CLIENT: cocktails at table 7 podcast, NEW YORK

When the terrific folks behind this new (cozy, hilarious, and politely dishy) podcast asked me to design the logo, I about passed out. Even if I weren’t a loyal (and relatively new) fan (since 1995) of Joe Allen’s burgers and the chocolate fudge pudding cake (and the banana cream pie — don’t talk shit about the BCP, people), I would still love this podcast. Really! Jason, Dana, and Sean (multitalented longtime hash-slingin’ stars of Joe Allen and Orso’s) have put together — along with James Rubio’s toe-tapping score — is an absolute (politely) dishy blast! Check out Cocktails at Table 7 ( featuring Chita Rivera, Betty Buckley (it’s a two-parter!), F. Murray Abraham(he cusses a lot but not nearly enough for my taste) Johnathan Groff , Peter Gallagher, Stockard Channing and many more! Also, ridiculously enough, even I appeared on the anniversary show (and am proud to say I was the first person to be twice bleeped when asked their favorite cuss word).

CLIENT: DJ sammy jo, new york

Who’s this fella? Sammy Jo is Downtown New York DJ, who named himself after that skanky conniving girl on Dynasty and, by God, that speaks volumes. He also tours with Jake Shears, and spins at Club Cumming, and sundry gay bars about town. You can also enjoy his work on the Spotify, which considering his sobriquet, is surprisingly tasteful and brilliant! What was your inspiration? We started all Super Fly-ish at first but then I was all: Let’s bust this shit up and make it more electric like The Electric Company! Voila!

CLIENT: Travelex/samsung, New York

What’s going on here? For two years I was the sole in-house graphic designer for Travelex North America and there was always plenty to do but this one was especially fun.

What were you asked to do? Travelex, like a lot of companies, used “secret” code words (or terms) while ironing out deals with other companies: this one was Magpie 6. What was this collaboration actually about? I had no idea and couldn’t have cared less (they wouldn’t tell me anyway) but I did know that the CEO asked me to come up with a logo based on the British nursery rhyme:

One for sorrow,
Two for joy,
Three for a girl,
Four for a boy,
Five for silver,
Six for gold,
Seven for a secret never to be told

I whipped up this logo (with the gold coin in his mouth) for us in a day, sent it off to the printers, and in a week we had boxes of tees filling our lobby (I designed that too) hoping we’d have a reason to wear them if the deal went through. Three days before the announcement I was talking to Billy’s Cupcakes about a custom cake and we figured: hey, either way we’ll have cake. Turns out it was a big celebration, the deal was a success, everybody got some fun merch and we all gorged on cake. How can you complain about that?

For a corporate gig, I have to say, working at Travelex was a blast because the people were amazing and our kitchen was always loaded with treats, camaraderie, laughter, and talk about 90 Day Fiancé. I also redesigned the lobby and all the conference rooms.

CLIENT: cornbread and conversations, New York

Who is Tren'ness Woods-Black? She’s a thousand things and every single one is awesome. For starters she’s the exuberant beam-of-light granddaughter of Sylvia Woods (of Sylvia’s Harlem Restaurant) and now she’s the host of her own terrific podcast Cornbread and Conversations. Best part of the gig? Hanging out with Tren’ness — for cornbread, cocktails, and plenty of conversation — was the best part. Second best part? Tren’ness is a clotheshorse and has a lot of hairstyles to keep me busy.

CLIENT: MOTHERS AGAINST LYME, international

What was the brief? I was asked to create a lime-colored logo (plus pamphlets, letterhead, website, memes for social media, etc.) for a charity about mothers who have passed Lyme disease in utero to their children. Best part of the gig? We went through quite a few comps on this campaign but literally came back to the first concept I sketched out on the phone. I was thrilled they were brave enough to go with something so simple that quickly conveyed exactly what it’s all about: a pregnant woman passing Lyme disease to her kid. Biggest takeaway? You do not want to get Lyme disease. Designing all the pamphlets, memes, and art directing the website was a real education and something I’ve now become passionate about. Give their website a look and educate yourself and please, dear god, make sure you don’t get bitten by a tick.