OCU-What?
What is Ocupop? We’re not entirely sure honestly… Are we Creatives? Graphic designers? Web designers? Maybe web developers? Commercial artists? Trend-spotters? Branding experts? Fashionistas? Computer nerds – Definitely.
We are, simply speaking, a small shop, with all of the benefits and pit-falls therein. You see what you get; no account executives, no receptionists, no bagels and coffee, in fact, none of us even drink coffee (Though Jeff does love a good schmear on occasion).
Regardless, if you are looking for switchboards, hold music, synergy, ideation, and enough buzz-words to fill a conference room, we’re probably not the ONE. But, if you love what you do and are proud of your company, your product and your employees, chances are we might fit right in. We thrive on relationships of mutual respect, commitment and enjoyment – with our clients, our collaborators and each other; for nearly eight years, we have left a wake of satisfied customers and quality work in our path…so drop us a line, because we’re Ocupop, and that’s two O’s, two P’s and YOU! …see that is the sort of shit we’re talking about, brilliant!
- Brand Strategy – Message Strategy, Positioning, Planning
- Naming – Research, Brain-Storming, Analysis, Development
- Identity – Logo Design And Development, Business Cards, Stationary, Usage Guidlines, etc.
- Marketing & Advertising – Strategy, Copy Writing, Art Direction, Catalogs, Brochures, Print Design, Signage, Presentations, Magazine, Newspaper, and Web Advertisments
- Web Design – Brochure To Enterprise, Databases, Flash, CMS, Blogs, etc.
- Interiors/environments – Artwork, Trade Show Materials, Space Planning, Merchandising, Fixture and Furniture Design
- Creative Knick-Knackery – Everything else…and more!
The Team
Michael Nieling Founder & Creative Director
Michael Nieling is a designer, educator, father, and dog owner. He is the Creative Director at Ocupop and also teaches logo design at MIAD. Splitting time between Hawaii, Colorado, and Wisconsin, if he’s not on an airplane, he’s likely somewhere shouting about design.
Jeff Hamlett Founder & Technology Director
Jeff Hamlett is a founding Designer, Developer, and Footwear Enthusiast at Ocupop. He spends his free time in Madison, WI maintaining his beard alongside his wife and his mutt Gehry.
Tony Cooke Creative Director
Tony has joined Ocupop with a decade of independent design work folded neatly in his portfolio. He lives with his wife and two kids, and can be found digging through Lego bins, LP crates or Wisconsin snow drifts.
Nicole Rogers Content Strategist
Nicole Rogers is a writer and “intense person”. Living in New York for the last decade, she worked in television production, wrote about health and fitness, and eventually started her own company. She recently relocated to Wisconsin to be a grown up. Her free time is spent growing food, cooking, and traveling with her beloved husband and dog.
Matthew McVickar Art Director and Front-end Engineer
Matthew McVickar, raised on Cape Cod and schooled in Western Massachusetts, is a web developer and usability designer living in Hawaii. When he’s not busy developing websites, Matthew is biking, DJing, and making music with his band Clones of the Queen and for his solo project Welwing.
Cory Shaw, Usability, Design, and Internet Marketing Engineer
Cory Shaw, founder and sole designer and developer at User Kind, is a web developer, usability engineer, and author of the AppifyWP WordPress template. Cory lives in Hawaii, where he enjoys surfing and spending time with his wife and daughter.
Abby Rose LindstromJunior Art Director
Abby is a graphic designer who happens to also be an illustrator, print maker, salsa maker, and beginning gardener. She graduated from the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design in 2012 and has now started her real adult life. She currently resides in a lovely yellow house with her over-sized cat Yoda, and four roommates in Milwaukee.
Chris Walker Junior Art Director
Chris Walker is an only child with a passion for lettering & typography. After spending 22 years of his life in Illinois he migrated to MIlwaukee in 2010, where he currently resides with his dog, Cash. If he’s not getting yelled at by Michael, you’ll probably find him working on MKE Type or collaborating with someone way better than he is.
Grace Blevins Junior Art Director
Grace enjoys designing and illustrating with both traditional and digital media. In her free time, she enjoys biking, traveling and eating great food with friends and family.
Tom Beck Engineer
Tom Beck finds balance by moving around a lot. Keep your eyes open… he may be coming to a town near you. He is a co-founder and lead developer of MenuMill.
Lynn Klas Junior Art Director
Lynn Klas is a designer, communications specialist, artist, and typography enthusiast, she is the most recent full time addition at Ocupop. She resides in the beautiful Twin Cities and relieves the stress of design deadlines by playing roller derby for the Minnesota Rollergirls.
Mark Johnson Engineer
Mark Johnson is a software developer, startup junkie, surfer, husband and dad. Mark lives on the beautiful windward side of Oahu, with his wife and two boys, along with two yellow labs.
Dayna Even Marketing and PR
Prior to being an independent marketing and PR guru, Dayna worked as a TV news producer, print and radio reporter as well as marketing director for some big wig corporations. Happy to break away from the big box mentality, Dayna has written numerous children’s stories as well as enjoyed spending more time traveling the world and running around on the beach in Hawaii with her hubby, son and dog.