Resume
Hi, I’m Nate Ripley.
A creative leader and brand strategist with over twelve years of experience, I consistently turn big ideas into brands people love.
I own big projects end-to-end, from strategy, naming, and copywriting through design, production, and delivery. My track record spans brand identity systems, integrated campaigns, and compelling creative work across digital, print, packaging, and environmental formats. I thrive as a player-coach, equally comfortable setting creative direction and rolling up my sleeves to execute.
Work Experience
Content Coordinator:
Senior Designer & Brand Specialist
City of Golden, Colorado
May 2024–Present
Sole designer for a municipal communications department, translating stakeholder needs into brand identity, editorial design, campaign creative, and visual communications across eight departments for a community of 20,000+ residents.
Lead creative direction, design, and editorial production for four major recurring publications and approximately 90 additional projects annually, spanning brand identities, campaigns, digital graphics, signage, and marketing collateral, delivering every project on deadline.
Develop and maintain brand systems, guidelines, and scalable template libraries that enable non-design stakeholders to produce on-brand materials independently, improving team efficiency and creative consistency.
Write and edit shot lists and video scripts and provide creative direction to third-party photographers and videographers, ensuring alignment with brand standards, messaging, and project goals.
Manage print production end-to-end from prepress and color specification through vendor coordination and proof review. Oversee creative pipelines to move projects smoothly from concept to final delivery.
Founded and led an independent brand design agency, managing the full business and creative lifecycle: lead generation, sales, strategy, design, production, and account management for brand identity projects ranging from $10K to $40K+.
- Directed end-to-end rebranding engagements from brand strategy and naming through identity design, environmental graphics, packaging, print collateral, apparel, web, and social media, including the Bravus Fitness rebrand, which drove a 25% increase in qualified leads and supported a $300K revenue growth target.
- Developed and facilitated a proprietary brand strategy workshop, guiding client leadership teams through collaborative discovery sessions to uncover positioning, audience insights, and brand purpose, building the strategic foundation for all downstream creative work.
- Wrote brand messaging, taglines, and content while directing photographers and collaborating with SEO specialists and social media partners to produce authentic, channel-specific creative across digital, print, and physical environments.
- Built comprehensive brand systems including style guides, visual identity standards, and scalable templates. Managed print production through final delivery, ensuring consistency across touchpoints.
Senior Designer:
Long-term Contract
DD Beverage Co. & DD Sports Nutrition
July 2015–April 2023
Creative partner for a portfolio of nationally distributed CPG brands. Responsible for brand identity, packaging design, and integrated campaign creative.
- Led the brand strategy and design for Grizzly Supplements, a new product line that exceeded its $250K first-year sales target by 400%, reaching $1M+ in revenue.
- Designed the Iron Kingdom Sports Nutrition brand, including identity, packaging system, and marketing collateral, now one of GNC Canada’s top-selling product lines.
- Contributed to the growth and visibility of Beaver Buzz Energy, a nationally distributed Canadian brand with a 20-year heritage, through strategic design across packaging, POS, digital, and social.
- Led integrated campaigns across packaging, point-of-sale, digital, and social for multiple national brands, partnering with executives and cross-functional marketing teams to align creative execution with business strategy.
Senior Designer:
Long-term Contract
Athletic Alliance
September 2014–April 2021
Partnered with leadership to transform a startup supplement brand into a multimillion-dollar CPG company through identity systems, packaging, and marketing design.
Led the rebrand of GD4U into Athletic Alliance, designing a new identity, packaging system, and marketing collateral that helped drive multi-million dollar growth.
Conceptualized and launched new product lines, building a cohesive, recognizable brand across retail and digital platforms.
Created digital and print assets including ads, web graphics, and promotional materials, ensuring visual consistency across all brand touchpoints.
Freelance
Senior Designer
Various Clients
September 2014–April 2022
Integrated into client teams across tech, SaaS, CPG, and professional services, adapting to established design systems and delivering production-ready brand identities, packaging, marketing campaigns, and digital collateral.
Education
Carthage College
B.A. Visual Communication
2006–2010
Core
Competencies
Brand Strategy & Brand Identity Systems
Creative Direction
Visual Storytelling
Brand Guidelines & Style Guide Development
Copywriting, Copy Editing & Proofreading
Content Strategy & Editorial Planning
Project Ownership & Stakeholder Management
Creative Brief Development
Cross-Functional Collaboration
Packaging Design & Print Production
Digital, Print & Environmental Design
Infographic & Presentation Design
Video Script Writing & Creative Direction
Photography, Photo Retouching & Art Direction
Scalable Brand Tooling & Templates
Naming & Verbal Identity
Vendor & Agency Coordination
ADA/WCAG 2.1 AA Compliance
Tools
Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign
Adobe Lightroom Classic
Adobe Express
Microsoft Office & PowerPoint
HTML & CSS
WordPress
Notion, Monday
Issuu
Digital & Film Cameras (Fujifilm, Canon, Sony)
Proprietary Brand Strategy Workshop
Not Work
Outside of work, you might find me on my bike, in the mountains, or both. I’m a dedicated cyclist and 2024 USAC Colorado State Champion.
I love exploring the Mountain West with my family. We camp, hike, fish, bike, snowboard, and kick back in colorful Colorado and sunny Arizona. I read books, pet cats, and look up for airplanes. The last thing I cooked was a pizza. I build my own computers and bicycles. I take an espresso breakin the afternoon.
I bring a camera with me almost everywhere, though you won’t find me on social media. Check out my creative journal instead.
A Cover Letter
Long, black streaks crisscrossed the faded cul-de-sac in front of my childhood home. Most afternoons after school, I’d spin my department-store single-speed up to maximum warp, then slam the pedals backward, locking up my brakes. My record skid mark was nearly 18 feet—almost as long as I could wheelie.
I've always loved to ride a bike.
Then one day, I crashed. A lazy, looping turn to the left, a sharp wobble, then pavement. I hit hard enough to bounce. As I pulled myself from the wreckage, I saw my handlebars had a new kink in them. So did my right arm.
Six weeks in a cast is an eternity when you’re trying to learn cursive. Even longer when you can’t ride your bike. Frustration set in. I couldn’t do the things I wanted, and I felt stuck that way. But just when I started wondering if I’d ever have fun again, something shifted. “I can’t” slowly became “Why can’t I?”
Day by day, I found new ways to do things. Momentum built. Before long, there was plenty I could manage left-handed. Writing in my journal, petting Cleo the cat, even sewing a stuffed saguaro cactus from olive-colored felt. I had learned to adapt, problem-solve, and keep moving forward.
As I advance in my professional life, I think back to that moment, and more importantly, to the tools it took to overcome it. The nature of being a creative professional is to thrive in a dynamic, changing environment. It’s helpful to know I’ve been through that before. To know I can turn "I can’t" into "Why can’t I?" To look back and feel the relief of finally riding my bike again, better off for the growth it took to get there.
Keep the rubber side down,
Nate Ripley
