Creative Direction
Brand & Campaign Strategy
Marketing
Design
Vlad Báez – From concept to launch, I see the whole campaign and make it stand out.
— PROJECT NAME
CCOA Rebuild
— ROLE
Branding
Creative Direction
Marketing
Design
— DATE
2023
Hemp wellness · Online + retail
The problem
An established cannabis brand on a flagged account. Ads limited to existing followers. Near-zero click-throughs. A shoestring marketing budget.
The move
Stop fighting the algorithm. Build a community instead.
Reposition CCOA as the local hero next door, then direct everything around it: the brand, the websites, the content, and help launch a new product line, Elements, from concept to packaging.
The result
A brand reborn. 35%+ more online orders, thousands of new visitors, new faces in the stores, and customers who reached out on their own to ask questions and leave reviews.
package design for CCOA product launch.
Community outreach campaign for CCOA.
Bottle/Package Design/Brand ID/ CCOA 2025
Product Look/Feel testing for CCOA webstore.
Emai / Social Medial Marketing Example
Customer retention + Community build ad for CCOA email marketing campaign.
Using color, texture, and feel to convey warmth and community as part of growth campaign for CCOA.
— PROJECT NAME
Farm to Table -
City of Hickory × NC Cooperative Extension
— ROLE
Civic Branding
Creative Direction
— DATE
2014-2017
Farm to Table Movement Western NC
The brief
Get a county to eat, drink, and buy local, and give its farmers market a reason to be seen.
The move
Three years as creative director of "Eat Drink & Be Local," Catawba County's farm-to-table campaign: identity, apparel, print, social, events, photo, and video. Then a full rebrand of the Hickory Farmers Market, from logo to website.
The result
Market attendance up 25% in year one.
Save the date flyer for EDBL farm to table event.
Visual ID / Branding project for the city of Hickory Farmers Market.
— PROJECT NAME
Savant Studios
Paris Olympics '24
Backed by Visa x
Rock The Bells
Paris 2024 Olympic Capsule
— ROLE
Design Consultant
— DATE
August 2024
Artisan streetwear · Paris 2024 Olympics
The brief
Dress Olympic athletes in slow-made fashion, on an Olympic deadline.
The move
Working directly with founder Michael "Grapes" Graham from day one, I helped build the collection on 1980s New York street life, when the city set the world's style. He called it Slow Magic, and let the work create its own pull instead of pushing it.
The result
A Brooklyn brand on the world's biggest stage. Backed by Visa and Rock The Bells, worn by athletes from dozens of countries.
— PROJECT NAME
NFT.NYC → Art Basel Miami
— ROLE
Creative Director
Marketing Manager
— DATE
2021
Web3 art · Live events · 2021
The brief
Bring a brand-new art movement off the screen and into the room, in two of the most crowded event weeks in the world.
The move
A two-city run: a lead-up event at NFT.NYC, then a full celebration at Miami's Sagamore Hotel for Art Basel, with live projection mapping and hip-hop legends on stage. Curated by an artist working inside the movement.
The result
In New York, a line wrapped around a city block off Times Square. In Miami, 3,000+ guests and a stage shared with Busta Rhymes, Styles P, and N.O.R.E. At PHI Auctions, the work itself went up in the "I See Future" lot, alongside Banksy, Warhol, and Basquiat.
Event Coordination at Miami Beach’s premier beachfront Hotel
Event Curation / Sagamore Hotel / Art Basel / South Beach, Miami FL 2021
Daytime Web3 Projection Mapping at Art Basel Miami.
— PROJECT NAME
The Laramie Project
Appalachian State
University
— ROLE
Art Director
— DATE
Spring 2018
Appalachian State University · Logo + installation · 2018
Tasked with translating the heavy, deeply human themes of The Laramie Project into an accessible visual identity for thousands of incoming first-year students. I designed the program’s logo and environmental banner art, creating a cohesive visual narrative across campus. The resulting artwork set the stage for an impactful academic year and served as the visual backdrop for keynote events featuring the play’s creator, Moisés Kaufman.
Branding The Laramie Project for Appalachian State University
Tasked with translating the heavy, deeply human themes of The Laramie Project into an accessible visual identity for thousands of incoming first-year students. I designed the program’s logo and environmental banner art, creating a cohesive visual n arrative across campus. The resulting artwork set the stage for an impactful academic year and served as the visual backdrop for keynote events featuring the play’s creator, Moisés Kaufman.
— PROJECT NAME
App State Basketball × Nike
— ROLE
Art Director
— DATE
2018-2019
Division I athletics · Official uniforms + apparel · 2018–2019
The brief
Design official uniforms and team apparel for a Division I basketball program, built to Nike's standards.
The move
A complete apparel system, from game-day uniforms to team gear, carrying the Mountaineers' identity in every piece.
The result
Worn on the court across the 2018 and 2019 seasons, under the Nike name.
Appalachian State University Mountaineers / Div. 1 Basketball Apparel Design / a Nike endorsed product.
— PROJECT NAME
The ESSO Experience
ESSO
Dej Jam
— ROLE
Producer, Creative Director, Artist Development,
Marketer
— DATE
2006-2011
Blog-era NYC hip-hop · Artist development
The brief
Make an independent rapper impossible to ignore, with no label behind him.
The move
I produced the music, built the brand, and put him in the right rooms.
The result
The Source. NBA 2K. Def Jam Rapstar. A seat at the majors' table.
Esso (David Patton) is a definitive pillar of New York City’s late-2000s blog-era hip-hop movement. Operating under his independent imprint, Y&I Music, the Harlem-born artist seamlessly fused uptown street grit with the high-concept digital underground. Central to his signature sound was his creative partnership with visionary producer Rena1ssance (Vlad Báez); together, the duo crafted the cinematic anthem "New York, New York" off the seminal project The Anti-Socialite, earning a coveted video rotation spot on MTV.
Esso’s distinct style and sharp cultural relevance rapidly captured the eye of the corporate gaming world. In 2010, he became a central face of the national ad campaign for Def Jam Rapstar, starring in the franchise’s prominent promotional rollout and dropping freestyle content directly under the game's official banner. This momentum culminated in a historic, multi-platform crossover with 2K Sports, where Esso was officially cast as a playable additional character in the legendary NBA 2K11, permanently cementing his likeness and legacy within one of the most celebrated basketball video games of all time.