Welcome to the Rocketlab, an online repository of advertising and design work created and/or directed by Jeff Joiner, a Houston-based creative director, art director, and designer.

As a senior-level creative professional with an MFA in Innovation Studies and Design Research, I enjoy discovering the “why” as much as crafting the “what.” I’ve mentored teams of designers, art directors, and copywriters on B2B and B2C ad campaigns, branding systems, and all types of digital and print marketing collateral for local, national and global clients. I’ve presented to audiences in the US and abroad on creativity, user experience, and how design thinking is crucial to successful change management. I’ve led participatory design workshops that unlock innovation for designers and nondesigners alike, and taught hundreds of students at three award-winning university design programs.

At the center of all of this is an intense fascination with understanding how people interpret and interact with the world around them. I am compelled by the need to connect with and support the people I collaborate with and the communities I produce work for. Whether the goal is a new brand, product, service, system, or process, there are few things in life as satisfying as creating something that, in turn, creates a positive shift in how humans think, behave and relate to the world around them.

My work has been recognized by Graphis, Print, LogoLounge, the US Ad Review, Black Book‘s AR100, the Effies, VOX, ShowSouth, and the American Advertising Federation. My students have won numerous awards at local, regional and national competitions such as the American Advertising Federation Awards, the National Student Show, and the AIGA Flux Awards, and have had work from my classes featured in Luerzer’s Archive, Graphis and Graphic Design USA. My academic research has explored topics such as the critical analysis of professional design practice (a natural extension of my 20+ years of industry experience), design rhetoric, signs and semiotics, and design in the public interest. Some of this research has been published as a book chapter in Signs and Symbols for Workplace and Public Use, a published paper in Communication Design Quarterly, and conference proceedings for presentations in the U.S., Croatia, Italy, and Portugal.

If you’d like more info or just want to say hello, feel free to send me an email. You can also download my resume (the short version) or my CV (the long version).

Below are a few of the clients I’ve had the pleasure of working with along the way. A full client list can be found on the last page of my resume.