Brett cofounded Thinkso in 2006 and served as the agency’s creative director for its first 17 years. He also co-created Give a Brand!®, Thinkso’s annual, signature, pro-bono branding event which has donated over a half million dollars in branding services since its debut in 2012.
Notable projects during his tenure include the rebrand of Am Law 100 firm Haynes Boone, the largest in Texas at the time; naming and branding for DoResearch, Stanford University’s online research portal; product naming and brand identity for the S’well water bottle; and publication design for Baylor College of Medicine. Other clients included The New York Times, Wine Direct, KCG, and the inventor of electronic equities trading, Instinet.
Prior to founding Thinkso, Brett spent eight years working under Michael Bierut at the international design consultancy, Pentagram. There, he was elected associate partner in 2003 and worked on high-profile visual identities for a variety of clients, including the March of Dimes, the New York Jets, Princeton University, and United Airlines.
Brett’s work is included in the permanent collection of SFMOMA and has received awards from the American Institute of Graphic Arts, SEGD, the Art Directors Club of New York, Communication Arts, D&AD, the Financial Communications Society, and REBRAND 100. He was also named one of the 50 most influential graphic designers by Graphic Design USA in 2013.
His work has been widely acclaimed in publications such as Print, Creative Review, Wired, Metropolis, and The New York Times — and he has contributed to a range of articles and books. Brett frequently lectures on design at Rutgers University, Pratt Institute, the School of Visual Arts, and ArtCenter College of Design.
Brett earned a BFA in graphic design from Brigham Young University. He and his wife have two grown daughters, two pit bull rescues, and 13 chickens — most of whom reside at their home in southwest Vermont.
What’s with the aircraft turbine?
“It represents the pursuit of powerful ideas. Also, after 10 years working as a design consultant to United Airlines, I became something of a plane-spotting nerd.”