wtalley@blackretail.us
I grew up in a small town in Minnesota.
I swam in creeks, was in cub scouts, went hunting and fishing with my dad and traveled with the marching band. But I’ve always been a creative director. I grew up inspired by my uncle Dave Matheny’s full page illustrations in the Star Tribunes Taste section on Sundays. I had a great teacher in fifth grade who had me designing sets for plays and teaching drawing classes. In high school I worked with the theater director to design sets and created album covers for the MHS band concert recordings.
When I went off to The Minneapolis College of Art and Design I painted murals and portraits to help cover the cost. It was a great time to attend MCAD. My classmates were founders of many Minneapolis agencies like Little & Co, PMH and Scott Baker & Asso. I began college as an illustrator but left a Graphic Designer after my eyes were opened by the legendary designer Peter Seitz.
In my first full time position I was lucky enough to meet and work closely with Tina Wilcox when we were young and beautiful. She eventually moved to John Ryan & Co where she hired me to help her build a retail agency. While there, we did it all.
I swam in creeks, was in cub scouts, went hunting and fishing with my dad and traveled with the marching band. But I’ve always been a creative director. I grew up inspired by my uncle Dave Matheny’s full page illustrations in the Star Tribunes Taste section on Sundays. I had a great teacher in fifth grade who had me designing sets for plays and teaching drawing classes. In high school I worked with the theater director to design sets and created album covers for the MHS band concert recordings.
When I went off to The Minneapolis College of Art and Design I painted murals and portraits to help cover the cost. It was a great time to attend MCAD. My classmates were founders of many Minneapolis agencies like Little & Co, PMH and Scott Baker & Asso. I began college as an illustrator but left a Graphic Designer after my eyes were opened by the legendary designer Peter Seitz.
In my first full time position I was lucky enough to meet and work closely with Tina Wilcox when we were young and beautiful. She eventually moved to John Ryan & Co where she hired me to help her build a retail agency. While there, we did it all.
Concentrating on the retail world, I spent most of my time focused on creating a 360 degree brand experience for my clients. Rebranding, in-store promotional campaigns, packaging and space design. I learned to hate the word signage. I found the term derogatory and always correct people with terms like sign program or in-store marketing. I believe great retailers are great entertainers. Working for Marshall Fields and Target, under John Pellegrene and Michael Francis, I grew to understand the Disney term imagineers. Creating department store Christmases and spring flowers shows is where all the things I learned were put to the test. Invisioning the experiences for Alice in Wonderland and Beatrix Potter began with the event but incorporated all their in-store marketing from custom rugs, shopping bags and banners. Doing these events taught me that everyone needs their holiday fix no matter how big a retailer you are. And to be honest I love doing things that are BIG! Tina and I stayed up working way too late and smoked way too much. We eventually left and started FAME, a retail brand agency, were we did a mountain of work for Target, Wilsons and Marshall Fields. After struggling to agree on a new contract we left to start over and founded Black Retail to continue doing the work we love.
During my career I’ve worked with an amazing assortment of CMO’s, designers and production gurus to whom I’ll be forever grateful. These marketing titans have trusted me with their brands and refer to me as a brand architect. They know I love to control every touchpoint. After completing a rebranding effort or repackaging project the next question from the client is “What would the space look like?” or “How would this look in the store?” The 360 degree approach eventually leads to a brand launch with print materials, retailtainment events, guerilla tactics, TV and social media.
Let’s collaborate on a project.
This is my work.
During my career I’ve worked with an amazing assortment of CMO’s, designers and production gurus to whom I’ll be forever grateful. These marketing titans have trusted me with their brands and refer to me as a brand architect. They know I love to control every touchpoint. After completing a rebranding effort or repackaging project the next question from the client is “What would the space look like?” or “How would this look in the store?” The 360 degree approach eventually leads to a brand launch with print materials, retailtainment events, guerilla tactics, TV and social media.
Let’s collaborate on a project.
This is my work.