FIREBELLY - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Founder
Dawn is a troublemaker, bleeding heart, designer by trade and do-gooder by nature. Two things she likes: ideas and people. She's been known to put them together in a room, just to see what happens.
Since starting Firebelly in 1999, she's been diligent about seeking out fearless allies and building communities that care, both within and beyond the studio. She's founded numerous programs, including Reason to Give, a nonprofit serving Humboldt Park families; Camp Firebelly, an intensive design apprenticeship; and Firebelly University, an incubator for aspiring social entrepreneurs. She created AIGA Chicago's esteemed Mentor Program and co-founded Typeforce to shine more light on emerging local talent. In 2003, she launched the Grant for Good, an annual award providing a year of free design services to one nonprofit.
Under her tenure, the studio has earned a laundry list of accolades from the Webbys, Cooper Hewitt, Communication Arts, Brand New, TDC and then some, as well as an invite to exhibit a 10-year retrospective at Pratt Institute. In 2019, Dawn was inducted into the NewCity Design 50 Hall of Fame for her profound influence and unwavering leadership.
Named one of Fast Company's 11 Most Generous Designers and a 4-Star Chicagoan by Windy City Live, Dawn has worked tirelessly to spread the gospel of good design, from Los Angeles to Qatar and countless places in between. She's spoken at Creative Mornings, Design + Diversity, Made in the Middle and HOW; appeared on Debbie Millman's Design Matters podcast; contributed to Good Company and Computer Arts; judged Sappi's Ideas that Matter; visited ArtCenter College of Design as an Artist in Residency; and featured work alongside the city's preeminent creators as part of CHGO DSGN. In every one of her many roles, she leads with tremendous thought and consideration for those around her, believing with a fierce sincerity that together, we will create a better world, one good idea at a time.
Dawn holds a BFA in Visual Communication from Northern Illinois University, all the rest she learned along the way.
Dean is a human swiss army knife-a type nerd and illustrator with a killer eye for detail and a background in front-end development. He is the quintessential team player, bringing humility and discipline to every task.
Prior to joining Firebelly fresh out of college, Dean polished typefaces for Google Fonts, oversaw the design of Kent State's poetry magazine and interned at VSA. Since coming on board, he's led web design for NowPow, Onward, GFOA, and Designing a Better Chicago; played with power tools in support of the annual Typeforce installation; and helped refine the studio's visual language and communication strategy. His work has been recognized by Communication Arts and the International Society of Typographic Designers.
He has been called an Obsessed Perfectionist (a real undergraduate award!) and an absolute mad yoke (an Irish term of befuddled endearment bestowed by a former professor), thanks to his bottomless appetite for a job well done. From career panels to studio visits, he takes every opportunity to encourage young designers to go on and get weird and unusual.
Dean earned his BFA in Communication Design from Kent State University.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Strategy
Elaine is a walking, talking ray of sunshine. Curious to the core and expressive to the max, she lives like she writes-in full glorious color.
Hailing from a long family line of educators, makers and artists, Elaine's creativity and thirst for knowledge come naturally. She first joined Firebelly in 2017 as a seasoned art director and designer after 20 years in agency and in-house leadership roles. Her agency background includes campaigns for large healthcare systems and identities for global nonprofits-while she led internal branding and marketing efforts during her tenure at Discovery Communications. In her spare time, she's volunteered her design skills to ACLU and Taproot, and was the creative director of a grassroots Chicago-based feminist fashion zine.
In her time here, she's made herself indispensable. The recovering graphic designer is as skilled at knocking out comprehensive brand strategies as she is taglines or newsletters. She's always ready with a kind word and get-it-done attitude and has developed strategies for Planned Parenthood, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, The Newberry, and our ever-important Grant for Good clients.
An anti-diva through and through, she treats no task as too small to merit anything less than her best. When she's not busy in the studio, you can find the Pisces singing in local ragtag choirs, uncovering plus size fashion inspiration or traveling the globe with her wife.
Elaine earned her BFA in Graphic Design from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Elliott is an award-winning creative marketer with 15 years of experience helping purpose-driven organizations and brands bring their stories to life. His down-to-earth, collaborative approach is simple: find the beating heart of an organization and share it with the world through clear, human storytelling. Over the years, Elliott has been lucky to help leading nonprofits and universities (UCLA Library, American Film Institute, PBS Chicago) and forward-thinking labor and social impact organizations (United Way of Greater Los Angeles, UFCW) create bold brands and campaigns that build community, raise funds, and inspire action.
As a graduate from the Columbia College Nonfiction department, Makenzie approaches life in a workshop format: everything is up for discussion. Leading in truth and curiosity, her convictions are strong, but she is always open to a new perspective.
Makenzie has worked in various industries, including floral design, fringe theater, and interior design. Throughout her journey, she has worked with diverse audiences and colleagues, making her somewhat of a social chameleon. In her spare time, she loves throwing and hosting parties, performing at karaoke, and directing shows for various weirdo theater collectives around Chicago.
Makenzie received a Bachelor of Arts from Columbia College Chicago.
Ruth's not-so-secret talent is an infinite capacity for delight. Not a day goes by where she doesn't charm her coworkers with unadulterated joy about a craft project, food delicacy, or that time she climbed a volcano in Guatemala. The wildly talented designer brings the same curiosity and joy to her work, drawing inspiration from unexpected places.
Before joining Firebelly, she received a coveted graphic design fellowship at the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, where she lived and worked at Taliesin West-and was mentored by none other than Michael Bierut. While there, she art directed, designed, and helped generate content for four issues of the Frank Lloyd Wright Quarterly magazine, in addition to various web and environmental pieces.
She's also worked at Field of Study; freelanced for tech and hospitality clients; and received an internship with RISD Media Group while pursuing her degree. Her work has been recognized by the Adobe Design Achievement Awards and the Monotype Award for Graphic Design, among others.
A recent transplant to Chicago (by way of Ohio, Shanghai and Texas), she's spent every possible moment exploring all corners of the city. Along with many other adventures, she's searched for her favorite ramen spot, attended a kite festival, and discovered that digging your car out of a midwestern snow storm is harder than it sounds.
Ruth earned a BFA in Graphic Design with honors at Rhode Island School of Design. A graduate of a high school for the performing and visual arts, she's also taken courses at Brown University, Glassell School and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Susannah is a beacon of kindness who leads with an open mind. Her experiences across the nonprofit, education and healthcare industries have created lasting impact in communities across the country.
Prior to joining Firebelly, she was the Associate Director of Designmatters at ArtCenter College of Design. During her tenure, she developed new experiential learning opportunities, managed the fellowship program, developed a Minor in Social Innovation, and mentored students about career paths in the public, civic and social innovation sectors.
Throughout her career, she's made an indelible impact in the arts, including the Chicago Architecture Foundation, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. While at the Colburn Conservatory of Music, she reached new audiences through interactive performances and community action-and created opportunities for students to connect with people who were unhoused or incarcerated.
She recently traded her Chicago roots for cowboy boots, relocating with her husband, two young sons and sleepy beagle to Austin, Texas. She's quickly become a breakfast taco connoisseur and is determined to master the Texas two-step.
Susannah received a Bachelor of Music from DePauw University and studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna, Austria.
Tom contains multitudes, exquisite multitudes. He is a documentary photographer, illustrator and gifted cocktail party conversationalist, as well as self-taught designer.
Since emigrating from China at age nine, he's worked methodically to understand the world around him. Perceptive and steadfastly proactive, he's talked his way into several jobs simply by observing an unmet need and meeting it-for instance, as political cartoonist for his high school paper and managing editor for the Chicago Maroon. Drawn to the cerebral aspects and human effects of visual communication, he talked his way into freelance projects for IDEO, the University of Chicago and Postcards from Ferguson, before joining Firebelly in 2015. He's directed UI/UX design for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Sustain Chicago, developed brand identities for Girls Garage and Plant Chicago, and led studio experiments in 3D modeling and GIS design. The STA, Brand New, Typewolf and Communication Arts have (wisely) seen fit to honor his work.
Tom holds down the Firebelly presence in Portland, where he's continued his foray into woodworking and statistical programming. You know, for fun!
Tom put the arts in his Bachelor of Arts, which he earned in Political Science from the University of Chicago.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director of Design
Will is a designer and also a person-shaped manifestation of pure energy. He leads the studio's ever-evolving creative process, embracing the chaos of early exploration and steering its evolution with a keen eye and steady hand.
Will joined Firebelly in 2007 and cemented its reputation for stunning, yet approachable visual design. He's developed brands for hometown heroes Divvy Bikes, the City of Berwyn and Halfwit Coffee; helmed trailblazing site designs for Affiliated Engineers and SCB Architects; and led award-winning campaigns and identity systems for cult favorites, legacy institutions and industry heavies alike, including FLOR, Planned Parenthood, Shanghai American School and Grant Thornton.
Since 2010, he's been the brains (and grizzled hands) behind the iconic annual Typeforce installation, and as of 2020, he's one of the event's co-chairs. As an instructor at Chicago Portfolio School, he teaches Typography Fundamentals, mentoring and preparing young designers for leadership. His work has been recognized in the STA 100, Chicago Design Archive, Society for Typographic Arts, numerous TDC Annuals, Fast Company's Innovation by Design, Under Consideration, and Newcity Design 50. Will has spoken at Creative Mornings and the Type Directors Club, somehow run eight marathons, fostered 80+ dogs and believes in the persisting power of a good night's sleep.
Will received his BFA in Graphic and Interactive Communication from Ringling College of Art and Design, where he also minored in Photography.