I was was born, raised, and make my living in Dayton, Ohio. I love designing, illustrating, telling stories and learning to tell other people’s stories. Me and my lovely wife have an awesome daughter, whose super power is changing dresses every five minutes to show off some ballerina twirls. We have a sweetheart of a baby boy too, who thinks his sister’s constant twirling is hilarious.

I will be posting more of my portfolio here- both professional and pieces I have developed just for me and my own growth. You and I are just getting started. I’m so glad to meet you!

CAREER

I have had the great fortune to have worked for a several companies that are almost synonymous with the Miami Valley. I got my start in telephone book advertising, working as a senior production artist for The Berry Company from 2004 through 2010. We managed more than 700 phone books and their advertisements across the country. After the sale of Berry, I worked for several years at Peter Li Publications. I began as a production designer, handling small department stories and ad placements for College Planning and Management, and School Planning and Management magazines that ran concurrently. This turned out to be a transitional period in that company’s history, as the art director chose a different path. I took over that role, briefly, before the magazines were ultimately sold. I ended my time as associate art director for those publications. I stayed on at Peter Li for another year or so, as art director of their Today’s Catholic Teacher magazine. The company ultimately was sold as well but I am truly grateful for the time I had to work with their editors, art directors and sales staff.

I then worked as a production designer for ACCO Brands. I handled mostly prepress responsibilities for dated calendars and planners. The team and training were top-notch. We produced dated planning collateral including Mead, Five Star, Cambridge and others.

I then began a nearly 4 year career path working for Ohio’s Hospice. Our team tended to the design and communications needs for 10 affiliates (at last count) across the state, and several business units, including Pure Healthcare and National Hospice Cooperative. As part of a not-for-profit organization, I created fundraising collateral, banners, flyers, web graphics, technical guides, social media and intranet posts, kiosk graphics, stickers, advertisements and more. I also created collateral for the bereaved in our communities, connecting those who are hurting with grief counseling through booklets and public events. I managed multiple printing relationships with printers who are well known locally (Oregon, Progressive, The Digital Fringe, Think Patented), as well as print and television advertisers. The Covid pandemic did ultimately affect our company’s growth, so we parted ways this October. But I am truly grateful for having had the opportunity to serve the community alongside them.

Currently, I love to draw, I love learning more software. I love to design and am always looking for opportunities to share those passions with others. I’m always glad to hear about a new project possibility and would love to talk to you about your design and illustration needs!

CONTACT

If you’d like to chat about that, I’d love to hear from you. Please don’t be shy and drop me a line!
brian.isham79@gmail.com