Hi New Friend!
Thanks for taking the time to visit my site. In here, I’ve included a bit of my background, some visual data on my skills, and a couple of my testimonials. If I missed anything, just let me know!
Quick Overview
When it comes to my career, you could say I tend to work a bit too much. However, I am overly passionate about producing intuitive interfaces, compelling graphics, and custom illustrations. Oh, and I shoot a bit of photos on the side. I not only love what I do, but also the people I work with. I really couldn’t see my life any other way.
While my portfolio is extremely diverse, my real passions revolve around the outdoor lifestyle. Kayaking, Surfing, Diving, Fishing, Boating, Hiking, and International Travel. As long as I am close to Nature and the Ocean, I have everything I will ever need.
And while I’ve told you a lot about the areas I love, here is a handy little chart to give you a better idea on how my skills are distributed.
The History Of
In 2000, I graduated from Full Sail University with a degree in Multi-Media Design. Following graduation I went directly into the Lead Graphic Designer position at ASG Naples, Florida. The next two years were spent diligently working to re-brand the company and implement the new branding to national and international markets. Recognizing my hard work, ASG offered to relocate me to their newly opened Tokyo office. Happily accepting the promotion, I spent three years as Office Manager and Marketing Associate (APAC Region) in their Tokyo office, maintaining a staff of six Japanese employees and implemented the brand for the Japanese market.
After three years of employment overseas, I decided I was ready to return stateside. I relocated to Los Angeles, California and started working for a design studio whose clients consisted of Paramount and Fox. It wasn’t long after I started that I began managing the production of every project and took on the added roll of Account Executive. I spent two years working directly with Paramount and Fox, vendors, printers, and freelancers until I decided to relocate to Florida in order to be closer to my family.
Shortly after my return to Florida I was offered a job with Neighborhood America where I spent almost three years designing and developing social networks, supplying the entire company with any creative needs that arose, and ultimately running the Creative Services team of five.
In order to quench my artistic thirst I partnered up and started a boutique web-dev studio called Kazé Studios. We specialized in working with large marketing agencies as a white label solution to their design and development needs. Our primary focus was in creating and developing mobile/social offerings.
Now, as a Freelance Creative Director, I am open to new and exciting opportunities.
Testimonials
Jason Breed, Senior Digital Strategist – Social Media Lead, Accenture
“It’s always fun to run across a truly brilliant creative mind. Nick is certainly that but what sets him apart is his business acumen along with the creative. Nick was the “go-to” guy that helped a small niche company look and feel like a world-class player. When I moved to a Fortune 500 company and needed creative design inspired by the business, I came back and found Nick to do it. All Aces in my book!”
Michelle Nelson, President/CEO, Blue Strategy + Creative Intl
“I have had the opportunity to work with Nick for several years. He is a confident and intuitive professional. His work is clearly a reflection of his commitment to craft. Every product is well designed, aligned with of its purpose and artfully remarkable.”
David Rippetoe, CTO and Co-Founder, Proximus Mobility
“Nick does great work. He is the best designer that I have worked with. Not only is he fast but he can produce great work with very little direction. We will continue to utilize Nick and I would recommend him to any business that needs quality creative and design work done.”
Corey Inouye, Director of Digital Marketing at Mobile Fusion
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with Nick. He has the creative chops to produce excellent design while providing thought leadership and strategy that goes beyond the design. This is the intangible that provides real value to me and my clients. Nick is extremely easy to work with and always hits or beats his deadlines and turns deliverables quickly. I would whole heartedly recommend Nick and WILL hire him again.”
Michael Zeto, CEO at Proximus Mobility
“Nick is by far the most competent design professional I have worked with. What makes Nick stand out is that he is not just creative and produce his work on time, but he can execute on his and the clients vision, while taking the time to understand the strategic business objective behind the creative output he is asked to produce. By doing this he adds a tremendous amount of value to any team.”
Courtney Wiley, MBA, Director of Digital Marketing, INgage Networks
“I’ve worked with Nick Botner across two different organizations–Kaze Studios and INgage Networks (f/k/a Neighborhood America) and have been impressed on both fronts. Nick is the consummate professional and highly-talented creative director with such a gift for messaging within art. To work with Nick is to work alongside creative genius. He is a great resource to have on your team.”
Tom Edwards, Chief Marketing Officer, INgage Networks
“Nick is an incredibly talented individual. I had the pleasure of working with Nick on multiple projects and the results always exceeded my expectations. His ability to take the abstract and create meaningful assets that ultimately led to driving business was just one of the ways that Nick drove value. His ability to motivate his team and drive through tough deadlines and still create amazing visuals is a testiment to his creative vision as well as attention to detail. I would highly recommend Nick without hesitation.”
Ryan Walker, Senior Director Research & Development, Neighborhood America
“Nick has an acute attention to detail and understands concepts easily. He also takes time to understand the task presented to him beyond the basis of design. This results in a deeper dive to understand how a design concept will affect the end user. Often Nick’s designs evoke an emotion that draws the viewer to explore more.”
Sunny Dronawat, Ph.D., Director, Flex Team, Neighborhood America
“Nick is a creative genius. He is very good with graphics and can make a very complex proccess easy to understand with creative use of colors and shapes. He is a true asset to any marketing department and he is very creative and innovative. His knowledge of Web 2.0 and GUI give him skillsets that are in high demand. Nick’s “can do” demeanor and technical background make a fantastic combination to tackle any issue any company may have. His dedication to his work has made him a great colleague to many. He also has a great sense of humor.”
Shelley Sonnentag, Owner, Sonnentag Design Group
“Nick is indeed a very detail-oriented manager who proved to be a valubale asset to me and my company.
In addition to being creative with strong Art Direction skills, he is methodical, diplomatic and technologically savvy. He is one of the most well-rounded people that I have had the pleasure of working with and employing.”
