SENIOR ART DIRECTOR
Skills: Concepting and creating. Getting to work from the brief on up. Co-conspiring with a copywriter to think up some genius and sharing that with a CD and starting all over again.
Key Learnings: Still not on the top of the world, but in the mix. Thinking can take time and thinking with a partner opens up a lot more to think about.
Places I Have Pitched My Desk: VMLY&R, Publicis Seattle, DNA Seattle, Venables Bell & Partner, TeamOne, Draft FCB, Cutwater SF, and Goodby Silverstein & Partners.
POSTAL CARRIER AT UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE
Skills: Carried 30lbs by foot, memorized multiple routes and developed psychological profiles of customers based on their mail.
Key Learning #1: People are way weirder, cooler and more interesting than they appear on the surface.
Key Learning #2: In spite of an incredibly broken system, the mail stubbornly gets delivered every day with uncanny accuracy.
ENGLISH INSTRUCTOR IN JAPAN
Skills: Taught English, looked at things through the eyes of an outsider, looked at things through they eyes of adolescents and participating in gym class.
Key Learning: Understanding culture requires perspective and distance.
IT PROFESSIONAL AT LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY
Skills: Troubleshooting faculty and student computers, administering networking/hardware/software and climbing the corporate ladder with surprising ease for a bicycle commuter with a ponytail.
Key Learning #1: People don’t understand technology.
Key Learning #2: Large monoliths have a hard time explaining it to them in digestible terms.
GALLERIST AT AM PROJECT LA
Skills: Built out live/work gallery space in downtown LA with a variety of really cool power tools (which I still own and operate!), curated group shows for emerging artists and managed one surly intern who I suspect was stealing supplies.
Key Learning: There’s no money in art.
SKI SHOP GRUNT AT SNOW COUNTRY
Skills: Sales/installation/service of equipment (Salomon, Rossignol, Fischer, Burton), finding angles on separating rich people from small chunks of money.
Key Learning: I’m able to work with absolute disregard of my own personal financial prospects.
ADDITIONAL FACTS
You might want to know #1: I'm building my own house and it is my first house build. And I think it is turning out pretty darn good.
You might want to know #2: I converted and lived in a decommissioned Hostess Snack Cakes van for a year to pay off credit cards (Van purchased from Dovebids).
You might want to know #3: I make furniture with my Grandpa Kelley in his woodshop.
You might want to know #4: I have an MFA in new genres from San Francisco Art Institute (the conceptual place, not the diploma mill).
You might want to know #5: I’ve got big ideas on how to run a better convenience store.
WHO WOULD YOU LIKE TO WORK WITH?
Roman Signer: He’s really good with fireworks, but might need to start a new career.
Josh Kolenik: The lead singer of Small Black. The funniest guy I know.
Ryan Hoercher: He’s a rad dude, my art collaborator and my brother.
BIO
I Seth
I work
I family
I play
I art direct
SKILLS
Adobe:
Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere, After Effects (just the basics)
Microsoft Suite (if I must)
Google Suite (love for collab)
