About the time PlanetOut decided to close down Out&About, the publication I was hired to art direct, the sales department for PlanetOut was in need of a new sales kit. Another creative group within the company had been working on the project for three months, but had little to show for their efforts. The project was given to me to complete, which I did within two weeks. The kit went on to win a design award from Graphic Design USA and ad sales increased 20% after its introduction. After this, I was placed in charge of corporate design, including brand ID, business-to-business advertising and investor-facing communications, as well as advertising sales support materials.
Advertisement celebrating PlanetOut reaching over 5,000,000 unique visitors per month—at 5,000,000 uniques, PlanetOut had the greatest reach to the gay market, thus the concept that they were now the “5,000,000 lb. gay gorilla.” Concept, copy and design (including illustration) were all executed by me.