I have been the offsite creative director for cybersecurity startup Privafy, Inc. for the past two years. One of my primary responsibilities in this role is to develop and maintain a consistent visual brand across all mediums. This can be incredibly challenging when working with an organization that may not have fully evolved from a business and marketing standpoint.

Projects have included graphic standards development, print advertisements, collateral materials, multi-lingual product videos, web design, etc. I should also mention a plethora of PowerPoint slides.

Yes, PowerPoint!

Like it or not, despite PowerPoint's overly complex and challenging UI is the industry standard for business presentations. The application is widely distributed, and most business people are somewhat familiar with it. As a design professional, I have been critical of negative design characteristics, such as poor typography. Untethered rogue users can quickly up-end an organization's developing brand standards (despite their best intentions).

For Privafy, PowerPoint has become a valuable collaborative tool. Product engineers can take a rough pass at graphic concepts later refined to provide consistent visual brand consistency. Ideas can also be thoroughly flushed out in PowerPoint before expensive collateral material production costs.

Never a dull moment.

My work with Privafy is rewarding, and every day is different. A portion of my morning may involve redesigning the company's web home page. Still, that afternoon, I may be polishing up a presentation to be delivered in the Middle East. I was recently asked to have a recent video I produced translated into Arabic and Portuguese Spanish. And, of course, there was a tight deadline.

Today, my work continues as Privafy Products and services continue to evolve. However, the visual brand continues to build one project at a time.

“Over a decade of working together, Doug has continued to advance his creative, marketing, and planning skills. He has pushed me to test new communication avenues with great success.

 Doug is successful because he has the incredible experience, business savvy, and interpersonal skills while possessing unparalleled creativity and a sense of humor. He is a stand-out.

 Frequently, he creates successful solutions that seem to emanate out of the air. His vast knowledge and ability to form associations between objects or subjects allow him to find those perfect connections. He can approach routine tasks differently and with an alternative perspective, helping him and his team create original brand communications.

 Humor is another trait of Doug's personality and oeuvre. He is the only person in my surrounding who can find funny moments and use them as either teaching moments or lighten a tense situation.”

Kathleen Goodwin
Privafy, Inc.
VP Marketing & Strategic Channel Partnerships