Knowing
At Verato, an identity data management SaaS company, I led a complete reimagining of the brand as the organization shifted to a more mature and established direction to reflect credibility and trust within the healthcare industry.
Accelerate engagement.
After Evariant’s acquisition by Healthgrades in 2020, I led the rebranding initiative that transformed the organization into Mercury Healthcare. With our multidisciplinary team of marketers, designers, copywriters, and product specialists, I oversaw the creation and rollout of a unified brand identity.
Patients
for life.
During my time at Evariant, a healthcare technology company founded that provided a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) platform, I played a pivotal role in transforming the brand and elevating its presence in the healthcare engagement space.
Wonder.
It’s why you’re here.
As Senior Designer at The Simon Group, I was instrumental in delivering strategic, high-impact creative solutions for clients across healthcare, technology, and real estate industries.
Get your message
ON AIR.
In my five years at American Tower Corporation, I built and led a high-performing creative team from the ground up, consisting of designers, copywriters, and freelancers, to support the company’s evolving needs.
Experience
I am a hands-on creative leader and brand storyteller dedicated to turning complex ideas into simple, beautiful, and memorable designs. My journey has been defined by a passion for building and mentoring in-house creative teams, transforming them into powerhouses of innovation.
I have a proven track record of steering transformative rebrands that drive significant business growth, most notably in the B2B SaaS and healthcare tech sectors. My expertise lies in developing scalable design systems, crafting engaging content across all mediums, and fostering a collaborative environment where creativity thrives. I excel at bridging the gap between strategy and execution, ensuring every design choice not only looks great but also solves a core business problem. From startups to enterprise leaders, I bring a unique blend of strategic thinking, artistic vision, and a touch of humor to every project.
- 30+ years of design execution: brand identity, logo design, UI/UX and web, presentation design, motion graphics, video production
- 10+ years of creative direction: brand strategy and development, omnichannel campaigns, visual storytelling, content strategy
- 10+ years of team leadership: high-performance team building, skill development and mentoring, project management, cross-functional collaboration, agency and vendor management
- Adobe Creative Cloud: Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat, Premiere Pro, After Effects, Audition, Media Encoder, Lightroom
- Collaboration and web: Figma, Canva, Slack, WordPress, HTML/CSS
- Project management: Asana, Monday.com, Jira, Wrike
About
Hello there, I’m Geo.
I’m a designer, content writer, and creative lead. My creative journey kicked off in 1990 when I took the path less traveled and went to Minuteman Tech, a vocational high school in Lexington, MA, where I studied graphic design and printing for four years. There I first wrestled with Adobe Illustrator 88 on a black and white Macintosh 512k (a summer loan from my teacher) and was in one of the earliest high school Photoshop courses. I also got my hands dirty with 1- and 2-color printing presses, bindery, and the hands-on art of pre-press during the transition from traditional methods (horizontal camera, rubylith masking and stripping) to imagesetters and direct-to-plate.
After that I spent a year working in a small print shop and freelancing before spending two years at Rochester Institute of Technology working towards a Bachelors of Arts in Graphic Design. When the funds ran low, I was forced to take a hard look at the school, and realized that a vocational education had overprepared me; I had learned more in my freshman year at Minuteman than I did during two years at RIT. So I stepped into the professional world and didn’t look back. My career since then has been a whirlwind tour through different industries—newspapers, commercial real estate, telecom, e-commerce, SaaS cloud technology, healthcare data, as well as agency work.
When I’m not pushing pixels, I’m a proud husband to the love of my life since 1996 and a dad to two amazing daughters. We live in the Concord, MA, home of the American Revolution, which I like to think makes me neighbors with the spirits of Alcott, Emerson, and Thoreau (and the very-much-alive Steve Carell).
I’m obsessed with isometric illustration—yes, all the art on this site is my own creation. I’m also a massive foodie, an aspiring cook, and a board game collector with not-so secret ambitions of designing my own games. I also love hiking, nature photography, and have a lifelong fascination with cartography.
Most of all though, I’m a firm believer in constant growth, inclusivity, and the sheer power of diverse viewpoints. There’s always a simpler way, a better perspective, and a chance to make things more colorful, joyful, and empathetic. And if there’s a pun to be made, I’ll find it… probably followed by an appropriately cringe-worthy dad joke. I thought about changing the alignment of all this text, but I didn’t feel it was… justified.
Approach
My approach to design and creative work is guided by The Keepers; five principles I strive to follow in every project and daily life. Part manifesto, part philosophy, and part self-help guide, The Keepers have evolved since their first iteration in 2003. They have been shaped by my experiences and thoughts around art, design, technology, the world, and myself. They offer insight into my values, approach to work, and what it’s like to collaborate with me.
Keep Simplifying.
There is always a simpler way. Avoid the traps of adding complexity in the name of style. Don’t fight your instincts. If it looks like there is too much content for one page, there is. If it looks like the photo doesn’t work, it doesn’t. Remove redundancy. Avoid the traps of adding complexity in the name of style. Use less, and use it more effectively.
It is never too late or too early to simplify your thinking.
Keep Moving.
Take a hard look at your process. Work smarter, not harder. Be flexible and adapt quickly. Reflect, refine, reinvent, reinvigorate. Focus on the philosophy behind your design decisions. A style guide should keep your brand from falling behind, not prevent it from moving forward. A workflow should make your projects flow smoothly, connecting the milestones, not turning them into hurdles.
There is always a better way to move forward.
Keep Searching.
Look at your own work, look at your competition, look at your peers, look at work that has no relation to your field, look at the world around you. Inspiration is everywhere. Go and grab it. Keep your work near you, and use it as your low bar. Start every project by looking at something in a new way.
Your portfolio is what you’ve done, not what you can do.
Keep Pushing.
Get uncomfortable, ask the hard questions, have the difficult conversations, embrace the edge case. The words “this is how we’ve always done it” are the first sign something is wrong. Within reason and without recklessness, think about breaking a rule, pushing a limit, changing it up, and see if it makes it better. Just own responsibility for your actions. “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.” — Rear Admiral Grace Hopper.
Stand for something better than the status quo.
Keep Breathing.
Things will go wrong, computers will crash, files will be lost, the client will hate it, directions will change—Roll with it. Bring the funny, lighten the mood, laugh in the face of disaster. Keep the cynical to a minimal. Push for solutions, not for blame. Fix it first, freak out later, find a better way for the next run. You always learn more from your hard loses than you will from your easy wins.
No matter how your day is going, this too will pass.
FAQ
What's your dream job?
Designer, art director, creative director… I’ve worn these hats, loved them, and would wear any of them again. But it’s not the title that jazzes me up. Whether it’s a packed cubicle or a makeshift desk in a buzzing startup, the spot isn’t the point. My ambition is to make things better. Fixing what’s broken truly sparks my purpose, and diving into hands-on design and writing is my creative fuel. My dream job? Being part of a team where awesome creative truly shines, surrounded by passionate, innovative, and adaptable folks. And, of course, a paycheck that let’s me care for my family. That’s my sweet spot.
Beyond that, I am always looking to break out of my comfort zone and try something new; new industry, new techniques, new styles, anything that gives me an opportunity to grow. My portfolio is what I have done, not what I can do. Bonus points if it’s with an organization whose mission is actively trying to make the world a better place. I want to give back.
What's your specialty?
I’m a diehard generalist with a focus on brand strategy. Ensuring brands look great across every touchpoint. I pride myself on being flexible and adaptable. Print, digital, web, presentations, UI/UX, photography, copywriting, events, video, motion design, scripting, storyboarding, you name it… if it’s creative, I can help.
My goal has always been to make my clients or employers look their best, regardless of the medium. I have a knack for quickly learning new software, building and refining brand systems, tackling workflow issues, and delivering outside-the-box solutions.
Are you available for freelance work?
Yes! I have been working through freelance for the past year or so, and I’m happy to take on more projects. If you have a project, drop me a line. That said, I am now looking for a full time role or contract. I like being part of a team, and I thrive on collaboration, so the solo freelancer life isn’t as fulfilling for me in the long run.
What's your approach to failure?
To be fair, this question isn’t asked frequently, but it should be! Failures happen, and how we address them, fix them, and learn from them is a critical part of becoming successful.
- Don’t panic. Something has gone wrong, panic and rage won’t fix it. Stop and breathe for a moment. Collect yourself, then go to work.
- Assess the issue. Forget about how this happened (for now). Just focus on the scope of the problem, and the timeline to fix it. You need a path to a solution.
- Make a realistic plan and share it. You need to be transparent, but you also need to bring a solution to the table, not just report the problem. Get the people involved who need to be involved.
- Work to make it right. Take the steps you need to take. Follow the plan, and keep the lines of communication open.
- Debrief. After a fix is in place is the time to look at how this happened. Know the difference between blame and accountability. Your goal should be to make things whole again and make sure this failure isn’t repeated. If that means you made a mistake, you need to own that and improve. If this isn’t the first mistake, then it’s time to have a more serious conversation.