Approach

Creative Direction as a Practice

My practice connects understanding the brief with directing the work. I establish a clear idea, give teams criteria for developing it, and guide decisions as the project moves across disciplines and into delivery. Five practices shape that process.

Read the Context

Understand people, culture, client ambition, and constraints before defining form.

The Library: shared seating, books and a setting for everyday exchange.

See it in Tinder HQ, 8800 Sunset

Cultural discovery identified different ways people connect, giving the workplace a basis in behavior.Tinder HQ, 8800 Sunset
For TurboTax, the experience of receiving help became a basis for design decisions: a visible welcome, thoughtful intake and protected conversations.Intuit TurboTax Retail and Flagship

Define the Direction

Establish a clear idea and decision criteria strong enough to guide or reject options.

Curved aluminum tube bench resting on speckled stone blocks against a brushed metal wall.

See it in LSD Running

Five schemes were synthesized around shared criteria for curation, craft and expertise, and transparency.LSD Running
Distinct positions connected the property to neighborhood life, tenant hospitality or retail activity, giving the client alternatives to evaluate.Watt Plaza

Connect the Scales

Translate the idea across architecture, interior environments, brand, behavior, and detail.

Orange modular seating and pale timber benches beneath a circular ceiling light in the GSO University gathering space.

See it in Google GSO

One direction connects recruitment messaging, continued education, GSO's first learning space, and tools for operators and facilitators.Google GSO
Naming, architecture and program shape a visitor sequence from audience to participant.Google Room 98

Guide the Team

Give specialists shared criteria and room to contribute.

Shared criteria give people the confidence and responsibility to make good decisions together.

The finished wood stair at Bellevue with a lounge seating group at its base.

See it in OpenAI, Bellevue and Tokyo

Shared hospitality criteria guided the team's response to client feedback while giving Bellevue and Tokyo distinct local expressions.OpenAI, Bellevue and Tokyo
Sketches and critique guided the NY and LA teams as a shared Weave workflow supported exploration.Watt Plaza

Protect the Intent

Navigate delivery pressures without losing the defining creative idea.

A strong direction gives the team a basis for adapting to budget, schedule and technical constraints while preserving the intended experience.

See it in Tinder HQ, 8800 Sunset

When work became distributed, I led a redesign around team working styles while keeping connection as the organizing idea.Tinder HQ, 8800 Sunset
A coastal direction guided materials, furnishings and indoor-outdoor relationships through development and construction.Kilroy Oyster Point

Tools

AI and design judgment

I use AI-assisted visualization to explore alternatives and make early choices easier to discuss. The value lies in the design judgment around it: defining the question, selecting references, evaluating outputs, and translating promising directions into work the team can test and develop.

See the Watt Plaza study

The four lenses

Fields of application

Five creative practices guide how I work. These four fields describe where that practice takes form, connecting organizational ambition with places, interactions and brand expression.

Culture & Strategy

Define the purpose, audience, and ambition.

What context, audience, or ambition gives the work meaning?

Architecture & Place

Connect the idea to its setting.

How does the idea shape a setting and its relationship to its surroundings?

Interiors & Experience

Design for how people meet, move, work, and feel.

How does the environment influence what people do and feel?

Brand & Expression

Make the idea recognizable in everyday encounters.

How does identity become recognizable in lived experience?