Parker Foote
We’re thankful for a great year. First and foremost, we have a second Josh. Can you believe it? None of us were sure if Bethany was going to be able to handle it, but she’s managing rather well and it has been a real treat to see her open her heart and payroll to him. He’s pretty great. More on that later.
Let me back up a bit… this has been quite a year for us! We’ve been super busy and completed some amazing projects that we’re really proud of.
We’ve put together what can only be described as a dream team of awesomeness (those were “her” words). And we’re most excited about our NEW OFFICE! That’s right… we’re moving to Nashville.
We’ve outgrown our studio in Brentwood, so we’re heading downtown to a pretty sweet location (across from 3rd and Lindsley). It has a 3000 square foot vault, so if you turn into one of THOSE clients, we might have to lock you up inside for a few hours listening to Nickleback as punishment.
Who is this dream team? I’m glad you asked!
Josh Cole Creative Director Extraordinaire
He has 17 years of experience at agencies in Nashville and beyond: VP at Paramore, CD at Bohan, CD at redpepper and Design Director at Andculture. He journeyed back to ST8MNT in search of a more balanced approach to building memorable experiences. Equally passionate about strategy, design and development; and ignited to touch all mediums for a brand, Josh and his beautiful tattoos are a breath of fresh air here. He’s a tough love nurturer to the designers that they already can’t get enough of. And with a degree in animation and digital media, he’s hoping “other Josh” and Alan let him play in the animation room.
Courtney Klimson Account Manager
Watch out with this girl. For the last 15 years, she’s been in marketing, project management, and production management. She just spent the last 10 years in NYC, so feisty is a mild description. She worked for a composer, an art gallery, created a new division at Masque Sound with clients like NYU, Lincoln Center and St. Patrick’s Cathedral, but what she’s most proud of is how she went out. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon called her to come in as a freelance production manager for their first show, and Klimson was responsible for putting U2 on Top of the Rock for quite the epic show. So she gets stuff done. Here she is… ready to nag, love, beat, tease… you fill in the blank… to make sure the clients are taken care of.
Alex Pavkov Production Manager
Alex Pavkov came running to us after being a project manager in the construction industry. It was her job to keep high-cost projects on task and under budget – bonus points! We figured if she can handle a construction crew, then she can handle a group of crazy creatives. She has been with us since September 2014, has since had two promotions, and is our official Production Manager Rockstar. The designers seriously couldn’t function without her. She keeps them on track, keeps your projects on track, and it’s been proven that ST8MNT goes into a tizzy if she’s not around.
Parker Foote Designer
Parker Foote is a new designer who spent the last 2 years getting his grad degree in design in Australia, so we were really hoping he would have picked up on the sexy accent, but Texas was too far imbedded in his soul. Such a disappointment… but he’s been doing great work!
Tristan McNatt Designer
Hoping he’s Irish? Us too… again, no dice for us and amazing accents. But he is another great addition to the design team with a focus in illustration and rhymes. He comes to us from Griffin, and is stoked about our non-corporate-ness.
Ben Fieker Designer
What? Another new designer. Yep. That’s FEEEKER, not fiker like hiker. This Midwestern handyman comes to us from Missouri, with some serious woodworking skills and an even more serious beard. He has a history of installing servers before design school… so be jelly, Geek Squad.
And we’re still blessed with the always brilliant skills of art director Austin Hale, art director Aaron Rayburn and senior motion designer Alan Knox. These guys only get better with age, but if you’ve been with us long enough, you already know that.
CMA Fest
If it looks like CMA Fest took over downtown this summer, its probably because it did for over 87 thousand fans and we were psyched to be a part of it from start to finish. Website, ads, backdrops, bike racks, maps, signage, scrims —see the fully branded experience here. But if you’re allergic to the sun like Courtney is, you maybe didn’t get out to see it. Which is fine, because Apple put cameras on their phones so we have visuals!
Showstopper
If you’ve ever wanted to see a 30-year old male creative obsess over pink and sparkles, you could have just stopped by the office this summer and pulled up a chair next to Aaron. He did a stellar job pulling together a fun and energetic site designed for competitors and dance convention attenders alike. Really neat map and event functionality, video loops and an infectious social feed elevate Showstopper above their competitors. Look at fresh moves here.
EO Nerve
Yes, we have a bunch of it. But we also spent hundreds of hours working on the Entrepreneurs’ Organization Nerve 2015 event held in Nashville this year, where over 700 attendees from the East Coast came for inspiration. Branding, signage, marketing, animation and show content. Get inspired here.
So just remember, if you want to find us after Santa Claus visits your children in December (or not if you’re the Newman kids), you’ll find us in downtown Nashville. It might look like a mess today, but in January, we’re going to be rocking out some awesome work in this place. And the guys and girls will finally have separate bathrooms, so the overall joy for the women of ST8MNT will increase dramatically in 2016!
But just so you don’t get confused…we may not look like our old selves anymore. Because we’re all getting makeovers, including our brand. Yes, we love our 8, and it will still be around, but we’re going to put a gown on her and some Glamour Shots makeup and stun you all with our new portraits.
Stay thirsty.