Chris Grenier

CREATIVE DIRECTOR, BIGSMACK, PHILADELPHIA PA

BIGSMACK adds Chris Grenier as Creative Director to work alongside Creative Director Andy Hann and Executive Producers Heidi Erney and Kelly Dials. Grenier was most recently a Vice President at Campbell-Ewald in Warren MI. A native of central New Jersey and a graduate from Portfolio Center in Atlanta, Grenier worked for a decade at Campbell-Ewald on campaigns for Chevrolet, OnStar and the U.S. Postal Service, among others. Previously, he spent two years at agency W.B. Doner, Southfield MI, working on campaigns for the likes of Mazda, Blockbuster and Arby's. He also has held staff jobs at Tierney & Partners and started his career at Ogilvy & Mather in Atlanta. Grenier's appointment "is the final ingredient to round out our team," says BIGSMACK CD Hann. Earlier this year, the agency added Senior Art Director Jason Salo and Senior Visual Effects Director Dave Zeevalk, as well as live-action directors Manuel Miranda, Jeff Phillips and Scott Whitham.

Neil Huxley

CREATIVE DIRECTOR, MOTHERSHIP, VENICE CA

Neil Huxley joins Mothership as Creative Director. Huxley, a designer, digital artist and director, recently designed fantasy user interfaces, stereo 3D graphics and heads-up display for James Cameron's Avatar and for Zack Synder's Sucker Punch. A London native, Huxley moved to Australia in 2002 to join Digital Pictures Iloura as a designer before heading to Los Angeles where, as an art director at yU+co, he worked on opening title sequences for Watchmen and art directed more than 600 shots for Gamer. Also adept at working in the commercial medium, Huxley has directed design, animation and live action for clients such as Pepsi, Diet Coke, Bravo, Target, FOXTEL, Warner Bros., Sony Pictures and Honda. "I've had my eye on Mothership since they launched," says Huxley of the advertising, branded content and entertainment design firm. In the new job, "I get to work across features and commercials with artists at the top of their game ... it's a dream job," he says. Since joining the firm, he already has directed a 90-second fully CG trailer for Bethesda Softworks' The Elder Scrolls V:Skyrim videogame for agency AKQA.

Rob Frasketi

THE MACHETE AKA ART DIRECTOR
BALDWIN&, DURHAM NC

Baldwin& hires Rob Frasketi as Art Director, or as it happens at Baldwin& where titles are self assigned – “The Machete.” Frasketi is servicing the agency’s BMW account as well as others. Previously, he held the same title – Art Director, not Machete – at Crittenden Advertising and Rockett Burkhead & Winslow. Frasketi chairs the American Advertising Federation’s Raleigh-Durham Chapter and graduated from UNC, Charlotte, with a BFA in Design.

Eric Bauer

CREATIVE DIRECTOR, GRAVITY, NEW YORK NY

International creative content and brand communications company Gravity in New York has tapped Eric Bauer as a Creative Director for the company’s commercial and digital branding projects, as well as occasionally on feature film and television opening title sequences. Bauer will report to Gravity’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Creative Officer Zviah Eldar. For almost a decade, Bauer has been working as a director, creative director, designer and animator. Starting at Heavy in 2002, his freelance career has taken him to an array of studios including Eyeball, Gretel, Brand New School, Stardust, Favorite Color, Imaginary Forces, Superfad and Offspring. During that time, he helped imagine campaigns for major clients such as The Gap, Sony, Nike, Miller, HBO, Cartoon Network, CNN and Bravo. A native of Washington D.C., Bauer is a graduate of Pratt Institute where in 2002 he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts with focus on Film and Design.

Amy Perry

OPENS NEW FIRM AMY L. PERRY, NEW LONDON CT

Amy Perry has opened her own firm in her own name. The new consultancy firm provides brand strategy, positioning and messaging that set the direction for design and communications programs. The move comes after Perry spent more than 15 years as a principal of Smizer Perry message + design, a marketing communications and graphic design firm. Perry was named, along with her then-partner Karl Smizer, as a GDUSA 2008 Person to Watch.

Patrick Almaguer and Blake Kidder join David&Goliath asAssociate Creative Directors. Hailing fromTBWA\Chiat\Day Los Angeles, the creative duo co-created campaigns for Activision's Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and DJ Hero Games. They report to Colin Jeffery, Executive Creative Director, assigned primarily to Carl's Jr., themultimillion dollar account awarded to D&G in January. Almaguer and Kidder also teamed up at Wieden + Kennedy Amsterdam on accounts such as Nike, Coca-Cola and EA. Almaguer is a graduate of the Virginia Commonwealth University and the Creative Circus in Atlanta; Kidder graduated from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. The agency also announces that it added Senior Art Director Tim Delger to its LA team on the Kia Motors business. Delger, a graduate of the University of North Texas, most recently worked as a Senior Art Director for GSD&M on brands including BMW and Goodyear. He also worked as Art Director at Publicis Mid-Americana. Willoughby Design of Kansas City MO hires Kevin Garrison as Design Director, tapping his retail and brand expertise forWilloughby clients including Hostess and New Leaf Paper. With nearly 20 years experience, Garrison is described as "a master at creating engaging designs" for instore signage, integrated branding campaigns, catalogs, annual reports, direct mail and packaging. Garrison clients at the design firm include Wal-Mart, McDonalds and Beauty Brands. The Consumer Specialty Products Association - the voice for household and institutional products industries - adds Ryan Nau as Creative Director, Digital Communications. Nau has a BA in Computer Animation and Multimedia Design from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Scott Paramski joins Eisenberg And Associates as Creative Director, bringing more than 30 years experience to the task. After graduating Brigham Young University where he studied under Mac Magleby and earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Communications, Paramski's career began in New York at Jonson Pederson Hinricks and Shakery, later Pentagram. He was then hired by Stan Richards to work at Richards Sullivan Brock & Associates, and went on to work with friend, Bryan Peterson of Peterson & Company. A decade later, Paramski moved to themountains of Colorado to partner with Sean Patrick at Impact Group. Paramski is co-founder of HERA Foundation, a women's ovarian cancer foundation. LPK promotes Billy Thomas to Associate Creative Director and Emily Wolf to Senior Designer. In his new position, Thomas manages global brand and design strategy initiatives for several brands. He is a graduate of Ohio State University. Senior Designer Wolf, a graduate of the University of Dayton, will work on various brands. LPK also upped Paula Egbers to Brand Implementation Director, managing the print production and relationship- marketing program for the Pampers brand. Egbers is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati. ADG Creative hires Brand Strategist Ken Joy and Graphic Designer Kathryn Gruver to its team. Joy brings more than two decades of industry experience and leadership to ADG, including expertise in logo design, national television campaigns and branding work. He is a graduate of the Maryland Institute of Art and serves on the board of The Atlanta Ad Club. Gruver has extensive training in brand development, e-training, web architecture and design, and proposal and briefing design. She has a B.A. in studio art from St. Mary's College of Maryland and also holds a master certificate in graphic, web and multimedia design from the Computer Career Institute at John Hopkins University.