MICHAEL PEKONEN

Client: National Business Aviation Association (NBAA)

Role: Concept Graphic Designer / Production Art Director

As part of the team at MDG (Marketing Design Group in San Diego, CA), I designed this campaign theme for the NBAA National Convention in Orlando FL. The convention attendees come from the world of business aviation, from pilots to private fleet operations to CEOs.

The idea was to show the business aviation world “on-approach” to the trade show in Orlando. The map in the background is an actual aviation chart of the mid-Florida area. Originally the client didn’t request an illustration. However, this design was so clean and descriptive, they fell in love with it.

The art would continue through email marketing to on-site materials, including banners and online advertising.

Client: The Century Club of San Diego - Buick Invitational

Role: Sr. Art Director / Sr. Graphic Designer (The Townsend Agency)

The Century Club is the organization that operates the annual PGA Tour event in San Diego. Formerly, the Buick Invitational, it has since been renamed the Farmers Insurance Open.

At the Townsend Agency, we were tasked with creating a marketing campaign that showed more movement and action as opposed to the static looking imagery that had been used in the past.

Using action shots of Phil Mickelson and horizontally blurred background imagery, we achieved a look that hadn’t been used before in any PGA tour event marketing.

Materials produced included:
- Print ads
- Event Billboards
- Corporate Sponsor Opportunities brochure
- Ticket Packages brochure
- Airport murals
- Spectator Program Guide

Client: Sportsworld Chicago

Role: Agency / Creative Director / Project Manager

Sportsworld Chicago is a retailer of Chicago Cubs fan gear and paraphernalia located directly across the street from Wrigley Field.

They came to me for an update to their e-commerce site. They wanted a more streamlined yet detail-oriented shopping experience for their online visitors.

I managed a developer from overseas and we finished the project in time for the Cubs’ magical World Series championship season.

My impact upon this project is unclear, due to the fact that their business spike was undoubtedly due to the Cubs’ first World Series title. But I do know that the site was overloaded and needed to suspend operations for a few days while they caught up with orders.

Client: Global Village Concerns

Role: Agency / Digital Art Director

Global Village Concerns is a company that specializes in the creation and deployment of marketing activities for educational institutions. The 3 brands that I worked with were B1Self, EasyStick Mascots, and Incredible Mascots.

I was tasked with creating inviting and consistent email campaigns for the busy holiday season.

The challenge was to create a new members and existing members retention campaign for the national Plumbing Heating Cooling Contractors Association. This design was selected for it’s clean and modern aesthetic as well as it’s clear message. Membership retention leveled off while new membership rose 9 percent during 2018.

Client: San Diego Telecom Council

Role: Sr. Art Director / Copywriter

The San Diego Telecom Council was created as a marketing initiative to attract telecom organizations to San Diego. The San Diego region offers an abundant telecom talent pool and plentiful employment opportunities. The concept was to leverage the tourism connotation of San Diego and make the region a destination for telecom talent and telecom companies.

Taking cues from navigational maps and tourism marketing, we came up with the highway sign Telecom 1 logo as an anchor for the campaign, a la Route 66.

The ads convey a sense of cleverness that the target telecom talent can relate to without alienating C-level and principal players on the corporate telecom side.

The map is an extensive location finder as well as cross reference for prospective employees and employers alike, indicating what types of jobs are available at many of the companies listed.

Role: Creative Director / Brand Manager

I served in multiple roles while at Zoovy, an e-commerce services provider. Serving as corporate brand manager, I oversaw the ideation and upgrade of Zoovy brands, which included Zoovy, Inc., AnyCommerce, and Commerce Rack.

I also served as creative director of client services. This included designing e-commerce sites to work with the Zoovy e-commerce platform.

View Commerce Rack “Why This Is Awesome” video here.

View Commerce Rack “How Much Does it Cost” video here.

View Commerce Rack “Cloud Commerce Basics” video here.

Client: Agora Surfaces

Role: Creative Director /Production Manager

I was tasked by a natural stone and porcelain wholesaler to refresh its marketing materials which included product data sheets, product catalog, and product website.

Website Launch: October 2018

Client: San Diego CityBeat

Role: Art Director/Designer/ Photographer

Every year, San Diego CityBeat publishes their Best Of San Diego Issue, highlighting the best restaurants, bars, barbers, dog grooming, etc. business through community voting. I was tasked with developing a campaign that branded the annual event’s activities which increased voter awareness and readership of the paper. San Diego CityBeat observed a 24% increase of readership and online visits during this campaign.

Materials included:
- Teaser print ads
- Teaser online banners
- “Get out and Vote” print ads
- “Get out and Vote” online banners
- “Time is running out” print ads
- “Time is running out” online banners
- Editorial layout of winning businesses in issue
- Gala Invitations
- Winner’s certificates

Client: Accelrys, Inc.

Role: Graphic Manager/ Senior Graphic Designer

I was hired to usher in a new aesthetic for Accelrys, a company that produced software that would enable scientists to virtually create chemical compounds for both the materials and life sciences. The idea was if you could do most of the billions of chemical combinations virtually instead of employing a wet lab, you could potentially save years of research time in creating new compounds or drugs.

Accelrys had worked very hard to achieve success, but now needed to “look” like a grown up company to shareholders and potential investors. That’s where I came in.

The brochure shown here was the cornerstone of the overall brand. However, much of the marketing communications were data sheets and lengthy scientific papers that would describe the benefits and functions of the software.

in 2014, Accelrys was acquired by Dassault Systèmes, which changed the name of the company to Biovia.

Client: No Vacancy Live / MDG

Role: Concept Graphic Designer / Production Art Director

No Vacancy Live is the largest and most comprehensive business event for the hotel and accommodation industry.

The idea with this concept was that most hotel rooms, décor, and facilities are out-dated. Coming to the show would be a “Wake-up call” to take action and make upgrades to increase occupancy rates and revenue.

Client: Technology Patent Research (TPR)

Role: Agency / Art Director / Sr. Graphic Designer

TPR is a company that specializes in patent and prior art searches in every corner of the world.

I was initially tasked with creating a new logo for them. That blossomed into multiple annual campaigns for their marketing data sheets, mailers, brochures and conferences.

I am especially proud of the info graphic shown here, as it takes a very complicated idea and describes it visually.

Client: TPR

Role: Agency / Art Director / Graphic Designer

Pharma-Bio-Med is a conference created by TPR to bring together leading life sciences professionals, scientists, and attorneys to showcase new ways of managing their intellectual property.

I designed the theme and produced the program guide, signage, marketing brochures, name badges, and ads.

Through the years, I have created numerous logos and brand marks. Please ask me about anything you see here. I love to talk about them!