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Michael Chessey | Creative Direction & Design

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About Me

LinkedIn Profile

 

I am a seasoned digital creative person with 20+ years experience. I nurture projects from initial concept, through design and development to the finished product. Projects range from interactive banners and micro-sites, to large scale campaigns deploying; print, mobile apps, interactive web, viral and broadcast strategies. I work closely with the stake-holders and collaborate with the creative team to assure that projects exceed client expectations and push the limits of online interactive.

My responsibilities include: Discovery Stage Concept Development, Creative Strategy, Design and Direction, UI/Web Design, client presentations and storyboards, managing, supporting and influence the creative team.

I came to California in 1994 looking for adventure. I found it on the rocks of Yosemite and in the San Francisco tech/design boom. I continue my adventures today with my lovely wife and three boys.

My goal is to actively guide the creative process to create unique, innovative work that, challenges and delights.

 

Martian

This is a group of (methodical) creative technologists who are blowing up big in San Francisco. From amazing data visualization to interactive marketing applications, Martian continues to innovate.

Martian approached me to design their new identity. I wanted the logo mark and type to work both together and on their own. Each should express the groups modern style and innovative, curious  nature.

Check out Martian.

SocialPics Book

The challenge was to introduce Snapfish to a whole new generation of users.  A generation of "Digital Natives" who are constantly plugged in and obsessed with their digital devices.

Introducing SocialPics, a new product offering for Snapfish. An application that auto-magically makes a beautifully designed 20 page book out of your most popular Facebook photos, comments, and status updates.

Simply connect to Facebook, and the app uses an algorithm to find your best content and then automatically populates and designs the pages. All of the content can then be viewed, edited and printed into a hard or soft cover 20-page book, in just a few clicks.

The best of your Facebook life, now in hardcover.                    

 

L'Oreal Paris

TrueMatch is a line of products by L'Oreal that offers a shade for every woman and every variation of skin-tone. L'Oreal Paris wanted to dip their foot into the digital space and test the waters. We conceived, designed and developed the TrueMatch Matchmaker App.

The app poses eight easy questions for users and in a few taps you are matched with the right product for your skin-tone. You can purchase the products, find the nearest boutique or browse beauty tips. As an added bonus we match you with a celebrity that shares the same TrueMatch as you. This made the app instantly fun and sharable.

Are you a JLo or maybe a Isabeli Fontana? Download the app to find out.

Bank of Oklahoma

The Bank of Oklahoma project was a complete redesign with over 60 unique pages. The project posed some interesting challenges within it's three main goals: 

1) elaborate and expand the brand to give each of the four main properties of BOK their own distinct look and feel, to include
- local branch sites across 7 states
- BOK Financial
- Private Investors
- BOSC

2) engage and appeal to the younger generation of investor and banker while not alienating the older, faithful investment banking community

3) develop a device agnostic site that functions perfectly across the numerous breakpoints

Working closely with the UX lead, I created a series of 'modules' and detailed out their functions and how they would adapt to the breakpoints. The 48 unique modules (x3 breakpoints) could then be further customized and branded to reflect the 4 different properties of the BOK brand.

We approached the redesign 'mobile first' keeping in mind the features and familiar things that the older users will expect. The UI, colors, fonts and photography feels fresh and contemporary, appealing to the younger 'digital natives'.

The site was built on the BootStrap 12col responsive grid. I worked very closely with both the UX and Content creation leads. This collaboration was crucial to the success of the project. 

Nest

nest.com

While at Teak I had the pleasure of working directly with Matteo Vianello (Creative Director at Nest) on some design updates on the site.

Nest is a group of visionaries who understand the importance of design and UX. Good article here.

 

Jordan

Nike's Jordan Brand informally referred to in the plural as Air Jordans or simply J's, were first released for public consumption in 1985 after Michael Jordan himself wore them as a rookie in 1984.

We launched the new Jordan.com in August to tease the full release of the new e-commerce site coming in mid-2014.

Our strategy was to focus on the relationship between the athlete and the shoe, telling the story of Jordan's promise to ballers across the globe. 

Ramblers Way

After 40 years, Tom sold 'Tom's of Maine' and took a well deserved vacation with his son. While they were hiking in Wales,  they fell in love with the Rambouillet Sheep... and Ramblers Way was born.

I joined the team at High Seas as Art Director and Designer to crank out the e-com/lifestyle site on a very aggressive timeline. I worked closely with the client Chris (Tom's son) to streamline the design and approvals process.

The project was a huge success thanks to the team at High Seas. The Executive Creative Director (Rebecca Kauffman) and the entire development team were always available to meet, solve problems and get creative at the drop of a hat. 

Check High Seas out here.

Goorin Bros.

Goorin Bros.

“Bold hatmakers” since 1895, the Goorin Brothers know hats. In the 1940s they developed “Mr. Fits All,” who acted as an expert in every aspect of hats from sizing to etiquette and fashion. However, as the decades passed his role in Goorin’s marketing efforts diminished. Breathing new life into this iconic character, I created a series of videos featuring Mr. Fits All doing what he does best.

Google Demo Lab

Chrome OS keeps your data in the cloud, so no matter what happens to your computer, all of your apps, documents and settings are safely stored. To communicate this, we built the Demo Lab website. The site invites users to chat with a "lab tech", and suggest fun and entertaining ways to destroy notebooks running Chrome OS. Undisclosed keywords trigger videos of the destruction. Google fans have been working hard to guess words and reveal the 40 plus videos hidden within the experience. Facebook and personal blogs were abuzz with people sharing keywords and talking about the campaign. Within 3 months, the Demo Lab site garnered more than 2 million unique views. Check out the site and make sure to type in bezerk to get a quick view of content highlights, or bloopers to have a laugh at us.

Awarded the FWA on Feb. 15, 2011

The Interview.

Vivity

Vivity was preparing to unveil itself to the world as the premier digital storage brand. Vivity’s identity is based on kinetic energy as a metaphor for the exchange of data that is our modern media landscape. We took the newly created brand and brought it to life using motion graphics, custom music and video. The result is an elegant and inspirational video that communicates Vivity’s promise to the world.

AdiZero

The AdiZero running shoe is the lightest you can get, and lighter means faster. This interactive site, complete with video, speaks to teen athletes via their heroes, Reggie Bush and Heather O’Reilly. This site was completed on a small budget in an even smaller timeline.

The Win

The brainchild of Andrew & Chris of Freestyle Interactive fame, The WIN site was an interactive portal to access all the sports titles Electronic Arts has to offer. From Tiger Woods PGA Tour to Fight Night, each sport contained a rich, 3D, emersive experience for the user to explore. The site contained heaps of great content including interviews on the topic of winning from athletes like the Williams sisters, Oscar De La Hoya, Tiger and Ben Roethlisberger to name a few.

Boost Mobile

This was a complete functional redesign with over 60 unique pages. The challenge was to shift boostmobile.com, from an urban youth & lifestyle focused site, to a product and services site that connected consumers with Boost phones and plans. I worked closely with the client and development team to fulfill this goal via a new UI, e-commerce focused design features, product sorting tools and a clean, sophisticated look.​

EA / Warhammer

To promote Warhammer Online, we built a fully interactive site of epic proportions where you can learn everything about the Dark Elves, Chaos Knights, the realm of Destruction and it’s opposing forces in the realm of Order. Explore the mosaic of these two factions and discover their stories, images and videos.

Burton Snowboards

The Burton.com redesign showcased the incredible imagery and stories only Burton can tell, while educating visitors about the sweetest snowboarding gear available.

Kohler

Since 1873 Kohler has been merging beautiful form and reliable function. The hi-end fixture company likes to put their products center stage. These interactive product ads were created to entice consumers with sharp photography, elegant movement and relevant messaging.

Google SketchUp

Google approached us to help spread the word about their 3D drawing app, SketchUp. 

In the "Make Ideas Real" video, we tell the story of an entrepreneur and an architect, who collaborate to create the perfect bistro via the power of SketchUp. Using the SketchUp application we watch the initial idea take form, revise, rethink and rebuild. The idea is made real in the end with a close of the laptop to reveal the cafe in real life.

Teak

Teak Digital is a company of film, editorial, animation and interactive content creators. They form a creative think tank that crafts unique viral campaigns, commercials, online experiences, and branded entertainment.

hile at Teak I defined the brand and proudly acted as Brand Ambassador. We developed many unique and effective promotional materials and cranked out a great mobile site for Teak on a very short timeline.

Garden of Asia

Tareq is a busy man. Among other great things, he created the Afghan Women's Boxing Federation and founded Empower Gym, San Francisco's premier training facility.

Tareq tasked me with developing the Garden of Asia brand with the goal of introducing Afghanistan's organic farm products to American tables. 

The project ranged from logo, brand and package design, to web and UI design. 

About Me

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Martian

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SocialPics Book

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L'Oreal Paris

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Bank of Oklahoma

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Nest

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Jordan

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Ramblers Way

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Goorin Bros.

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Google Demo Lab

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Vivity

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AdiZero

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The Win

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Boost Mobile

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EA / Warhammer

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Burton Snowboards

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Kohler

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Google SketchUp

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Teak

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Garden of Asia

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Email        LinkedIn Profile        M 510.684.9579