Cooldesign.zone

Mailchimp Illustration

From 2022-2026, I oversaw the Mailchimp illustration program. I art directed a blend of in-house and contract illustrators to refresh the iconic Mailchimp illustration style and bring additional consistency, humanity, and empathy to the system. I even went as far as collaborating with True Grit Texture Supply to develop a proprietary set of Procreate brushes so that all our illustrators could be working with the same tools.

Illustration by James Abercrombie, animation by Rachel Yonda

Illustrated by James Abercrombie.

Top row illustrated by Franz Lang. Bottom row illustrated by James Daw.

Illustration and copy by James Abercrombie

Illustration by James Abercrombie

Against All Odds: Mailchimp's 2020 Annual Report

2020 was a doozy, so Mailchimp decided to make their report focus more on their customers’ success stories and bright spots rather than dwell the negative things that happened. I illustrated the report with Chris Sandlin and Luke Webster, and then Linda McNeil animated the whole thing. Our killer dev team put it all together with crazy speed.
Awards:
D&AD Graphite Pencil - Illustration
D&AD Wood Pencil - Graphic Design
ADC Silver Cube - Brand/Communication Design
The One Club Bronze Pencil

Against All Odds

Screen Shot 2021-04-27 at 2.00.33 PM.png

Screen Shot 2021-04-27 at 2.01.20 PM.png

Additional Credits:

Christian Widlic - Creative Director
Ross Zietz - Art Director
Meg Lindsay - Designer
Austin Ray - Writer
Chris McGee, Christina Scavone - Comms
Jordan Andree, Brian Ball - Dev
and countless others tbh

Freddie's Dream Cruise

Freddie’s Dream Cruise was a Mailchimp company party of titanic proportions. Our team chose the name and then built a surrealist visual identity based on the concept of “a voyage inside the mind.” We wanted it to feel like the ideal cruise trip as created by your subconscious.

I created a hand-drawn custom logotype and paired it with digitally airbrushed illustrations, classic typography, and a tropical sunset color palette to achieve a creamy psychedelic feel.

We used our visual identity to inform every touchpoint including signage, swag, and a 12 foot cruise ship on stage at The Eastern. In addition, we created moodboards to help guide the events team in choosing furniture and decor.

Additional Credits

Christian Widlic - Creative Director
Carl-Hampus Vallin - Designer
Luke Webster - Designer

Mailchimp Welcome Kit

Mailchimp wanted to have an onboarding kit to welcome new hires and give them their first box of company swag. I conceptualized and designed a kit that would introduce new employees to some of the teams and corporate values. I also wanted it to represent how diverse and friendly Mailchimp employees are, so I took snippets of conversations I overheard during a typical day and illustrated them. The kit included a shirt, a tote, a mug, and a sticker sheet.

Mailchimp Games

I’ve illustrated and art directed two games for Mailchimp. I also helped set a lot of the general vibe of the games and helped write the jokes.

Meow Mart

You’re a bodega cat, dodging snacks from a villainous vending machine. Play it here.

Awards:
FWA Site of the Day
Awwwards Honorable Mention

Post Haste

You’re young Freddie, before he inherited a multi-million dollar email business (and before the internet). Prove to your pops that you have what it takes to run the family business by delivering some postcards and by not getting obliterated by an abandoned shopping cart. Play it here.

Additional Credits:
Game Development and Project Lead: Chase Curry
Animation: Linda McNeil
Additional Illustration: Luke Webster
Music: Luke Webster
SFX, Post Haste: Caleb Andrews
SFX, Meow Mart: Luke Webster
Producer, Post Haste: Elizabeth Teasley
Producer, Meow Mart: Paul Byk
Additional Art Direction, Meow Mart: Ross Zietz
Additional Illustration, Post Haste: Joe Montefusco

Mailchimp Parades

I’ve been fortunate to work on quite a number of parades at Mailchimp. I have been the lead designer on all these projects. For the Inman Park Parades, I was the creative lead. With the Pride Parades, I partnered with artists from the LGBTQ+ community to help transfer their vision to balloons, giveaways, and parade participant apparel.

Pride 2018 with Barry Lee

Pride 2019 with Adam J. Kurtz

Inman Park Parade 2018

Additional Credits:
Photography: Jamie Hopper, Albrica Tierra, Lizzy Johnston
AD: Ross Zietz
Additional Linocuts, Inman Park Parade: Mattiel Brown, Luke Webster
Parade Coordinator: Ashley Wilson
Pride Parade Consultation: Pride Employee Resource Group at Mailchimp
Pride Parade fabrication partner: XD Agency

School Night

School Night is a vintage-inspired kids' brand. I created School Night with my wife to bring back the rad and exciting t-shirt designs of the 70s and 80s, and we hope to expand to records and books soon.

website | instagram

Branding

Goldstar Recordings

Goldstar Recordings is a record label based in Australia and Nashville, TN.

MC Records

MC Records is Mailchimp’s record label.

Profile + Principle

Profile + Principle is a modern architecture firm in Nashville, TN that I named and branded in partnership with Mark Kirby.

Teamworks Art

Logo for a company that makes licensed college sports collectibles.

School Night

Logo for the kids clothing brand I started with my family.

Satis Factory

Logo for an imaginary factory for a real Mattiel album.

Taradactyl

Logo for my favorite DJ.

Bowli Hai

Bowli Hai was a proposed tiki bowling lounge that wasn’t to be. Too bad, it would've been awesome.

Kanga

Kanga is a crowdsource delivery app. This was an unused option developed in partnership with Matchstic.

Club Soda

I was lucky enough to design the logo and every poster for Atlanta’s coolest dance party.

Brother Moto

I partnered with the cool dudes at Brother Moto to design two tees for their spring/summer line. The designs were based on 1970s motocross.

BKR-1_b71c01b9-4d1b-4c6d-9dfe-787afb1be593_1024x1024.jpg

BKR-2_cf461b11-d694-453f-be25-599333f5b8a3_1024x1024.jpg

Unfamous Pirates

Unfamous Pirates from Arrrrgh! to Z is an unfinished children's book about the most fearsome and fumbling swashbucklers to ever fade into complete obscurity. Their tales of mischief, misadventure, and mismanagement are collected here to amuse and horrify the ages. All ages. I illustrated this book myself and wrote the poems with my wife.

Music Packaging

The Explorers Club - Grand Hotel

Designed the LP, CD, Cassette, and 8 Track. Cover photo by Troy Stains.

The Explorers Club - Together

Designed the LP, CD, and Cassette versions. Cover painting by Brent Funderburk.

HoneySmoke - Songs for the Sun and the Rain

I designed and illustrated this one by South Carolina roots rock band HoneySmoke.

Ian Campbell and the Recruits - Against the World

I designed and took the cover photo (using rear projection!) for this EP by alt-country musician Ian Campbell. The back photo is by Karla Jean Davis.

The Explorers Club - Singles

More design and illustration for The Explorers Club.

"Together" ad for Shindig! Magazine

Vintage-styled trade ad for Shindig! Magazine, a publication centered around vintage music.

Ryan Davis - Brushfire

Design for a big band jazz singer. Photography by Karla Jean Davis.

Posters

Coffee Hour - Susan Cain

A poster for Susan Cain, the author of a book about using introversion to your advantage, which really spoke to me for some reason.

Coffee Hour - Art Spiegelman

I made a poster about stressing out about making a poster for one of my heroes, Art Spiegelman (Author of Maus, creator of Garbage Pail Kids, etc etc).

Hot Blooded

Poster for a monthly event at Lloyds resembling 1970s rock mags.

Golgotha

A poster for a silent film tribute/satire directed by Karla Jean Davis.

Chomp and Stomp '13

Chomp and Stomp is an annual chili cookoff/music festival that benefits the historic neighborhood of Cabbagetown in Atlanta, GA.

No Ordinary People

A poster for a fundraiser event for Lazarus Ministries inspired by a CS Lewis quote.

Chomp and Stomp '12

Corporate

Chick-fil-A Foundation - "The Nugget" Logo

The nugget is an online blog for the Chick-fil-A Foundation, a charity organization. Done in partnership with The SuperGroup.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee - Fresh Food

Fresh Food is an initiative to get kids to care about eating veggies. We made about 10 original characters (some based on celebrities) with infographics for parents and activity sheets for kids. Done in partnership with The SuperGroup.