ABC Owned Television Stations:
Enterprise Brand & Creative Systems Modernization
Enterprise Brand & Creative Systems Modernization
Eight ABC-owned stations had operated separately for decades, each with its own visual language and its own way of working. The challenge was to bring them under one system, without formal authority over seven of the eight markets, while enabling a level of customization for each market to reflect regional and local flavor.
I defined and implemented unified design frameworks, dynamic content models, and governance structures that gave markets room to flex within a consistent system. I partnered across creative, editorial, and technology teams to align vision, workflows, and execution, and led implementation across seven distinct functions: design, technical, marketing, sales, digital, meteorology, and news operations. I earned alignment market by market through direct engagement, station by station.
The transformation launched across all eight markets within twelve months of the initial rollout, raising production standards, improving efficiency, and enabling richer, more responsive storytelling for audiences and creators alike.
Earning the trust of leaders and subject matter experts, market by market, took longer than handing down a mandate would have. It's also the reason the system was still running the way we designed it long after this project wrapped.
Localish:
Digital-First Network Brand & Content Systems
Digital-First Network Brand & Content Systems
There was no playbook for a digital-first brand inside a legacy broadcast group, and no team built to make one. The task was to create something from nothing, across eight markets that already had their own way of doing things, and make fresh bite-sized, off-beat local content feel native to digital audiences, rather than local news in a new coat.
I established and evolved the visual brand system, content frameworks, and creator workflows that supported more than fourteen original series produced across eight markets. I designed a flexible identity and production model built for speed, consistency, and local storytelling, distinct enough from traditional news branding that audiences could tell the difference at a glance. That included templating After Effects workflows across the team, so graphics and title sequences could be built once and adapted quickly for each series instead of rebuilt from scratch. Partnering with creators, producers, and station leadership, I led the translation of a common brand standard into unified, but locally produced, content.
The system supported seamless cross-platform production, strengthened brand recognition while appealing to digital audiences, and enabled creators to deliver short-form, high-impact content at scale, on budget, and on brand.
Building and evangelizing a brand from zero inside a company built for other major pipelines meant the hardest work happened before the first asset shipped: getting eight markets to row in the same direction for a new brand with a fresh aesthetic. This cohesion made the fourteen series possible. The visual system was easily adopted due to the templated workflow underneath it and smooth brand governance.
Our America:
Editorial Brand System & Multi-Platform Expansion
Editorial Brand System & Multi-Platform Expansion
In 2020, ABC's stations faced a moment no playbook accounted for: a pandemic and a national reckoning with racism, unfolding at once, while audiences needed coverage they could trust rather than only the headlines dominating the news cycle. The task wasn't a single documentary. It was a visual and narrative framework flexible enough to carry documentary, short-form digital, cultural observance programming, and live coverage, across eight markets, two streaming platforms, and partnerships including National Geographic, without losing coherence or editorial credibility.
I led the creation and evolution of Our America, an editorial brand platform developed through that period. What launched as an eight-market, data-driven documentary special expanded into an ongoing, multi-platform content brand across the ABC apps and Hulu. I provided brand and creative systems leadership through a diversity, equity, and inclusion lens, establishing narrative frameworks, visual identity standards, and governance models that enabled consistent, culturally responsible storytelling across markets and formats. The brand supported long-form and short-form content addressing systemic racism, economic disparity, public health, climate, and representation.
The system sustained trust-based, high-impact storytelling at scale, adapting across evolving platforms and audience expectations while a single documentary special grew into an ongoing brand.
Brand governance in high-stakes, high-velocity content needs the same discipline as governance anywhere: clear standards, explicit decision rights, and a system that allows frontline teams to move quickly and confidently, without central approval for every choice.
Chicago Cubs:
Broadcast Brand & Sponsorship Systems
Broadcast Brand & Sponsorship Systems
Live sports broadcasts demand a brand system to tackle two jobs at once for every game and every season: hold up as compelling television storytelling, and facilitate premium commercial value for sponsors, without either side undermining the other.
I led the development of an MLB-caliber broadcast graphics and brand system supporting Chicago Cubs game coverage across multiple seasons on ABC 7, establishing a comprehensive visual framework and integrated sponsorship model that aligned brand expression, live storytelling, and revenue objectives. Partnering closely with sales and client stakeholders, I led the design and implementation of a system with two tiers: easily-swappable, positioned elements for standard client placements, and custom-crafted designs for sponsors opting for concierge-level integrations conceptualized exclusively for them.
The system supported consistent, high-impact broadcasts across five seasons and contributed to sustained sponsorship demand, including multiple sold-out advertising cycles from year two through the end of the run.
Not every sponsor wanted the same level of customization. Standard clients moved fast on the swappable elements, while those who desired more exclusivity received bespoke integrations, conceived and built specifically for their brand and industry, without either path slowing the other down in production.
Live Well Network:
Foundational Brand & Systems
Foundational Brand & Systems
ABC Owned Television Stations needed a way to generate revenue from their digital sub-channels, the .2 tier riding alongside each market's primary broadcast signal. The answer was an entirely new lifestyle and wellness network built from all-original programming, a category that national networks like Oprah's OWN were later built on. We executed a network at local, multi-market scale, with no previously-established visual identity, no production model, and no precedent for how the work would get made, while full wheels of programming were already headed to air.
I provided creative brand and systems leadership for Live Well Network, leading the establishment of its foundational brand identity, visual standards, and operating frameworks during its early growth phase. To support the network without adding headcount, I established a design hub within my existing Chicago team, extending their capacity to create identities for Live Well's shows and content creators across the station group. I defined the creative direction, production model, and governance structures needed to support original programming, health-focused storytelling, and consistent brand expression across multiple markets, partnering cross-functionally to align creative execution with operational realities.
The network launched with the frameworks in place to support original programming and consistent brand expression across every market it aired in.
Live Well Network was the first time I built a brand system with no precedent to work from, no visual identity, no production model, nothing to adapt. There was no budget for new headcount either, so the design hub ran on my existing team's capacity alone, and it held.