About

I understand both the romance and the reality of branding.

I care about typography, color, and storytelling, but just as much about dielines, vendor conversations, print limitations, and what actually holds up at scale. That combination comes from a decade spent inside the food and beverage industry, not just designing for it.

Path

How I got here

UCF BFA, Emerging Media: Graphic Design — University of Central Florida, class of 2020. Internship experience with Limbitless Solutions, SOFWERX, and the UCF Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership.

2017 Founded Clites Creative LLC — partnering directly with restaurant and beverage brands that needed high-level branding without big-agency overhead.

2020 Moved into in-house design — starting at Cigar City Brewing, then Cheba Hut and Smashburger. Each role is its own story below.

2022 Relocated to Colorado — continuing Clites Creative from Fort Collins, partnering with breweries, restaurants, and emerging CPG brands.

Today Clites Creative — back to running Clites Creative as an independent studio, working directly with clients on brand identity, packaging, and campaign design.

In-house experience

Where I've led design day-to-day

Cigar City Brewing

Lead designer supporting seasonal product launches, brand partnerships, and point-of-sale displays, including label and packaging design. Also designed for the taproom restaurant and branded vehicle wraps, including the Tampa streetcar trolley.

Read the case study →

Cheba Hut "Toasted" Subs

Promoted from Senior Graphic Designer to Creative Manager, leading a design team supporting 80+ restaurants. Owned creative for campaigns, packaging, paid media, and local shop marketing, plus every other creative need across the brand.

Smashburger

Senior Creative Manager leading design across 200+ restaurants, including the logo for the brand's most recent rebrand. Rebuilt the full asset library from the ground up, covering packaging, website, app, interior design, and menus.

Clients

Brands I've worked with

9 Lives Agency Adobe Aegis Safety Antelope Ridge Mead C&C Homes Cheba Hut "Toasted" Subs Cigar City Brewing Craft Maltsters Guild Devoted Oat Milk Feisty Spirits Whisky Gambler's Bay Distillery Hawthorne Innovations Agency House of Giants Agency Limbitless Solutions Long Table Brewhouse Open Road Jerky OSO Underground Roots & Leaves Kava Smashburger SOFWERX Sonder Kava Sunny Cabana Farms The Pop Parlour Total PML Troubadour Maltings UCF Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership ZooTampa

How I work

What that means for a project

Systems, not one-offs

Every identity is built to scale across cans, menus, signage, and campaigns without breaking down.

Production-aware

Dielines, print limitations, and vendor realities are considered from the first sketch, not discovered later.

Collaborative by default

The goal is uncovering the real why behind a brand, then turning that into visuals that feel authentic.

Built to drive sales

Good design looks right and performs on shelf, on a menu, or at the point of sale.