aaron thornburgh

SAPIENT NITRO 2011–art director

With over 9,000 employees and 30 offices worldwide, SapientNitro is

one of the industry's most formidable players. From creative vision to

technical implementation, this rising star has produced award-winning

work for global brands. As Art Director in the Arlington Office, I get to

work on cool digital projects for clients like Sprint, Adobe and CIGNA.

OGILVY WASHINGTON 2010freelance digital art director • 360 digital influence

Unique among its other offices in the United States, Ogilvy

Washington is a fully-integrated advertising and communications

firm. As a practice within the company, 360 Digital Influence is

an all-digital, social media-driven powerhouse. There I developed

socially-driven experiences online for clients across all markets. From

IA, UX and content strategy, to polished design composites, my role

encompassed every phase of the creative process.

GREENFIELD/BELSER 2006–2010art director

Since 1978, Greenfield/Belser has dominated the legal and

professional services marketing arena. In 2007, the agency expanded

both its client roster and digital capabilities. Throughout this transition,

my assignments varied from user interface and website design, to

information architecture, print design, creative strategy and corporate

identity systems for large B2B clients.aaron thornburghART DIRECTOR / VISUAL DESIGNER

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“Aaron is a master of his craft. His design is thoughtful and meticulous. Aaron is excellent in client facing situations; articulate, well-prepared and persuasive. A pleasure to work with.”February 3, 2011 • Lauren TurnerInteractive Producer, Ogilvy Washington

Mobile. Digital. Print. Whatever. Supporting business

objectives through information design is, ultimately,

what I do. And I’ve been doing it for nearly a decade.

This is a collection of my more recent work.

Hopefully, you’ll dig it. Holla.

Adobe Apple iPad application (POC)

In addition to desktop applications for creative professionals,

Adobe also provides a full suite of enterprise technology

solutions—like their new CMS platform, CQ5. More importantly,

Adobe aspires to become a leader in Customer Experience

Management (CEM) space. Actually, they want to own it. And to

do so, Adobe is creating a new online community for customers,

solution providers and integrators to collaborate on projects.

Called “Solution Exchange” (SX), the social network will debut as

an iPad application.

The conceptual screens shown here were developed to establish

the long-term vision of SX.

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3PORTFOLIO

CIGNA Creative concept for the cigma.com homepage

The overall interface for CIGNA’s new website was well underway when the Associate

Creative Director asked me to take a stab at the homepage. The existing design had already

been approved and provided the foundation for the interior pages. So, I couldn’t mess with

the page header, navigation elements, button styles or footer. My solution was simple: Ditch

the meaningless images of smiling people used in the original design and focus on the facts.

At its core, the concept was to make healthcare more transparent and engaging—without

overwhelming the user. After all, health insurance and individual wellness are daunting subjects.

4PORTFOLIO

GESMER UPDEGROVE, LLPWebsite design for gesmer.com

What could be more appealing to entrepreneurs than conspiring to make a fortune? Getting

away with it, again and again. Gesmer Updegrove is a boutique law firm that knows how to

1) bring inventions to life, 2) distribute those products across the globe, 3) sell out and cash in.

When Gesmer came to Greenfield/Belser, they desperately needed a compelling message that

would appeal to this very unusual audience. My approach, therefore, was to abandon tradition

and embrace risk. And, man, did it pay off. The website alone made a killing at the 2010 Legal

Marketing Association Awards.

5PORTFOLIO

Sprint Motorola Xoom application

The face of retail is changing. Fast. Standard signage,

brochures and traditional displays are failing to meet the

demands of customers. They want to be engaged. They

want immersive experiences. And they want access to

more information to guide their purchasing decisions—in

real time. To meet these growing demands, Sprint will

soon be arming their sales associates with Motorola

Xoom tablets loaded with a “productivity app”. The

application features product specifications, reviews,

coverage maps, ratings and performance metrics. Along

with digital displays, kiosks and vending machines, Sprint

could soon become a hot destination that rivals Apple’s

in-store experience.

6PORTFOLIO

MY GIRLFRIEND’S BROTHER’S FIANCÉEPrint design for a wedding invitation

If you’re a creative professional, you’ll inevitably be

asked to design somebody’s wedding invitation. For free.

And the bride will be the most challenging, demanding

Creative Director you’ll every work with.

In this case, my “client” wanted something non-traditional.

No flowers or script typefaces. Wait, I mean she wanted

flowers. And an old-timey look. Maybe a scripty font.

Purple. Make it purple. Just rip off some design from Etsy.

While this comp didn’t exactly receive a warm reception,

it’s still my favorite. To each his (or her) own, right?

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PORTFOLIO

THE IRS Microsite design for freefile.irs.gov

FreeFile is a service from the IRS that allows certain individuals to file their taxes for free. Because

the FreeFile program was so complicated to explain, the IRS asked Ogilvy to create a microsite

that would help taxpayers understand what the heck FreeFile was. While the 2009 site helped

to simplify the information, the FreeFile process still wasn’t very clear. When redesigning the

microsite for 2010, I introduced several new features—including a fancy interactive flow chart—

that helped make FreeFile… well, understandable.

8PORTFOLIO

International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) Print design for event invitation

The ICWR has helped transform the lives of impoverished women and their families

for decades. Unfortunately, the global economic crisis began unfolding at the

same time they were planning their annual gala—a key fund-raising event for the

organization. Instead of cancelling the evening altogether, I helped the ICRW reach

out to their members with a sincere, provocative campaign.

The event was a complete sell-out.

logodesign

logodesign

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(concept)

PORTFOLIO

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SAPIENT NITRO 2011–art director

With over 9,000 employees and 30 offices worldwide,

SapientNitro is one of the industry's most formidable players.

From creative vision to technical implementation, this rising

star has produced award-winning work for global brands. As

Art Director in the Arlington Office, I get to work on cool digital

projects for clients like Sprint, Adobe and CIGNA.

OGILVY WASHINGTON 2010freelance digital art director • 360 digital influence

Unique among its other offices in the United States, Ogilvy

Washington is a fully-integrated advertising and communications

firm. As a practice within the company, 360 Digital Influence is

an all-digital, social media-driven powerhouse. There I developed

socially-driven experiences online for clients across all markets.

From IA, UX and content strategy, to polished design composites,

my role encompassed every phase of the creative process.

GREENFIELD/BELSER 2006–2010art director

Since 1978, Greenfield/Belser has dominated the legal and

professional services marketing arena. In 2007, the agency

expanded both its client roster and digital capabilities. Throughout

this transition, my assignments varied from user interface design

for a custom CMS, to website design, print, creative strategy and

corporate identity systems for large B2B clients.

HINGE 2005 senior designer

At Hinge, I designed for all manner of media. Besides creating

websites, corporate identity and print systems, my duties

included managing vendors, meeting with clients, event planning,

answering the phones, print inspections and even some business

development. It was a small place...

FREELANCE 2004–2005 art director and designer

While working as a freelance Art Director and Designer, I

provided a full range of design services to small and medium-sized

companies, non-profit organizations and individual start-ups.

Operating as a one-man show, I worked directly with business

owners and executives to create their corporate identity, websites

and marketing materials.

CAPITAL ONE 2002–2004senior graphic designer

According to my file, I "consistently performed above expectations"

while at Capital One. In addition to creating evil direct mail

campaigns, I interfaced with several lines of business at any given

time, directed creative strategy, lead presentations and prepared

all final artwork for the production department.

ACS 2000–2002 graphic designer

ACS (Affordable Creative Services) built its business on delivering

solid creative work at a reasonable rate. There I designed identity

systems, printed collateral, trade show exhibits, direct mail and

websites. This is where it all began (legitimately).

skillsWebsite Design

PrintInformation Architecture

Wireframing

Client Collaboration

Web Application Design

Photoshop

InDesign Copywriting Illustration

Illustrator Fireworks

Project Management

Brand Strategy

Sitemap Documentation

User Experience Design

PROFESSIONAL HISTORY

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GENERAL INTERESTS

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PERSONAL PREFERENCES

lighting conditions

sundlightcandle light

beef temperature

charredbleeding

interior style

mid-century modernPottery Barn

average highway speed

155 mph55 mph

snack food

organic trail mixPeanut M&Ms

pace

New York, NYWheeling, WV

L-Mode R-Mode

PLAYLISTS

the Orb Mushroom Jazz Manu Chao

Jane’s AddictionCSS A Forest Mighy Black

Smashing Pumpkins LCD Soundsystem

Starlight Mints MobyThe Beastie Boys

Miles Davis Red Racer Regina Spektor

Phantogram Grateful Dead Björk

Jamiroquai Lilly AllenMassive Attack

Nine Inch Nails the Beatles Daft Punk

Red Hot Chilly PeppersThievery Corporation

Frank SinatraThievery Corporation Feist

Morcheeba PortisheadNouvelle Vague

Stereolab Janis Joplin A Tribe Called Quest

Pink Floyd Radiohead Jonny Cash

Folk ImplosionBeck Madeleine Peyroux

mental activity during typical workday

PERSONAL INFORMATION