Meet the Owner

I’d rather talk about you. Since maybe we haven’t met yet, here’s a little about me.

Hi, I’m Bryan. I’m a 20+ year veteran of the creative industry with a passion for building great brands and beautiful design. I’ve served as Chief Creative, Creative Director, and Consultant to some of the most incredible artists, teammates, and clients. I’m a designer at heart, but I’ve also worked alongside some of the savviest marketers in the world for some of the biggest brands on the planet. I often tell people I’m a “marketer by second-hand smoke”.

While Brand Identity Design is my focus, I have years of experience serving teams and clients in all matters of marketing and creative execution. Many of my close friends started off as clients.

If you’re looking for a trusted creative partner, I would love to hear more about you.

On the off chance you’d like me to bore you with more details on my past experience, keep scrolling—but again, I’d rather talk about you.

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Ok. A little more:

My first design job was at a sign shop in the suburbs of St. Louis, MO. A friend introduced me to the owner and, despite having little experience, I was hired immediately. I spent a few years there honing my layout skills, weeding and masking vinyl, and learning how to talk to clients.

My co-worker (and still good friend) got hired at a toy company downtown called Trendmasters, in the package design department. I thought he had the coolest job ever and it inspired me to build a portfolio. He eventually got me a job there building instruction sheets.

A year later I got an offer for an Art Director position that was much closer to home.

I left that role to pursue a music career.

In the meantime, I picked up my very first design client, an Entertainment Cooperative that owned a handful of nightclubs, bars, and restaurants in the Midwest. If you’re from the area (and old enough), you may remember their most popular spot, America’s Pub.

Hard work and perseverance paid off, my band signed to Columbia Records, and I left design behind to write, record, and tour for a few years.

Afterward, I returned to design, building a client base as a freelancer. I eventually fell in love with Brand Identity development after discovering David Airey and his amazing work.

In 2014 I joined Scorch Agency, a small Content Marketing agency in Midtown St. Louis. We tripled in size in 18 months under my creative direction. We had LinkedIn, Marketo, and a few other west coast tech clients. We would quickly add GE, Microsoft, and many others in the first year. As Chief Creative, I served three directors (Creative, Interactive, Content Marketing) and their teams, some of the most amazing artists I’ve known, many of whom I now call close friends and collaborators.

Creative Leadership and Content Marketing for huge companies were fun, but I missed branding. In April 2018, I started 21Republic and began working for myself again, this time as a much more seasoned professional with access to much better talent.

In 2024, I partnered with a former client to help expand her forensic accounting firm, Focused Forensic Solutions. Hopefully, you’ll never need financial investigation, but if you do, Krista Shelton is the best there is. I’m honored to be part of it.

On a personal note, I’ve been married for over 21 years to my amazing wife, Julie. Our daughter Stella is in high school. We recently relocated from the St. Louis area to Madison, MS—the best kept secret in the South. My daughter Alexa, her husband Jordan, and our very first grandbaby August, live in Louisville, KY.

You made it all the way to the present. So, for real now, let’s talk about you.