Emotionally resonant design starts and ends with great storytelling. Everything I create tells a story, whether it's a logo, an album cover, or a visual treatment for a video game. Color theory, shape, and composition permeate throughout my work and are all intended to service the larger story and goal of each piece. Design choices are motivated by relatable concepts that uniquely and simply connect with each viewer or user on the appropriate emotional level.

Each example included here all follow this philosophy, with diverse audiences and stories that span the emotional spectrum, from logo design to short films to thought leadership.

For Microsoft Design Day 2017, I put together a presentation that put focus on our Creative Process at Microsoft, highlighting an opportunity for more investment in Emotional Connection, particularly early in production. Citing Film and Video Game development as an example, I presented a case study illustrating how crafting an emotional flow into your creative process early on can build a stronger relatable connection with the customer, as well as accelerate internal alignment.

Click on the image for more detail.

Creative Director: Mike Harnisch | Visual Designer: Vemmy Zhao

Tasked with rebranding "Windows Experiences" to "Windows NEXT," I collaborated closely with team leadership and our talented Visual Designer, Vemmy, to develop a new look and feel for our organization, without distancing ourselves from other groups within Windows. Vemmy's "Tangram" concept, with its modular simplicity, hit all of the right notes and has quickly become ubiquitous across our organization.

Logo Design offers some of the most challenging and rewarding work a designer can undertake. I aim to keep things simple and easily identifiable while also providing a deeper meaning that becomes richer over time. Each logo designed for Cool Your Jets is created with these tenets in mind.

Click on the above image to explore the various logos I have designed since 2010.