Brian Sooy
Brian Sooy began his career as a graphic design entrepreneur in 1981 at a Cleveland-area printer, while a student at Lorain County Community College. After graduating from LCCC with an Associate's degree in 1981, he continued his education at Bowling Green State University with a BFA in Graphic Design in 1984.
His education continued as he became familiar with the Macintosh at its introduction in 1984, and began using it as a design/production tool in 1988. Traveling the state of Ohio, the US and the world, he has studied internationally with calligraphers and type designers such as American Greetings lettering artist (retired) John Hogan, Jovica Veljovic, Timothy Botts and Gottfried Pott. His influences include Paul Rand, Hermann Zapf and Tim Girvin. A love and study of calligraphy are at the heart of his typographic design initiatives.
Brian is the principal and creative director of Sooy Co., a brand development, design and communications firm that specializes in working with businesses, education and nonprofit organizations. Sooy Co. helps organizations create, build and nurture relationships with their key audiences. Through collaboration on strategic positioning, brand development, marketing communications, recruitment and development initiatives, Sooy Co. creates brands that inspire and nurtures brands that build relationships.
As president of Sooy Co., Brian is responsible for consulting on strategic branding, design and marketing initiatives, creative direction and business development. Brian also has over 25 years of experience in working with entrepreneurial businesses in many business sectors.
Brian is also an Entrepreneur Specialist with GLIDE, the Great Lakes Innovation and Development Enterprise, an Edison Technology Incubator located at Lorain County Community College. Brian consults with GLIDE on marketing and outreach, and assists with entrepreneurial development and assessments of start-up and established businesses.
Sooy Co. has been recognized for 8 consecutive years for business growth in the Golden 30 Awards, and is a 2007 COSE "Ten under 10" winner for best practices in innovation, growth/success, value to the community and the environment, and customer service excellence. Prior to founding Sooy Co. in 1995, Brian was the creative director for a Cleveland-based design firm for 10 years.
Active in the community, Brian currently serves as President on the executive board of directors for the Second Harvest Food Bank.
He has been profiled for his work in leading industry publications such as www.CreativePro.com, HOW Design and GD:USA. He has been interviewed and profiled regionally in COSE Update magazine, Inside Business, the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Morning Journal and the Chronicle-Telegram.
Brian is the principal designer for Altered Ego Fonts (ÆF), creating custom font software and typeface designs on commission and for licensing. Æ Fonts are included in the Adobe and Bitstream libraries, and are distributed worldwide.
Professional memberships and affiliations include:
- AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) since 1985
- CIVA (Christians In the Visual Arts, civa.org)
- Type Directors Club (tdc.org)
- SOTA (The Society of Typographic Aficionados, typesociety.org)
- NCMPR (National Council for Marketing and Public Relations)
- Lorain County Chamber of Commerce
- COSE
- NEOSA (COSE's Technology Network
Follow me:
Twitter: @sooyco
Blog: Curious Obsessions
LinkedIn: Brian Sooy