A New Way To See

A New Way To See

If a highly structured ad agency and a raucous punk rock record label had a love child, its company culture might resemble that of Blind, Inc. For over a decade, Blind’s multi-disciplinary talent pool has drawn upon their experience in design and animation, TV production and editing to undertake projects ranging from high-end spots to broadcast promos, to feature film titles and print projects.

Says Blind founder and Executive Creative Director Chris Do: "My goals starting out were to impose only enough structure on myself and my design team to efficiently wrangle in our sometimes-raw creative instincts. I wanted to build an employee-friendly, ego-free company where people loved to spend the day."  Do also recognized that agencies desired a more collaborative work environment for creating graphics-based spots. "A lot of agencies felt beholden to one artist's singular vision and were often disappointed with the results.  It's always been my experience that the best design solution is reached through a democratic, not autocratic, process."

Blind’s visionary business model elicits intense loyalty from clients, who turn to the company for design solutions year after year. “It's pretty rare that you find the perfect mix of concept and strategy, technical awesomeness and a lack of egotistical bullshit,” says Cliff Watson, Bozell Partner/Creative Director. "The real question isnullt: 'why do we keep coming back?' The question actually is, 'why in the hell would we work with anyone else?'"

Scott McDonald at Rubin Postaer and Associates (RPA) has been bringing his projects to Blind for over ten years. “What keeps me coming back is the talent,” says McDonald. “It is easy to trust the caliber of work that they do. I have consistently been surprised by fresh thinking that takes my projects further.”

Having started with a roster of only one creative director/designer (Do himself), the Blind family has now expanded to four creative directors, five full-time designers and a host of non-staff talent. Here’s the lineup:

Chris Do has built a name for himself within the Los Angeles design community. Do first came to LA to attend the celebrated Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.  Upon graduation, he worked as a designer for punk rock label Epitaph Records and joined the Seattle-based ad agency, Cole & Weber.  His experiences as an art director motivated him to break off on his own to create a working environment where creativity could flourish.

Founding Blind in 1995, Do spent the first year sleeping on the office floor and dining out of take out containers.  During this first year, he lived the age-old Catch 22: canullt get a job designing a big spot unless you've already designed a big spot.  But he finally got his shot with a major Mitsubishi campaign for Deutsch/LA - and hasnullt looked back since. In addition to running the company, Do stays abreast of design trends and hot emerging talent as an adjunct instructor at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and Otis College of Design, Los Angeles.

Wisconsin-born Erik Buth is a highly-regarded editor, animator, designer and director. Buth’s entré into production came in high school, where he produced the innovative public access show Star Trek-meets-The Young Ones. While short-lived, the broadcast experiment ignited Buth's creative fire. Since then, Buth has managed to infuse every project he comes across with fresh ideas and offbeat thinking.

After graduating from the University of Wisconsin with a major in Film & Television, Buth began his career in LA editing and animating movie trailers.  A unique opportunity came his way when the editor cutting Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan trailer suffered a nervous breakdown. While Buth wasnullt the cause of the breakdown, this event gave him the chance to step up and finish the project.  Complete it he did (alongside Chris Do, who served as a titles designer on the trailer), Buth spent the next two years creating memorable movie ads for such studio fare as Enemy of the State and The Thomas Crown Affair.

After joining Blind in 2000 as an Editor/Animator, Buth soon rose to become an Art Director and was promoted to Creative Director in 2007.  His career at Blind has mirrored the company's growth, as his spots have garnered attention in several publications. He has already added to Blind's growing collection of awards with wins at the International Telly Awards. Buth credits his management of creative teams in all aspects of production as what currently winds his clock -- that, and Star Trek reruns.

Vanessa Marzaroli lived in Thailand before moving stateside to attend the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena where she studied graphic design alongside Chris Do.  Marzaroli and Do didnullt work together professionally until several years later, after Marzaroli had worked as a designer and art director at E! Entertainment TV, and later as a creative director at Fuel/Razorfish TV.  The highlight of her tenure at Fuel/Razorfish was an Emmy for a cutting-edge broadcast package she created for ESPnulls Summer X-Games.

Marzaroli joined Blind because of her high regard for Do and affinity for the tight-knit company culture.  She prides herself in bringing an edge, tempered with femininity, to every design challenge. Her work at Blind has garnered awards at the BDA Design competition, the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the Type Directors Club, the Art Directors Club and the Broadcast Design Association.

Drawing on a background in print, illustration and character animation, Los Angeles native Tom Koh has developed an impressive body of commercial, film and broadcast work expressing his unique voice.  Another Arts Center alum, Koh started at Blind as a freelance Designer/ Animator in 2000, stepping up to Creative Director in 2005. Koh has served as an integral part of the company's growth, leading recognized campaigns such as XBOX 360, Quiksilver “Vertical,"  Fox Sports, and Newport Beach Film Festival (2007 and 2008) in addition to rebranding Sony’s “like.no.other” and creating the music video “Look What You’ve Done” for Jet. 

A student of all things visual, Koh's influences range from the abstract works of Robert Rauschenberg to Japanese animé. His work goes beyond spectacle to offer clients unique and powerful branding solutions; his designs and character animations are meticulously detailed and joyously alive.
 
Koh’s creative voice is a solution-oriented mix of whimsy and sensibility. His vast experience in filmmaking, illustration, film title and brand identity design has made him a recognized figure in the motion graphics community. His work at Blind has been honored by The BDA, The Type Directors Club, The Art Directors Club and is featured in multiple industry trade publications.

Blind has been turning out award-winning design since 1995, reinventing itself a few times along the way. What remains constant at this bicoastal design/production powerhouse is an ability to engender surprise.

As its highly regarded talent roster demonstrates, Blind has matured into a multifaceted full-service production entity offering clients an ideal environment to exchange ideas, perfectly illustrating the unofficial company tagline: “A new way to see.”