You may already know the jackalope as an Americana folklore favorite: the elusive jackrabbit-antelope hybrid who sings with cowboys. Why would I use it as my logo? A whimsical critter doesn’t seem too professional, and I can't sing at all—even with backup cowboy vocals. The answer requires a little storytelling, with heavy-lifting from symbolism. (Surprise! Copywriter!)

I’ve always been drawn equally to science and art—always. Even as a kid, I was an innovative terror creating beautiful "perfume" (i.e. rancid flower-petal water left in the sun) and uttering gibberish to find the magical word that would finally unlock communication with animals (I almost had it). I never did see them as opposites, though. Science and art were connected and even inspired each other. Each was perfectly interesting on its own, but to combine them was to create a separate, fascinating thing—maybe even something that had never existed before. A hybrid.

This harmony of opposites is the foundation of my work. When I get an assignment, my first step is to think—not brainstorm: think. Basic, yes, but experience has taught me that things we dismiss as obvious are often the most overlooked. So, first, I consider what the client actually wants to achieve (which is not always the same thing they ask for); I research, compare, and analyze. I learn all I can to truly understand exactly what problem needs to be solved, and then I explore how to solve it. In many ways, creativity is artful problem-solving. By the time I start creative development, my ideas are not guesses that hopefully stick to a wall: they're precise, data-driven darts that hit a target.

There are more reasons I’m partial to the jackalope, of course. Two of my favorite animals happen to be the bunny and the deer, and here they are, all in one. I love the irony of its inception being a marketing ploy by two imaginative yet industrious kids in Wyoming (allegedly), and I love that the word itself is a portmanteau. I also love folklore, and stories of all kinds; I like how the jackalope legend likely grew with the flames of campfires as cowboys could swear they heard someone else singing in the pitch black around them, like sailors seeing mermaids in dark waves. I am fascinated by the way we use stories to understand the world when logic fails us: there is always an answer if you can create one, and it often holds more wisdom.

Finally, though, an important and sentimental detail: a jackalope doesn’t have to try to be a jackalope; it is inherently unique, all on its own. You could say we're all jackalopes, of course… but I do have the logo.