Johnathan Swafford’s multidisciplinary work extends the mediums of motion, graphic, and digital arts.
Johnathan’s work has been recognized by American Illustration 30, SXSW, How Magazine’s International Design Annual, and the American Advertising Federation.
Johnathan holds an MFA in Design from the School of Visual Arts and a BFA in Design from the University of Akron Myers School of Art. Johnathan has also served as an adjunct Professor at Purchase college where he has taught digital and interactive design.
Saatchi, DraftFCB, BBH, Toyota, Lucky Brand Jeans, Novartis, Eli Lilly, E*TRADE, Comcast, Yahoo, Jazz @ Lincoln Center, DKMS Americas, U.S. Air Force Reserve, The J.M. Smucker Co., GE, Esopus Magazine, Aqualamb Records, Spectacular Amplification, National City Corporation
Inventing things for a while now.
People come to E*trade to trade stocks, but the company also offers of wide array of great financial tools. To help awareness, these spots were created using the brand's product iconography and a simple animation approach to highlight the vast number of seamless products and services. Concept, Design & Creative Direction with the internal creative team and My Active Driveway.
Utilizing military propagandist imagery and a DIY attitude in the face of corporate behemoths, this brand was created to give skate punks everywhere a battle cry: This is your war! Concept, Design & Creative Direction.
There are some innately creative individuals who for some unknown reason (even to them) tap into that pure artistic vision and create wonderful works of raw creativity. These people usually have little or no formal training and have no interest in the academic or professional art forums. They create to create. It is that act of pure artistic vision that we hope to celebrate and facilitate in each issue of the magazine called Contraption. Download the Magazine HERE. Concept, Design, Publisher & Editor in Chief.
Swedish Coffee maker Gevalia needed to update the perception of a stodgy mail-order coffee maker. What better way to help create brand awareness than cool social interactions with youthful groups of drinkers to get amped on. Concepts working with Louise Pretorius and Draft FCB.
Human Highlight Reel's vinyl package of 300 limited edition white vinyl for the release Taking Drugs to Make Music to Sell Cars to. Buy the record HERE. Concept and Design.
Chicago barman Johnny Costello creates the best cocktail onions and wanted an identity that reflected the small batch quality and homemade attributes. Concept, Illustration & Design.
Identity for hands on Audio Recording seminars in real studios.Concept, Illustration & Design.
Identity for Machine Shop. Concept & Design
Identity for Startup Incubator. Concept & Design.
Website design for electric livery car service Go Green. Concept & Design working with Saatchi NY.
Poster and packaging design for small batch microbrewery based in Akron Ohio.Concept & Design.
An interactive non-linear story that traverses a moody and melancholy world of dreams and visions. Experience the journey HERE. Concept, Illustration, Design & Build.
Website design for social giving company. Concept & Design.
Brooklyn indy label Famous Class needed an easy to update website to showcase their awesome collection of music, art and video content as well as an online store. Check out the website HERE and get your hands on the LAMC 7 inch series. Concept, Design & Build
Strategy and UX design for Maker Studios: Resulting in a website that is device agnostic, informative, fresh, bold and accessible.TAKE A LOOK HERE! UX / Strategy / Direction
Hand bound artist book. 5" X 3.75" X .5"
Somehow the members of Brooklyn Death Rock band Black Black Black cast a spell that let them travel back to 1976 and made the original members of AC/DC perform their song Night Moves. This is the official video. Concept & Editing
Seven-eyed goats, alters, cults, and other dark visions were the inspiration for video. Concept & Editing
Using found propaganda footage from the 60s, Brooklyn's garage rockers Vagina Panther were able to get their message to the masses. Concept and editing.
Using found propaganda footage from the 60s, Brooklyn's garage rockers Vagina Panther were able to convey their stance on underage drinking. Concept and editing.
1 16mm film camera, 1 fluorescent lightbulb, and a seedy massage parlor = the Pressure Check video for Brooklyn's garage rockers Vagina Panther.Concept and editing.
Started with fellow designer and musician, Eric Palmerlee of Descender, Aqualamb is a record label imprint that releases music in book, vinyl & digital forms. Buy the labels releases HERE and check out the write up on Very Short List.
Illustration and Design for Hilo's Never Forget to Breath LP.
Website design and illustration for boutique editing house.
Motion art experience for the group art exhibition Towering, commemorating the inspiration of the World Trade Center. View it HERE. Illustration & Animation.
Since January of 2014 I have been the Creative Director of a group called the The Box at The Wall Street Journal / Dow Jones.
The Box is an embedded in-house agency focusing on day-to-day creative needs of the WSJ and Dow Jones. It is a partnership between The&Partnership (creative agency) and Hogarth (production experts). Consisting of a hand picked team of talented hybrid creatives with multi disciplinary skill sets, we work in lean ways – from concept to creation and across a range of mediums that include design, copywriting, interactive and motion. We bring creative brand communications to market quickly and efficiently.
An extensive mobile investment & trading app that brings together design and utility into a robust platform. One of the top downloaded finance apps. Concept and Design with Etrade's internal creative team.
This spot was created to show the multiple personalities of the Toyota Rav 4. Concept and treatments working with Saatchi NY.
Design and Illustrations for Lucky Brand Jeans website homepage features. One of the highlights was working with Sir Peter Thomas Blake on one project. (He's that dude that did the SGT Peppers cover). Concept and Design working with Moondog.
Working on the pitch team that initially won the client and then signing on as digital Co-Creative director. We successfully launched Novartis's new MS Drug Gilenya crereating an online presence and developing a series of social and interactive programs that promoted the drug's efficacy and helped users stay on drug all while working within the tight restrictive confines of a big pharma account. Creative Direction and Design working with DraftFCB.
Strattera is a non-stimulant ADHD drug. Because the initial side effects and the results are not immediately seen as with stimulant prescriptions, users were dropping off the program before the time needed for the drug to work. To help, we created an interactive reward based game-like program that motivated and encouraged patients to stay on track. Creative Direction and Design working with DraftFCB.
Using the Norman Rockwell painting "Freedom of Speech" as the starting point, and referencing hand drawn egyptian alphabet from an ancient sign painter's book from 1920s. Concept and Design.
Working closely with E*trade's internal creative team and CMO for over three years proved to be a rewarding experience resulting in award winning, customer approved interactive websites and mobile applications. Concept, Strategy and Design.
Making 150 hand bound hand letterpressed books on a Vandercook SP-15 was most likely one of the most intense projects and the bestest wedding invite ever. Concept, Design, Illustration and Build
The latest project with pal Dickie Grote is building handmade custom guitar amplifiers and effect pedals that utilize science and design to make it sound, well Spectacular. Concept, Branding and Industrial Design
Design for Hilo's Never Forget to Breath LP.
