About me

I’ve been visual storyteller in one form or another for over 30 years. After art school, I started my career as a freelance illustrator and designer while working days as a display artist at Tower Records. I designed a lot of music-related materials for bands and record labels back then, including artwork for the cover of Pearl Jam’s first album “Ten”. From there, I became a retail display artist at Macy’s, where I designed and dressed 32 windows in their downtown Seattle store with a small display team.

I joined the Smashing Ideas digital agency in the early 2000s as a motion graphics designer, moving to senior designer and eventually senior art director, leading creative projects for a client list that included Nick Jr., Disney Channel, Mattel, and PBS Kids. During this time, I also worked independently on a variety of interactive exhibit projects for Microsoft, The Harley-Davidson Museum, The Experience Music Project, and Sheikh Zayed Desert Learning Centre in Saudi Arabia.

My picture book illustration debut Ella The Elegant Elephant (published under the name Steven D’Amico) was released in 2004 by Scholastic. Three more Ella books followed, along with an animated Disney Jr. TV show based on the book series. From 2008 to 2019, I illustrated 11 more books with major publishers like Macmillan and Chronicle Books.

In 2017, joined the Seattle ed-tech Committee for Children as a product design manager, helping develop the digital platform for their Second Step life skills program. I transitioned to CFC’s marketing department in 2020, where I oversaw hundreds of creative projects as an art director and brand advisor.

If I’ve learned one thing over time, it’s that creative collaboration and teamwork is just as much a part of effective visual storytelling as technical skill. Whether working with label reps at Tower Records, contracting with studios like Belle & Wissell, or brainstorming with writers and publishers, I’ve found that great outcomes depend so much on the relationships you build with the people around you. And I’ve been very fortunate to work with and learn from some of the best.

-SH 2025