Cactus is a multi-disciplinary creative agency. Our mantra is that ideas grow brands. We believe that cacti hold magical juices that inspire Pulitzer-worthy ideas (and super hero muscles). So if you see us in the desert, take a knee and join us in worshipping the prickly beasts. Ommmm. To view our portfolio of inspired advertising and marketing ideas, visit www.sharpideas.com
11.19.08:
Chris Cox to speak at MCA on Friday
photo courtesy of MCA
This Friday at 7:30 p.m. Cactus art director Chris Cox will be speaking at the Museum of Contemporary Art for the Applied Idea Series. Other speakers include Ian Coyle, founder of SUPERHEROES, Rick Griffith, creative director/owner of Matter Studio, and Aaron Ray, partner at Legwork Studio.
The subject for Friday is print design, although Chris predicts there will be room to discuss topics from blogging and trendspotting to politics and business. Find more information on the MCA website.
This week we announced two new members of our account team here at Cactus - AE Tara Childers and AC Charity Czerwinski. We've added a dozen new team members in the last three months to account for our recent growth including acquiring new clients and growing existing client relationships.
As account executive, Tara will play an important role in developing strategy and managing projects for the Colorado Lottery account. Prior to joining Cactus, she was an account executive for Seattle-based Publicis in the West and a Denver-based advertising agency, where she worked with clients including T-Mobile, Citibank and Molson. Childers graduated from the University of Mississippi in Oxford with a degree in business administration and a major in marketing.
Charity has been hired as account coordinator to support programs for the State Tobacco Education & Prevention Partnership including Own Your C, FixNixer
and The Cigarette Is Dead. She has gained professional experience as a human resources intern for the State of Wyoming and as marketing intern for Safe N’ Sound in Tulsa, Okla. Charity graduated with a Bachelor of Science in marketing from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, where she played basketball and received the Oral Roberts University Scholar-Athlete Award.
11.10.08:
Sharing the love of a Westwood College TV shoot
We just wrapped up two new :60 spots for Westwood College with our dear friends at Fueld Films and DP Doug Chamberlain. Needless to say, after five 12-hour days of hard work on the shoot, we were ready to blow off some steam. This video (via Fueld) pretty much sums up the love triangle of Cactus, Fueld and Westwood... Enjoy. And thanks again to everyone for such a fun and productive week shooting in Austin.
Credits: In the vid, you will see Lara and Kristina, our clients at Westwood; Ben, Brady and Doug from Fueld; and the Cacti team of Matt, Brian, Amy, Danielle and yours truly.
We've welcomed several new faces to the Cactus team in the last several weeks. On our creative team, we've added Jorge Lamora, Lindsey Beal and Allie Edwards. We're so happy to have their creative talents and senses of humor (not to mention two more creative GIRLS) on the second floor at Cactus.
Well-versed in design, art direction and production, Jorge has been hired to design identity, print and Web projects. Previously, he was a designer for Denver-based Ellen Bruss Design and his work has been recognized by industry honors such as How, Print and Communication Arts. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic and interactive communication from Ringling College of Art & Design in Sarasota, Fla.
With three years of experience working for clients including Burger King, Applebees, Sears and Office Depot at Chicago-based Wunderman, Lindsey joins us as an experienced production artist. She will collaborate with our creative and production teams to produce work for local and national campaigns for Cactus clients. Beal graduated with a Bachelor of Science in graphic design from the School of Architecture and Environmental Design at Arizona State University in Tempe.
Allie is the newest addition to our team of art directors. As a college student, Edwards was the grand prize winner of the Chipotle “30 Seconds of Fame” Competition and her work has been recognized by CMYK, the Dallas Ad League, One Club and Summit International Creative Awards. She gained art direction experience as an intern for Dallas-based Slingshot and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in advertising and a minor in
Hard at work, Lauren wins the award for most authentic-looking costume. Ainslie with her kiddos. Collin swears that dragons make the best margs; but it was a toss-up between his batch and Heather's. Lindsey, Kristen and Erin enjoying the festivities. Mark the cow and his spit-fire dragonfly. Norm's daughter Kaya painted his face... anyone see a creative director in the making?
This week we announced two new members of our account team here at 
Charity has been hired as account coordinator to support programs for the State Tobacco Education & Prevention Partnership including 
Well-versed in design, art direction and production, Jorge has been hired to design identity, print and Web projects. Previously, he was a designer for Denver-based Ellen Bruss Design and his work has been recognized by industry honors such as How, Print and Communication Arts. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in graphic and interactive communication from Ringling College of Art & Design in Sarasota, Fla.
With three years of experience working for clients including Burger King, Applebees, Sears and Office Depot at Chicago-based Wunderman, Lindsey joins us as an experienced production artist. She will collaborate with our creative and production teams to produce work for local and national campaigns for Cactus clients. Beal graduated with a Bachelor of Science in graphic design from the School of Architecture and Environmental Design at Arizona State University in Tempe.
Allie is the newest addition to our team of art directors. As a college student, Edwards was the grand prize winner of the Chipotle “30 Seconds of Fame” Competition and her work has been recognized by CMYK, the Dallas Ad League, One Club and Summit International Creative Awards. She gained art direction experience as an intern for Dallas-based Slingshot and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in advertising and a minor in
