooms permanently. This reduces single-use plastic by 85% compared to traditional hotel amenities. Luxury and sustainability aren't trade-offs, they're the same thing.
Warm, muted packaging feels spa-like without being clinical. The dark charcoal labels read luxury without screaming it. Every product uses simple single-word names: CLEANSE, HYDRATE, WASH, SOFTEN, SOAK, RESET, CLEAR. Calm design for calm spaces.
The Full Story
When I ran The Herwood Inn, I spent years searching for the perfect amenity line. Sustainable, vegan, nourishing, bulk-refillable, and beautiful. That product didn't exist. So I designed it.
DONOTDISTURB is named for the universal hotel ritual. The moment you hang that sign, you're choosing rest and self-care. The refill system reduces single-use plastic by 85%.
Pitch deck due tomorrow? Custom HTML slides with animations, delivered in 24-72 hours.
Hand-coded link in bio pages that actually look like you. No subscriptions.
Let's create together
Let's create together
I'm accepting new client projects. I help DTC brands look good and sell well. That means ads, emails, Shopify storefronts, packaging, full brand systems. The stuff that actually grows a business, not just a mood board.
Brand Strategy & Identity
Visual systems that actually get used. Logos, guidelines, packaging, the whole thing. I make sure your brand looks the same on Instagram, in a Klaviyo email, and on a shelf. I've built brands from scratch and sold one for $1.25M, so I know what it takes to make it stick.
eCommerce & Web
Shopify storefronts, landing pages, and builds that are designed to convert. I also code my own sites in React and Next.js, so I'm not designing things a developer has to figure out later. I can just build it.
Performance Creative
The emails, the ads, and the creative that actually moves the needle. Klaviyo flows, Meta and TikTok ad creative, A/B testing, angle iteration. I care about what performs, not just what looks good in a screenshot.
Packaging & Product Design
The physical stuff that makes a brand feel real. Spirits labels, apparel graphics, NFC authentication campaigns, screenprinted merch, custom patches. If someone can hold it, wear it, or peel it off a bottle, I've probably designed something like it.
Also Good At
Recent Projects
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Recent Projects 〰️
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4,000-word editorial publication exploring gender dynamics in modern culture using work by artist Esmaa Mohamoud . Designed comprehensive magazine layout balancing dense text content with visual breathing room. Created typographic system that maintains readability while supporting the narrative's emotional arc through intentional pacing and hierarchy.
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Produced and branded a community triathlon event with 40+ competitors and hundreds of spectators. Created complete event identity system, managed Facebook livestream production, and produced accompanying podcast series. Led cross-functional team to execute logistics, marketing, and community engagement for this annual Boulder tradition.
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Six-week research sprint developing a wellness app focused on mindful breaks. Conducted 6 in-depth user interviews and 30+ surveys to identify behavioral patterns around rest and recovery. Designed 30+ screens based on research findings, creating an experience that meets users where they actually are, not where wellness culture says they should be.
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Immersive theater app combining live performance with accessibility-first technology. Designed complete digital experience where audiences message actors in real-time, communicate through wall panels, and impact gameplay through team-based challenges. Built AR integration and multi-platform design system prioritizing seamless interaction over tech showcase. Technology enhances rather than dominates the human experience.
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Ongoing embroidery brand combining custom apparel design with personal branding. Develops product lines, manages production workflows, and maintains brand presence across Boulder and Toronto markets. Demonstrates ability to build and sustain creative business operations alongside client work.
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Promotional launchkit for The Public Theater's Suburbia production, transforming traditional theater marketing into a pizza box experience. Designed playbill-as-receipt, scratch-off lottery ticket with QR codes, fold-out poster, and character stickers, all packaged in a pizza slice box with spot varnish detailing. Created memorable, tactile campaign that reflects the play's convenience store setting while maintaining Public Theater's bold visual identity.
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Developed annual brand identity and ongoing campaign materials for Toronto Metropolitan University's Creative Industries union. Created logo system and produced year-long suite of promotional assets including posters, digital graphics, and event materials. Designed flexible visual language that maintained consistency across diverse applications while supporting student engagement and union activities.
Behind the Build
Building The Herwood Inn meant designing every touchpoint of the guest experience, from the booking flow to the brand identity to the events that built community.
Website Design
Custom-built booking experience with property stories and local recommendations
Guest App Design
In-room iPad app for local recommendations and direct product ordering from makers
Apparel & Brand
Branded merchandise and staff apparel that extended the property's identity
Event Design
Community yoga, maker partnerships, and events that turned guests into community
Every design decision at The Herwood Inn supported the larger vision: creating a space where guests felt like locals and locals felt like family.
The Herwood Inn
Your Instagram bio deserves better than a link tree
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Not just a link hub. A mini website built to work as hard as you do.
- Everything in Signature
- Multi-section mini site with navigation
- Custom photography integration
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