CHRISTOPHER STECHERpo box 1011Waitsf ie ld , Vermont 05673(802) 310-7002cstecher@gmai l .com

PORTFOLIOPORTFOLIO

BURTON SNOWBOARDS 1997-2000 Final Snowboard Graphic Production

• Produced digital press ready files from sketched artwork.

• Responsible for taking completed full size art files to web.

• Board file prep for Burton Dealer and Consumer Catalog.

SPORTS MARKETING

In 1999, The U.S. spent 22.5 billion on sports entertainment marketing (1). That, ladies and gentlemen, was just on tickets to sport-ing events and retail sales of casual cloth-ing alone. This figure doesn’t include active sports wear, (such as football gear, or snow-boards), or seasonal expenditures, (such as season passes or indi-vidual lift tickets).

Bottom line? Its 2005, and the overall con-sumer spending for sporting goods, active and passive surpass 100 billion (that’s bil-lion with a B) dollars.

The trick though, isn’t discussing the trends after the fact, its recognizing them in the infancy. Look at Burton, or Line ski-boards, or street luge for that matter. They were mocked at the outset. Look at them now.... “he who laughs

ROSSIGNOL SPORTS 1997-2002Lead Production, Dealer Catalogs

• Organized file transfer from french home offices.

• Responsible for page layout and design of Catalog Sections.

• Photograph selection and in-house color correction.

• Coordination and camera for in house product photography.

• Final pre-flight file prep for printers.• Organizational lead for archival files.

sports marketing

SKI AREA COLLATERAL 1997-1999Design team and lead production for:OKEMO, LOON MOUNTAIN, BRIAN HEAD, THE NEW MOUNTAIN HIGH & BIG BEAR

• Direct liaison with resort marketing reps, and local photographers.

• Coordination with local advertisers for print ad insertions.

• Design team & production print manager.

• Responsible for all press checks.• Planning and coordination with resort

event management, including ski and boarder media events

O.C.P.R. 1993-1985Identity for team T-shirts and collateral

• Produced ID for a group of extreme downhill mountain bike defence law-yers for semi-pro competition against DA’s and sheriffs.

DANGERBOY SPORTS CLOTHING 1995-1996Print advertising design

• Designed ads and coordinated media buys for Burlington based summer/winter sports clothing company.

sports marketing

CANNONDALE BICYCLE CORP. 1995Freelance Ad Comps

• Convinced Cannodale’s ad agency to produce a series of five, full page advertising comps for insertion consideration in trade magazines.

EMINENT DESIGN

“I have a theory that the best ads come from personal experience. Some of the good ones I have done have really come out of the real ex-perience of my life, and somehow this has come over as true and valid and persuasive.” ~ David Ogilvy

I have learned more about the art of advertising and design by listening to the client’s needs and pairing them with my own experiences, then implementing my designs to jibe with both.

Art school, no matter how expensive, should, but normally does not, teach the most important object lesson: Every advertisement should be thought of as a contribution to the intricate symbol which is the brand image.

Too often today we are over saturated with throw-away, image oriented, advertisements that hold little or no intrinsic value to the brand as a whole. I strive to help change this.

eminent design

WOMENS RAPE CRISIS CENTER 1999 Poster design for annual fund-raising

• design and print production for posters and direct mail postcards.

WOLFSBURG WEST 1996-1998 Corporate ID and branding

• Developed ID and branding materials for line of VW service centers.

• Developed branding for off road rally race team.

VERMONT PURE SPRINGS 1998Design and production for collateral

• Designed and produced water bottle labels and packaging in use today.

• Organized focus groups for launch of new products.

• Coordinated cross promotions with sporting events.

eminent design

FENDER GUITARS 1994Solicited design composites.

• Designed full page advertisements for Guitar Player magazine on comp basis, utilizing personal proprietary Jimi Hendrix photography.

HIGHER GROUND 1998 Luna show poster design

• Designed 13” x 19” production poster for the rock band LUNA during a local artists poster series.

PHISH 1995-1997 Design and production of collateral

• Design and production of T-shirt designs (Dionysian Productions) for sale at concerts.

• Produced back stage security passes for MSG new years eve shows.

PHOTOGRAPHY (pt. 1)

I was ten years old when I was struck by Frank Capra’s shots of both horror and beauty in life.

I was shooting with a Kodak Insta-matic 110 at the time.

A picture only captures a thousand words when it captures the viewers imagination. People creating advertisements should keep this in mind.

Indeed, it should be the first thing on their minds. Any shmuck can choose a photo.

The person creating the ad, should be very aware of the photography, as if they were shooting the image themselves. Why? Because if you don’t believe in the imagery involved in what you are selling, you are the hack the consumers buying the product believe you to be.

I could give you clients for the very few images I have provided on these pages, but where would be the fun in that?. Imagine. Tell me what you think they were from.

The best advertisements have had strong imagery

photography

photography

PHISH FINAL SHOW, COVENTRY VT 05Freelance coverage for the Vermont Guardian

A 3 day show that turned into a 7 day adventure in sometimes knee-deep farmland mud.

1 dead, 5.6 miles of stranded cars, vendors trucked out with jungle rot, and a promotions company ill equipped to deal with what was to be a 3 day love-in.

I decided to take the photography not of the band, but in the small triumphs and sorrows of the average person involved behind the scenes.

Fan, vendor, security, and landowners.

The saving grace was that everyone was equal during the whole experience....

even the band.

COVENTRY

PHOTOGRAPHY (pt. 2)

The best part of pho-tograghy is the shot you never thought you would be in the right place to take.

You don’t have to have the high-end Nikons or take an hour to set up the right shot for photogra-phy used in an effective print campaign. Some-times , all it takes is a moment to realize that one moment in time, properly captured, can drive an advertisement or a newspaper story.

Rock and Roll journal-ism is a weird business. It offers the soft underbelly of society with the pseudo respectability of the media. Short take?

You get access to a lot of very wild moments, during very many a late night. It also gives you a very strange perspective on life.

On the flip side, the pho-tography and storytelling that comes from extend-ed sabbaticals to remote regions of the country, bring poignant shots that can evoke a range of emo-tions from just one shot.

photography

its only rock and roll.....

portraits

photography

america

AMERICAN EXPERIENCE27 years of travel. 10000 pictures.

32 years of pictures. 21 years of analyzing advertising, designing and market trends.

What it all comes down to is the consumer. What they want, and what they need. But if you don’t consider where they come from, then you should have never have gotten into advertising in the first place. Period.

CHRISTOPHER STECHER • (802) 310-7002cstecher@gmail.com