TESTIMONIALS

wine

“I have used Stephen Black to design my wine labels for well over a decade and he has always surpassed expectations. Of the over a dozen labels he has made for me in that time, each one was a masterpiece of detail and artistic achievement. I would recommend Stephen to any winery who wants their wine label to shine in this competitive marketplace."

—Brian Carter

Founder/Winemaker— Brian Carter Cellars

“Stephen Black is one of the most creative designers in wine branding I know. His aesthetic contribution to wine brand development has elevated the art of wine Brand packaging to a Fine Art.

“I’m very discriminating when it comes to the aesthetic presence of my wine brands and Stephen has consistently met or exceeded my expectations in designing beautiful, artistic brand imagery for Long Shadows portfolio of world class wines. I consider him a talented creative collaborator, and part of our team in helping us to achieve our specific brand marketing objectives”.

—Allen Shoup

Founder—Long Shadows Vintners

"Stephen has been an outstanding partner for us, and I say partner because more than any designer that we had worked with in the past, he embraced Fetzer—the Fetzer culture and the Fetzer people,” says Gillespie “and he gave us designs that did exactly what we were hoping for."

—Douglas Gillespie,

U.S brand Director, Fetzer Vineyards/Brown Forman

Corporate

"Stephen’s exceptional intelligence and creativity enables him to quickly grasp the complexities of our clients’ businesses and technologies as well as the essential messaging challenges that must be achieved to successfully engage the target audience.

His wit and humor make him a pleasure to work with."

—Michael R. Hills

Founder/CEO— Centricity Strategic Marketing Group

"Stephen Black is the most talented, most professional, creative designer that I have had the privilege of working with in my 35+ years in marketing. Stephen worked with the marketing group at SOLA Optical for over 20 years, creating the visual identity and branding for the company as well as all the packaging for the myriad of new lens products, all marketing and sales collateral materials, website, presentation materials, photography, and the creative for special events.

Stephen always had the unique ability to quickly understand the strategic objectives and creatively translate them into designs and messages that clearly communicated positioning and sold product. Although a consultant, he was an integral member of the marketing team and participated in sales meetings and new product launches. We would not have been as successful for so many years without Stephen’s talent and dedication."

—Leslie Gardner

VP Marketing and Group VP Strategic Marketing—Sola Optical U.S.A. and SOLA International

Stephen Black is a consummate professional and an absolute pleasure to work with. Our working relationship spanned six years while I was the Marketing Communications Manager for JDSUniphase-Flex Products in Santa Rosa, CA. The firm designed and manufactured high tech synthetic pigment materials that were marketed globally in a broad array of industries and applications (printing, paint, plastics, currency and brand protection).

Stephen's exceptional intelligence and creativity enabled him to quickly grasp the complexities of the technology as well as the essential messaging challenges that needed addressing with a minimum number of meetings he adeptly conceptualized Brand designs for several major product launches - including product logos, websites and sophisticated business to business marketing collateral. Whether working with senior management, research & development, or marketing people, Stephen made the best use of our time and delivered work on time and on budget, with results beyond everyone's expectations. It's not often a person of his caliber comes along.

—Mary Ellen King

Marketing Communications Manager— JDSUniphase/Flex products