Ken is listening to Van Halen 1. Again. He does his best, most beautiful work when “Runnin With the Devil” is up so loud it makes his desk shake. This is probably because as the youngest of four boys, he avoided beatings from his older brothers by disappearing into his bedroom, turning the stereo all the way up, and delving into the world of art and design. And for a long time, “art and design” meant drawing and redrawing Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and Boston album covers. And the Van Halen logo, of course.

Drawn to beauty in the seen but often overlooked, Ken loves design that has a homegrown, hand-done quality. His portfolio landed him long-term, short-term, full-time and freelance gigs for over fifteen years at small studios, giant agencies, boutique shops, production companies, and everything in between. One day he looked back at all the work and realized he’d kind of created his own brand. As a designer of, well, brands.

From the mark for Tommy Hilfiger’s NYC flagship store to an internal division of Microsoft so complex that other divisions still aren’t too sure what they do… to our local bike shop’s window decals to print campaigns for high-end, high-tech firms on the West Coast and beyond… Ken’s helped countless businesses launch, re-launch or simply refresh their brand with beautiful, original, exciting new identities. Not to mention the consistent love he gives to pro-bono clients who need good design in order to make a difference. They’ve all decided Ken’s the man. Because simply put, Ken can.

His work has appeared in Comm Arts, Creativity, AdWeek, Rockport’s Logo Lounge 4 and Business Graphics, HOW’s Identity Solutions. He’s received a silver CLIO as well as merit awards from The One Show. Best of all, every once in a while, someone buys him a beer.

Tell Ken your favorite 80s metal band: ken@rabeandco.com

There’s no greater superpower in any creative office than a team-member who can locate the perfect GIF response to anything, any time, at lightning speed. And here at Rabe, that superpower belongs to Craig Valentino. No email, text or Slack can elude his quick-fire skills at animation communication. It’s insane.

But when he’s not lighting up a message board, Craig is whipping up a similar talent storm on literally any project that touches his desk. The Valentino signature style is to build artboard after artboard the way a master gardener works from soil bed to sky. In order to build the most beautiful “brandscape,” everything plays a part, and Craig knows how to dream in every single direction.

Craig is also the founder of his own brand, Thank God It’s Monday Design, even though we’re lucky that he’s chosen to live out his full-time days here at Rabe. He brings the full breadth of experience across design, branding and art direction, having worked on powerhouse brands such as Puma, PepsiCo, Red Robin, Jim Beam Brands, Macy’s and Bed Bath & Beyond. He’s also done some seriously eye-popping work for Ride Nature, Mill House Brewing Co, Original Skateboards, The Craft & Co, Yonkers Brewing Co, and many others. Just go check out his Instagram and eye-pop for yourself.

Craig’s work has earned him a long list of top awards and overall recognition from HOW International, GDUSA, MarCom, Hermes Creative, and many more. When he’s not in the office, Craig is often working with faith-based organizations and non-profits in and around his community here in the Hudson Valley, checking out the latest craft brewery, or playing the guitar with his band at church, which you can livestream. Which is awesome.

Send Craig a GIF he hasn’t seen yet: craig@rabeandco.com