Background

Background

I have been leading online design and development projects of all shapes and sizes since 1994.

I started as the first in-house designer for AOL, having just earned a BFA in Illustration from Ringling College of Art and Design. At that time, the online universe was very much a frontier, so most of what we did, we did from scratch. There were few (if any) books on screen design, and even concepts like the ubiquious "home" button were unsettled. I worked closely with a number of major clients including Viacom (MTV and Nickelodeon), the NFL, ABC Television, and NBC Television in their first-ever forays online.

I built the founding design team, "AOL Art Dept.", hiring and managing the first several full-time designers and production artists; Wrote the first set of "Art Guidelines"; Led numerous training seminars for employees and partners; And oversaw the visual development of AOL during its transition from a distant third-place online service to its emergence as the dominant player.

In late 1996 I entered the marketing industry, soon becoming the Associate Creative Director for Arnold Communications / Circle.com (now Arnold Worldwide), a national top 20 advertising and interactive agency. In this role, I led the visual and written creative work for clients such as DeWalt Tools, Mobil 1, SAP America, and the Washington Redskins.

In 1999, I left Arnold to work independently. While some clients benefitted from the agency model, I saw that most clients simply needed the attention of a very small number of experts, sometimes only one. I formed Jeff Wright Web Design & Development in an effort to work for clients of all sizes in a leaner, more individualized, more flexible manner. Whether working solo, in concert with a client's in-house resources, or in partnership with other specialists, I believe I have helped scores of organizations succeed on the web.