Studio Visit: Lineweaver Design
Branding guru John Lineweaver helps Atlanta’s creative set thrive through thoughtful storytelling and design.
Branding guru John Lineweaver helps Atlanta’s creative set thrive through thoughtful storytelling and design.
Lineweaver’s office is a living inspiration board brimming with books, samples, packaging and more.
Lineweaver’s office is a living inspiration board brimming with books, samples, packaging and more.
Lineweaver’s office is a living inspiration board brimming with books, samples, packaging and more.
A gallery wall includes a framed sample of his best-selling wrapping paper line.
Boxes of leather samples created with interior designers in mind for Jerry Pair Leather.
Eye-popping packaging for culinary clients.
A site mock-up for Francois & Co. on his laptop and an office wall.
A site mock-up for Francois & Co. on his laptop and an office wall.
In a digital age, where image is everything, John Lineweaver is helping Atlanta’s creative set put their best foot forward. Specializing in strategic brand development and graphic design, the North Carolina native’s work has struck a particular chord with local and national design brands. (He counts Suzanne Kasler Interiors, the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center and Jerry Pair among his clients.)
“I see myself as the facilitator who brings their stories to life in a multimedia format,” says Lineweaver.
His first foray into marketing came after college while working as an assistant account executive at Young & Rubicam in New York. “There were 26 floors of different departments and I kept feeling like I was getting off on the wrong floor, so I started taking design classes at Parsons in the evenings. It was confirmation that this was something I should pursue,” he says.
Lineweaver then returned to Atlanta to attend the Portfolio Center, where he refined his creative skills studying art direction and graphic design for two years. Finally, after art director and creative stints at ad agencies in New York and Richmond, Lineweaver decided to strike out on his own in Atlanta, founding Lineweaver Design & Communications.
“It was really about having creative freedom and pursuing like-minded clients,” he says of his decision. “Interiors is a wonderful category because everyone has such inspiring and collaborative spirits. I love being an ambassador for their stories.”
A master at both the visual and verbal, Lineweaver crafts websites, print collateral, packaging, retail campaigns and much more from his quaint Chastain Park studio. He describes it as a living inspiration board filled with greatest hits and treasures collected along the way. Among his favorites is a painting by his partner, interior designer John Oetgen, and a framed sample of his best-selling “Gumballs” wrapping paper from his former product line.
But Lineweaver’s creative space is best characterized as a reflection of his work—clean and simple yet thoroughly impactful. “Too much art direction or design can cloud the presentation. As a rule, it stays pretty clean, but there’s a palpable energy to it.”