Steve Donatelli, Principal, Creative Director and Senior Designer, is recognized as one of Portland’s most passionate and multi-talented entrepreneurs of corporate identity and brand development.
Steve currently heads Creative Company’s brand design group in Portland, Oregon and helped built its core expertise. Working with cross-disciplinary teams, he has created brands and identities for some of the region’s leading private and public organizations. Steve has consulted with ambitious start-up entrepreneurs, numerous marketing agencies and Fortune 500 brand marketers throughout the Northwest.
Steve is guided by three overarching beliefs:
1. Brands function best when they are responsive and agile, but keep strong guiding principles at the core of everything they do;
2. Brands matter; they differentiate, they add value, they provoke interest, and they have enormous social and economic influence;
3. Brand building is not an art or a science; it is the careful fusion of both.
Since childhood, Steve has been exceptionally passionate and self motivated about creating authentic stories and symbolic design. His “see it through” work ethic is evident in early paintings, illustrated stories and books produced and sold as a young illustrator, designer and entrepreneur. His passion continues today as he helps clients examine their approach to customer communication and to develop thoughtful and meaningful graphic translations of refreshed brand, corporate, and/or product strategies.
Through his ability, he can see his client’s branding challenges in a big-picture framework and breaks them down into manageable initiatives. Steve is able to direct a service profile, which is highly efficient and successful, despite current economic hardships. Drawing on a strong marketing and communications background, as well as priceless experience working in varied creative capacities, Steve has the necessary skills and abilities to advance communication goals toward breakthrough design solutions amidst today’s challenging marketing forces.
Steve was educated in California where he acquired what would be classified today as a “Mentors set of graphic skills” to be admired by the highest of practitioners in the “Art”.
In his early years Steve was guided by the work of Saul Bass, Jay Vigon, Stan Lee, Frank Frazetta, Ralph McQuarrie, Syd Mead, Ridley Scott and other formidable storytellers, filmmakers, illustrators and futurists. Steve’s early interests in iconic stories meshed with forward thinking environmental and physical design is evident in his current work as he continues to lead clients to success. He’s also been known to cook up a mean stir-fry. (Just checking if anyone really reads this stuff).
Steve was recently recognized by Service Industry Advertising Awards, for his company’s innovative development of Ministry Advertising for a brand refresh marketing program of a prestigious financial organization; in which, gold, silver and merit place awards were given. He has also been involved with the Hoyt Arboretum in Portland, Oregon, and is responsible for the recent redesign oftheir brand identity. Steve has also garnered accolades from notable institutions such as Graphic Design: USA, Print Magazine and International Association of Business Communicators to name a few. His work has also been published in three books by Rockport Publishers. Steve has an active Facebook page which can be found at www.facebook.com/brandclarity and participates in professional and social networks.
Steve enjoys advising or consulting on serious, innovative projects in his areas of interest (digital design, branding, marketing and communications). Steve generally prefers broad roles working with entrepreneurs and creative teams that also have the goal of improving internal adoption, the bottom line, as well as launching ultra-successful products and/or businesses and improving the overall human experience. Non-profits employing design to improve funding and business are always considered.
Steve finds particular interest in programs and initiatives that encompass brand expression and is currently exploring branding engagements in the areas of: Nano Technology, Micro Biology, Bio Defense, Information Technology, Human Sciences, Healthcare and Military Technology. Steve enjoys meeting new people and is always learning, growing and reaching for the next edge.
Steve resides in Portland, Oregon and is a proud father of two beautiful girls. Steve enjoys entertaining friends and family, restoring his 1960's ranch style home and palling around with his elite pack of K9 circus clowns.
