Casey Martin

Founder / ECD

Once when asked to explain his approach to design, Casey stood up, bent his knees, focused his eyes on the ground, and mimed a slow steady golf swing. When asked to elaborate, he headed to the kitchen and began preparing J. Kenji-Lopez Alt’s recipe for late night tortilla jian bing. When asked to put his answer in words, he replied “Excuse me for a sec” and left the room. Moments later he reappeared in a wetsuit with surfboard in hand and said, “Design is so simple. That’s why it’s so complicated. That’s Paul Rand.” And that’s Casey.

Owen Cramp

Creative Director

In Owen’s perfect world, there would be no war or suffering. But also, swordfish would find more use cases for their swords. Like picking up trash from the ocean floor or conducting orchestras. Popcorn would be served in bottles. Allowing us to tilt our heads back, open our mouths and enjoy movies without falling victim to greasy finger syndrome. Mannequins would be outlawed. Or at least redesigned to look 1000% less creepy. Lastly, in Owen’s perfect world, he’d find time to finally finish reading Haruki Murakami’s Norwegian Wood.

Nic Dray

Managing Director

If you want to upset Nic, offer him a Starbucks Grande latte. The man is admittedly a coffee snob. He likes his java like his biking apparel—BOLD. Making Nic a self-declared MAMIL (Middle-Aged Man In Lycra). Often seen on weekends cycling about Marin’s Paradise Loop. Perhaps reminiscing about the summer he spent in his 20s DJing in Ibiza. Or simply thinking about anything other than snakes, sharks or cruise ships. Nic is afraid of all three. So cross them off your list of gift ideas for Nic, which you’ve no doubt started now that you know Nic.

Diva Dimartini

Strategy Director

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Tina Cordes

Strategy Director

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Madison Bencomo

Program Director

Madison is never afraid to dream big. Someday she’s going to live underwater. Deep beneath the clear blue seas that border Pandora. Yep, the fictional island nation from Avatar. Where the waters are so pristine you needn’t ever worry about stepping barefoot on discarded prophylactics. Huzzah! Saying goodbye to her native NorCal won’t be easy. Abandoning the beloved hillside hiking trails of Mt. Tam. And her cherished collection of German rieslings. But Madison knows sacrifice is often required to make the truly great stuff happen.

Keira Danehy

Senior Program Manager

Keira is very anti-raisin. In her view, the world doesn’t need them. Grapes are fine. If she ever learns to cook, you won’t find them in her cuisine. Nor will you find them in the incredible home she built for her penguin in Club Penguin. Ask to see it and Keira will gladly show you. Then she'll probably move on to pics of her dog. Then her rings. And if you’re very lucky, she might take you through her prized collection of her grandmother’s blazers. All in perfect condition. Not a raisin wrinkle in the bunch.

Rocío Delgado

Senior Program Manager

Rocío is a calendar genie. For eight hours a day, she effortlessly floats alongside her computer screen, magically scheduling meetings that could never be emails. Sometimes she contemplates redesigning the calendar to have 13 months, each starting on Sunday and lasting 28 days. Rocío also enjoys pondering the many wonders of nature. The mountains and trees and hopefully not the discarded packaging of the luxury popcorn brand she once designed. Rocío hopes you’ll find time in your calendar to recycle.

Simon Blanckensee

Design Director

If you’d like to know more about Simon, don’t hesitate to give him a call at +61 47 822 1330. He’s never given anyone his number before. But figured this would be a good place to try. Also he’s in Australia, so he asks that you please be respectful of the time difference.

Sam Jones

Design Director

As a kid, Sam was apprehended by an Olympic javelin thrower after a friend hit the driving athlete's windscreen with a snowball. As an adult and lifelong South Londoner with a mild obsession for all things Japan, Sam is a devoted dog enthusiast, slightly above-average runner, and always down for Korean food. He believes movie theaters are ideal for naps, if everything goes to 11 then nothing does, and finds the inherent design flaws in most straws personally offensive. He also has a distant family connection to the real-life inspiration for James Bond. So distant it probably wasn’t worth mentioning. But it’s fun to name drop.

Jaime Patino-Calvo

Digital Design Director

Jaime is Play’s resident UX/UI master. He designs and builds websites, interactive prototypes and countless to-do lists. When he forgets to make a to-do list, he gets very, very irritated. Not rip-off-your-shirt-and-turn-green irritated. But tear-a-sheet-of-paper-in-two-and-make-that-to-do list-you-forgot irritated. We should all be inspired by Jamie’s inimitable composure and dedication to greatness.

Guy Hulse

Design Lead

Guy is British and therefore culturally prohibited from expressing pride in anything he’s ever done. He prefers coffee to tea. So much so that if his life was a meme, it’d be the one with Agent Cooper deadpanning “That’s a damn fine cup of coffee.” He loves his mini black schnauzer Ozzy, music, and film. Isn’t a fan of the new British passports that lack the European Union logo. He probably disapproves of this oversimplistic depiction of himself, but because he detests confrontation, he just went along with it.

Ran Park

Design Lead

You can’t stop Ran. Not from exploring unknown places in her current home of Berlin. Not from photographing them with an analog camera. Not from stepping in front of an aggressive dog trying to attack her precious pup Leo. Not from attending group boxing classes. Not from becoming the next featherweight champion of the world. Ran is more than an unstoppable designer. She could teach cockroaches a thing or two about resilience.

Adrien Chevalier

Senior Designer

At the risk of losing his French citizenship, Adrien openly admits he can’t pick out a good wine. Still, he is a gentleman of many talents. A respected ceramicist who has crafted his own tea set and morning cereal bowl. He’s also a skilled mousecatcher. So if any mice are reading this and considering breaking into Adrien’s apartment, think again. Besides, you’ll find no ham in the croissants inside his home. Adrien is a staunch croissant purist. No pork. Just 32 layers of flakey buttery delight. He’ll stake his Frenchness on it.

Elise Garcia

Senior Designer

Elise dreams of owning a home someday. A sweet little wooded cottage like the one the Celestial Seasonings’ Sleepytime Bear lives in. Okay, not a replica. Elise wants that bear’s actual house. Which might be why she also wants to become conversant with animals. Then she could negotiate a sale with the bear. Out he’d go with his cozy green armchair. And in Elise would move, with her extensive library of furniture design books and prized Ekornes “Montana” chair. Eventually she’d like to design and build her own chair. But one dream at a time.

Cassie Ciccarelli

Senior Designer

Cassie is no fan of flying cockroaches. Then again, who is? She finds their powers to defy gravity and extinction a tad unsettling. In fact, flying on the whole makes Cassie a bit uneasy. But that hasn’t stopped her from traveling to numerous islands and living in four different countries. Even venturing up to the Arctic for a cold plunge. Even more daring perhaps is her resolute defense of Comic Sans. “It has its place.” Loud breathers and chewers, however, do not. “So gross.” If that’s you, please be advised to watch your mouth around Cassie.

Dinh-Huy Nguyen

Senior Designer

Huy was suspended from pre-school for nearly blinding a classmate with a safety pin. Don’t judge. We were all young and reckless once upon a time. Huy has long since moved on. Today he’s a loving parent to over 40 thriving houseplants. If you ask nicely and vow not to design without intention or use title case, he might show you his secret talent. Hint: it involves elbows. In return you can thank him with a Diet Coke or Pepsi Max. Anything but a Coke Zero. If you think that distinction is unimportant, Huy kindly requests you think again.

Jolin Chen

Junior Designer

Jolin likes being out in the sun. Walking the NYC streets. Taking it all in. Unfortunately this can mean encountering a lot of bad kerning. You know that meme of Leonardo DiCaprio pointing? That’s Jolin when she sees improperly distanced letters. She’s just that dedicated to her craft. Fortunately there’s also plenty of beauty in her world to offset what’s aesthetically displeasing. Like chance encounters with fun looking trees, crunchy peanut butter, and picking the right subway car that will put her closest to the exit stairs. It’s the little things. And Jolin notices them all.

Bobby Dazzler

Motion Director

Motion makes everything better. Bobby embodies that belief. Even with his kinetic last name. At age 22, Bobby moved on from the UK and his penchant for staging illegal drum and bass raves. All alone, he fled the bobbies for a new life in New Zealand. Flash forward two decades. Bobby is moving mountains and literally everything else in his motion design career. Fittingly he prefers sipping champagne over still wine. Viewing wildlife over still lifes. He’s currently making moves to nail down a recipe for the ultimate fermented hot sauce. Sweat glands, prepare to be dazzled.

Larry Brown

Senior Motion Designer

Before becoming a terrible swimmer of above-average height, a pro-hyphen advocate, and proud papa, Larry was a gravedigger. More on that, never. When he’s not cycling around beautifully foggy Sausalito, you might find him irritated by bad blog design. Specifically when timing is everything and he needs to know whether to cut the red or blue wire but has to scroll past five paragraphs of preamble, squinting through a 3 cm gap sandwiched top to bottom by 10 different ads for gutter guards and a cookie request demanding 5 liters of blood from his firstborn.

Xiaoxue Meng

Motion Designer

When asked to describe her job, Xiaoxue said, “I infuse static images with life.” When asked to name her biggest creative influence, Xiaoxue said, “My hairless cat Woody.”  When asked if she fears being replaced by AI, Xiaoxue said, “No, I fear living in a world not ruled by cats.” When asked to elaborate why, Woody interrupted and placed his left paw over Xiaoxue’s lips. A perfectly inspired animated response that explains why Xiaoxue is such a master of her craft.

David Schermer

Copywriter

When Play needs things written (like these bios) they often ask David. He will then ask his dog Clarence if he thinks he can do it. His dog won’t understand what he’s asking. Leaving David no choice but to start writing. It’s a fairly scientific process. One he learned from his mentor, a typing chimpanzee.