7 Great Designers I Know

Since design has been a popular topic on this blog for the past week or two, it hit me that I’ve had the privilege of working with quite a few great designers myself, and then I know many other great designers that I haven’t worked with. And with the onset of online portfolios and blogs, it makes checking out and admiring someone’s work very accessible.

When you understand how important a piece design is to your job as a marketer, and then you realize your role in it personally, and then you realize you can’t personally design, and then you meet someone who can, then you really, really, really appreciate these guys and what they do. And they appreciate you, if you’re doing your job.

Without further rambling, here are 7 designers you should check out:

1. DennisCheatham.com: I’ve never actually done a project with Dennis, but my wife does on a regular basis. Be sure to check out his blog, too – he’s a great writer on top of being a great artist. I really like his logo design.
2. Frogers.net: Again, I’ve never done a design project with Jeff Rogers, but I think his site speaks for itself. I have, however, played in a band with him – he’s a great drummer on top of being a great designer. And I’ve helped him move, and that’s always endearing, right? I don’t know how to explain his work – you just need to see it for yourself. I just know it’s good. Extremely original, refreshing, sketchy and organic. And good, again. I love this album cover.
   
3. Raesea.com: Raesea aren’t just designers, but cover the whole ‘using the web to help your business’ thing. Design is part of that, but so is navigation, search engine optimization, email marketing, back-end architecture and programming and e-commerce. And they do all of that, and do it well.
4. Brian Larney: I worked with Brian at AdvoCare. His designs are great, and the best thing about Brian is he always wanted to dig deeper, ask questions about the project, and pull information out of you that would help him. Which I loved. So many designers think they should just take the direction that’s given to them make due, but Brian knows when to ask for more. And it made everything easier for both of us. Here’s a product of one such conversation that I feel really hit the nail on the head (scroll down to the Alaskan Adventure pages).
5. Hypnoweb.com: Darren Chorley and I worked on countless web projects. He’s a wonderfully gifted designer, and he knows how to work in a time crunch (and trust me, he was tested on that front more than once). I can’t sing his praises enough, and I can’t be more impressed with the work at this site.
6. DanielPitner.com: Worked with Daniel for a brief time at AdvoCare. I can remember checking out his original work from his resume, and it blew me away. Daniel takes a lot of pride in what he produces, and it is always something you simply can’t simply glance at. It captures you. And his work with animation is unbelievable.
7. BusyNoggin.com: Like Dennis above, I’ve never worked on a project with Ron, but my wife works with him all the time. I have played poker and eaten fondue with the man, so that should count for something. I love how he lays out his approach on his site. If you’re interested in content management, particularly TYPO3, Ron seems to be the local guru.

So, for the other great designers I know that aren’t on the list, like Josh and Benny and many others – Sorry, but I don’t have your portfolio address. Send it along if I worked with you before – just leave it in the comments. That goes for anyone, for that matter.