Although he runs a company and can often be seen wearing a sport coat, Chris is at heart just as much of a creative as he is a businessman.
The oversized iMac in his office is not just for show: Chris stays in touch with his graphic design roots by working on client projects nearly every day—Sundays and snow days included.
Having been an art director at full-service advertising agencies, he appreciates and understands marketing communications in all its forms. And, having handled campaigns ranging from banks and health care systems to skateboard companies and child advocacy non-profits, he knows how the pieces of the puzzle go together.
A clear thinker and an avid reader of industry books, blogs, and publications, Chris embodies the expertise of Choke Design Company.
Professional obsessions
- Gets giddy over printing deliveries
- Loves letterpress and screen printing
- Buys records just for the cover design
- Unnatural affection for Magic Mouse
Extracurriculars
- Hijacking juke box on Elliot Smith’s deathiversary
- Spontaneous golf excursions
- Walking Wilco (his dog) down State Street
- Stomping on earsplitting effects pedals
- Dominating dart board in league matches
Fun facts
- In a past life, managed a skateboard shop and a Pizza Hut
- Is engaged to office manager extraordinaire Molly Brown
- Has considered buying Volkswagen Jetta as company car
When it comes to keeping projects moving at a good clip, Molly Brown is indeed unsinkable.
The organizational talent behind Choke Design Company, she does it all, and does it well. From production and scheduling to disciplining the office dog (and occasionally a misbehaving vendor), she keeps everything running smoothly.
But her talents don’t stop there. Molly’s voice of reason and logic cuts through the clutter and helps give Choke creative a razor sharp edge. She learns fast and pitches in anywhere she can—from large layout jobs to daily minutia.
With Molly around, clients can always rest assured that their projects are being handled efficiently from start to finish
with plenty of attention and care.
Professional Obsessions
- Secretly enjoys repetitive and mentally meticulous jobs
- Has a soft spot for paper samples
- Wishes there were more Pantone colors
- Is a whiz at webinars
Extracurriculars
- Considering all the songs on NPR’s All Songs Considered
- Sampling the weekly microbrew offering at Der Maennerchor
- Ogling the fruits and vegetables at the Broad Street Market
- Fiddling with the new Nikon D90
- Planning her wedding (to Chris)
Fun Facts
- Listened to every episode of “Radiolab” and “This American Life” while laying out textbooks
- Recently decided to teach herself Dreamweaver and HTML
- Used to assemble blister-packs of pills for nursing homes
- Introduced to a female fighter pilot at an early age in hopes that she would become one
Evan is a word guy with a great appreciation for graphic design.
Aside from fiddling with hyphens and replacing “lorem ipsum dolor sit amet” with meaningful language, he brings strong conceptual and strategic thinking to the Choke Design team.
Asking the right questions is one of Evan’s fortes. As an ad agency copywriter, he asked so many questions of his art-side partners that he started to learn some of the interesting little intricacies of design. As associate creative director, he now asks questions of clients. Typically, these questions lead to answers, and those answers lead to solutions.
Evan’s creative experience includes everything from ice cream to architecture, as well as a stint working in the communications office of an elite university.
Professional obsessions
- Always has a pen and a piece of paper (and a smartphone)
- Receives an etymological word-of-the-day email. (Today: “paraprosdokian”)
- Compelled to analyze every billboard, TV spot, and restaurant placemat
- Often writes 5-10 pages worth of taglines in order to present three options
Extracurriculars
- Playing guitar and trombone in a popular “kindie” band
- Writing poems and then hiding them in an old briefcase
- Cycling to California (the village) via Mexico (the road)
- Allowing one-year-old daughter to poke her fingers in his eyes
- Coaching high school lacrosse
Fun facts
- Had a commercial cheese dispenser on his desk for one week
- Played Kobe Bryant two-on-one at a playground (and lost)
- Has been inside a homeless person’s home
- Once helped arrange for a country band to play in China
- Disgusts Chris by arriving at the office on rollerblades
