In 2013 he packed up his midwestern work ethic and moved to California. His first stop was the legendary sign painting program at Los Angeles Trade Tech College. While slinging paint and learning to use a mahl stick he freelanced his way through the LA design scene. In 2015 he joined Mathew Foster at Radical Co-Operative and helped build the small agency from scratch – focusing on ground-up identities for emerging businesses and distinctive graphics for long standing brands. During his tenure, RADCO's client roster grew to include everything from LA's best NY style pizza shop to the global brand Nike.
In 2019, After 4 years at RADCO, Neil moved north to the orange scented Ojai valley and began work in the apparel graphics department at patagonia. There he has had the opportunity to collaborate with world-renowned artists and to mentor up and coming creatives. He developed patagonia’s in-house embroidery studio, teaching himself the art of embroidery digitization along the way. And he has art-directed multiple seasonal capsule collections celebrating patagonia’s unique history, environmental activism, and technical innovation. He works closely with many departments – balancing business needs with creative opportunities, and shepherding physical product through creation, internal review, marketing design, and launch.
Neil’s style has been described as analog, old school, hand-done, or his personal favorite: “blue collar”. He has a fluency in illustration and hand lettering combined with a graphic designer’s foundation in layout, composition, and typography. He creates art for commercial purposes: unique graphics that reveal the human hand.
Neil has worked with clients large and small, independently, at agencies, and in-house. He has honed his practice of commercial art over many years. This practice stretches from screens to printed matter, physical products, signage, interiors, and beyond. His management style has developed along the way – benefitting from the many workplace dynamics his career has included. It focuses first on empathy, balanced with a capable “can-do” attitude, personal responsibility, a knack for problem solving, and a foundation of good-faith relationship building.
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Clients: Patagonia, Nike, Califia Farms, Wired Magazine, Herman Miller, Tom’s of Maine, Warner Music, Topo Chico, Herb Lester, Alta Motors, Orvis, Bow & Arrow Wine, 213 Hospitality, Merrell, The Hundreds, See See Motorcycles
Pro bono (many via Patagonia Action Works): California Wilderness Coalition, Friends of the Inyo, Los Angeles Waterkeeper, Climate First Ventura, California Rivers & Lands Conservancy, California Farmer Justice Collaborative, LA Downtown Women’s Center, Green Valley Project, Central Oregon LandWatch, Santa Barbara City College