George Humphreys

Changing O'Reilly from a house of brands to a branded house was an interesting challenge. There was substantial equity in the brand that we didn't want to loose, but we wanted a more modern look and feel, and a master brand that put the O'Reilly logo front and center. Beyond adjusting the logo, we developed a new set of gradient colors, changed our corporate fonts, developed new photographic standards, and introduced the "O Dot" as a graphic element. The change had to be executed everywhere; online, print, events, ID systems, video, and more. We developed brand voice and visual guidelines, as well as templates for print, web, and video.

“It is my pleasure to recommend George Humphreys for any company looking for a dynamic and creative art professional. During our eight years together at O’Reilly Media, he consistently exceeded my expectations with his fresh and exciting design concepts for our conference group. George is not only a pleasure to work with, he is passionate, imaginative and diligent in both scheduling and delivering my team’s projects, on time and under budget! ”
— Gloria Lukos, Vice President of Sales at O'Reilly Media

I love designing for the screen. Every pixel and every second counts in this medium. The entire customer journey is so important to get right, and yet so often overlooked. Removing friction with sound architecture and smooth user flow is crucial, but so is understanding all the touchpoints that lead a customer to and from a digital destination. Design thinking is important, but for interactive work there are also use cases, personas, analytics, and qualitative/quantitative testing that all greatly influence the final design for desktop, mobile, and every screen in between.

​I've had a blast building sites for some of the most complex online retailers in the world, including Williams-Sonoma, Mattel, Visa, and O'Reilly Media. I've also worked for small startups, designing native and web apps for a wide range of services. With an intimate knowledge of the limitations (and possibilities) of the screen, I'll push to make sure the creative shines, whether on a tiny screen, or the largest video wall in the world.

“Quite simply, George is a rockstar. I hired George to build and oversee a web design team at O'Reilly, and soon learned that he had much more to offer. George's understanding of brand strategy, user experience, design sensibility, client service skills, and overall professionalism took our web presence to a whole new level. And he's a nice guy.”
— Steve Fehler, Creative Director

It takes a certain kind of person to thrive in the event space. The show must go on, and all kinds of unexpected things can occur before, during, and after an event. I've been performing music on stage since my teens, and feel comfortable with the uncertainty of a live performance. O'Reilly events started on the West coast when I arrived in 2005, but as the division grew, I took on a more active role onsite, attending conferences in New York, London and Barcelona. I developed relationships with AV and print vendors in the states and overseas, and worked with venue reps to define best practices, and how we might push the envelope.

Creating events in Amsterdam, Singapore, and China, required working closely with overseas staff to ensure we produced well branded professional events that lay the groundwork for years of return visits and increased local attendance. Over the years I developed strong relationships with outside design firms, freelancers, and photographers in multiple countries. In 2018 O'Reilly produced 16 conferences, for over 27k attendees, earning over 40M in revenue.

​For each conference there are scores of jobs: branding, online/mobile, sales collateral, wayfinding, signage, stage/lighting, digital, video, swag, games, expo planning, activities, and more. We start planning a conference a year out, and with more than one a month, careful project management and resource planning is required to handle the overlapping workload. I get immense satisfaction when a conference runs smoothly, and kudos come in from a sold out event.

“I have worked with George for eight years and he is really great to work with. George is creative and talented. He is adept at solving problems and building teams. He is a great leader with innovative ideas and a flair for staying ahead of trends. His work is stellar and he would be a valuable addition to any team.”
— Monique Sims, VP of Operations, Conferences, O'Reilly Media, Inc.

I enjoy creating video content on my own, with in-house staff, or with highly skilled vendors. Projects involve writing, storyboards, choosing video and music, and final production. I leverage stock, custom shoots/music, and B-roll to create memorable work that results in effective storytelling. The final product is often used across many channels, and in multiple formats.

​From the early days of Flash animation, I've created moving content for advertising, CD-ROM's, websites, mobile, native apps, projection, and LED. Video is still heavy, so I keep up to date on how best to deliver it depending on how and where it is used. I consider screen resolutions, aspect ratios, compression, codecs, streaming, sharing, and storage challenges.

“George is the type of Art Director I could just go over the strategy with, hand over the creative brief, assign him a team and never worry about the account again. He was fabulous with his team, fantastic with the client, always delivered high end design and never missed a detail.”
— Johnna Clark Haag, Executive Creative Director

From corporate systems, to POD T-Shirts, I've worked on a wide variety of print projects. Event work calls for knowing which materials and timelines are needed for each deliverable. Corporate ID systems must be rooted in sound brand strategy, and backed by clear guidelines. Direct mail and ad campaigns have to quickly speak to the customer value proposition. Working with great writers, designers, and vendors to create something with legs is a lot of fun, and having it resonate with the audience, and gain measurable results is even better.

“George was always calm, never ruffled by all the deadlines and pressure, he just put his head down and did great work. He worked so well with all his designers, people would ask to be assigned to accounts to work with him. George had a great way with people, not only his creative teams but the account people, the production people and the client.”
— Johnna Clark Haag, Executive Creative Director

I was the Creative Director for Groxis, an advanced search engine technology company that created the industry’s first graphical information interface, the GII, to hundreds of prominent content services including Google, Yahoo, and Amazon. In 3 years the company grew from 10, working in a loft in Sausalito, to more than 150, with offices in San Francisco. We won several industry awards including DEMOgod, Always On Top 100, and Wired 100.

In the beginning I led them through a branding and strategic positioning initiative, which led to a visual identity and marketing campaigns that leveraged elements of the proprietary graphical interface. Aside from designing the UI/UX of the apps, I had fun spinning the “Grok” concept into almost everything we created: collateral, posters, direct mail, interactive games, and swag.

“I've had the honor of working with George for twelve years. His creativity and problem solving skills are sharp, forward thinking, and exemplary. His leadership skills are beyond reproach. He always had a great rapport with his team and everyone he worked with. He's a true team player, and team builder. George is a valuable asset, one any employer would strive to have on their team.”
— Patrick Dirden, Operations Coordinator

Almost every project involves some version of the “4 D's": discover, define, design, and deliver. For small jobs that might equate to a kickoff meeting, creative brief, comps, and a final deliverable. With bigger projects, the discover/define phase might mean customer profiles, competitive analysis, and brand dimension explorations. For interactive work there may be user flows, architecture, and data analysis before the design phase starts.

​Great work comes from ideating around clear objectives, that are derived from good CVP's, which are defined by knowing the audience, competition, and values that a company provides. When done correctly It removes subjectivity, which facilitates stakeholder buy-in, and ultimately leads to memorable work that resonates with the audience and gets results. 

Branding involves so much more than creating a logo. I love digging into strategy with a client to uncover and define the brand dimensions that resonate with their customers. Competitive audits, customer profiles, and defining core attributes/equity all lead to effective brand voice, type, color, photography, and identity treatments. This work can define operating principles and clarify course of action, taking the subjectivity out of crucial decisions that can make all the difference in the marketplace.

​I've defined brands from scratch, as well as completely rebranding companies from top to bottom. For businesses that have sub-brands, defining brand architecture is also a lot of fun. I enjoyed the process of moving O'Reilly from a house of brands, to a branded house. Creating guidelines for all of the above is also very satisfying, and a crucial step to ensure internal teams consistently apply the new brand correctly.