My approach
Across roles, teams and industries, I’ve learned that the most effective creative work doesn’t shout for attention, it earns it by understanding identity, context and culture. Brands don’t live in campaigns, they live in the small decisions a brand makes every day. Creativity’s job is to honor that reality at every touchpoint. What connects the chapters of my career isn’t a category or a medium, but a point of view:
That brands succeed when they understand the role they play in people’s lives.
That culture is something you participate in, not something you interrupt.
And that leadership means helping others see possibility through presumed limitation. I don’t see creative work as something you produce and move on from. I see it as something you keep building; with patience, intention, judgement, taste and respect for the people who make it and the people who receive it.
That culture is something you participate in, not something you interrupt.
And that leadership means helping others see possibility through presumed limitation. I don’t see creative work as something you produce and move on from. I see it as something you keep building; with patience, intention, judgement, taste and respect for the people who make it and the people who receive it.
BIO
An art director by trade, Matt began his career in his hometown of Seattle. He first jumped into the spotlight at Hammerquist & Saffel, where he created award-winning work for K2 Skis and Sims Snowboards. The latter captured the One Show Gold Pencil. This sent him on to Wieden+Kennedy in Portland, Oregon, where Nike and Henry Weinhard’s were his muses. Moving back to his hometown after a Creative Director stint at StrawberryFrog in Amsterdam, Matt opened Creature with writer and University of Puget Sound fellow alum Jim Haven in 2002.
During Creature’s 14 year run, Matt brought a transformative approach to advertising for brands including Starbucks, Google, HBO, Pacifico Beer, Dickies, and Pepsi. In August 2016, Matt assumed the post of ECD at The Wexley School for Girls, re-uniting with long-time friends and former creative partners Ian Cohen and Cal McCallister. Currently, Matt is Executive Creative Director at Catalysis, a Seattle digital agency seeking to connect data and creativity to drive business results. Outside of work, Matt likes to be on his classic boat with his wife, teaching his three kids how to tie knots, swab decks and talk like a pirate.