Loading ...Brent Urbanski Design 30 November 2008
Independent Graphic Designer/Art Director currently specializing in Identity Design
Brent Urbanski Design is the independent graphic design studio of Brent Urbanski, specializing in Identity Design for companies of all sizes and industries. With over a decade of graphic design and art direction experience in a variety of disciplines, Brent is now focused on creating enduring identities that communicate the uniqueness of each client. Using his developed design process, he is driven to create aesthetic and useful design that has purpose–never resting until a highly effective brand experience is achieved. Working in both print and digital media, Brent Urbanski Design produces logos, product graphics, web sites, advertising, packaging, and collateral materials.
Throughout his career, Brent has helped create identities for many successful brands and their products. While his background and client list primarily consists of athletic and culture-driven brands, he has recently started to broaden his client base. Generally speaking, he’s looking to work on a variety of projects with good people who care about design and enjoy what they do.
Prior to establishing his own design studio, Brent had worked in-house for many successful companies. Most recently, he was hired by LeMans Corporation to help create the brand story and visual direction for a start-up motorcycle apparel company called Icon Motosports. Brent’s solutions allowed him, and the brand, to win numerous awards for advertising, marketing, and product design. His work is also credited for helping to revitalize the once lethargic street motorcycle industry. Icon Motosports is now one of the worldwide leaders and most imitated brands in the motorcycle industry today.
Brent has also designed for Thor Motocross and Slippery Wetsuits, splitting his contributions between their print and product design departments. He honed his merchandising skills while packaging hundreds of Samsonite® licensed products with H&L Products, Incorporated. He was the sole designer for Platinum Skateboards and XYZ Clothing. His first entrepreneurial venture was a successful design studio with a good friend in the late 90’s. Before his professional career began in 1996, he attended The Advertising Arts College of San Diego (now The Art Institute of California - San Diego).
What are you up to?
I recently picked up a new client in the biomedical industry. I’m helping them redesign their corporate website and create an identity package for a line of natural medicines geared toward women’s health issues. My client base is primarily made up of athletic and culture-driven brands, but every once and a while I like to take on something outside of my comfort zone.
Along with my design work, I’m building resources that develop connections between the buyers and providers of creative services in Portland. I launched the PDX Creative Directory in late 2007. It is a venue that allows creative service businesses to promote their services, and buyers to “shop” for these services, all in one place. It has been very rewarding to hear stories from users about how the directory has helped generate business and facilitate creative needs. It’s pretty cool when something you’ve put so much energy into actually functions as planned. The Portland Creative Current was built to take this concept further, creating a platform for creative service businesses to introduce themselves on a more personal level, with hopes of generating additional connections. I also wanted to create an up-to-date meeting place for everyone to share industry news and other relevant information.
What do you do best?
I’d have to say that logo design is my greatest strength as a graphic designer. Whether I’m being asked to establish the visual identity of an entire brand, or the unique perspective of an individual product, I’ve always excelled at creating powerful and appropriate logo solutions. I take great pride in developing an identity for a client and I feel the logo is the core element of that identity. I love the challenge of trying to tell a brand’s story with one small mark, and it’s incredibly rewarding to see a client take pride in wearing that mark.
What do you like most about Portland’s Creative Services community?
The quality and depth of Portland’s creative talent rivals that of the larger, more renowned creative cities, yet we seem to operate with the modesty of a small community. We are still highly competitive, but I feel there is less of a “dog-eat-dog” mentality here. As I discover more and more of our city’s talent, I’m always amazed at how friendly and open everyone can be. Portland has so much creative talent and I’d love for everyone to get to know these people.
How did you become an advocate for the vitality of Portland’s Creative Services industries?
It developed out of personal necessity. As long as I have worked in Portland, I’ve always had a difficult time locating the creative services I need, when I need them. While thinking of ways to make this search process easier for myself, I recognized that our creative services industries could benefit from a solution as well. I decided to build a specialized directory to provide creative businesses with a venue to promote their services, and in turn, help buyers find these businesses. The PDX Creative Directory is a simple and effective way to help people connect with our city’s creative services. The Portland Creative Current is designed to act as a daily trade journal. It allows people to learn about our city’s talent on a more personal level, and supplies other relevant and up-to-date industry information. So, while my original intentions were personal, my new goal is to aid in the success of our Creative Services industries.
What experience do you consider to be the highlight of your graphic design career?
My greatest professional achievement was my contribution to the success of Icon Motosports. But, I’d have to say my personal career highlight was creating signature model board graphics for the pro skaters I admired while growing up. Right out of art school, I had the opportunity to work for Danny Way’s start-up brands Platinum Skateboards and XYZ Clothing Company. The experience was both exciting and nerve-racking for me, as a twenty-three year old graphic design newbie fresh out of the school. The work I produced was definitely not the best of my design career, but the experience I gained was priceless.
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