About Us
Creative is our middle name. We create enduring brand identities and authentic designs that position organizations where they want to be—in their customers’ hearts and minds. At Bates Creative Group, we measure our success by your success. see our services »
Meet the Team
the bates team
Our team of designers and brand strategists delivers design excellence that reflects your values and meets your business goals. We understand how to reach your target market because we listen to the people who know your audience best — you! Your aspirations, our ideas and collaborative solutions to your challenges. Drawn together for success.
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Debra Bates-Schrott
President
Debra is the founder and chief communications strategist of Bates Creative Group. For more than 18 years, she has provided creative direction for branding, magazine design and marketing collateral development. Her team has garnered more than 70 awards for innovative designs for organizations ranging from Cisco to the U.S. Marine Corps.
Debra has served on the Board of Directors for the Florida Magazine Association (FMA), the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) and the Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington (ADCMW), and is currently a member of the American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA). She speaks regularly at industry conferences and serves as a judge for numerous creative competitions.
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Jeff Caporizzo
Creative Director
With two decades of brand development experience, Jeff leads our creative team combining sound strategic thinking with striking execution.
Prior to joining Bates Creative Group, Jeff was Vice President and Creative Director at Ogilvy in Washington, D.C. Jeff’s team developed award-winning creative in branding, advertising, campaign and cause initiatives for commercial, non-profit and government clients.
Jeff graduated as a Studio Art Major and is a practicing artist to this day.
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Ernie Achenbach
VP of Operations
A mild-mannered taskmaster and constant source of comic relief, Ernie coordinates project schedules, monitors the production process and serves as liaison between clients and designers. With his hands-on background in the printing industry, Ernie is able to anticipate and troubleshoot potential production problems before they’re even recognized as issues. He keeps our studio running smoothly and streamlines our design process into a seemingly effortless flow.
Currently serving on the board for the Kensington Arts Theatre Company, Ernie is also a regional professional actor who donates his design and photography talents to promote local theater.
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Heather Shelton
Director of Business Development
Heather is known for her enthusiasm, fearlessness and positive spirit. She passionately leads our creative team through new business development. Clients love working with Heather because she understands how dynamic design can transform a brand and benefit the bottom line. Heather believes there is a growing need for high-end design and encourages organizations to embrace visual communication as a fundamental business objective.
Heather has over 10 years of sales and marketing experience. After hours, she loves to entertain family and friends. If you catch her researching her next vacation, she'll likely be looking for places to explore in the Brazilian jungle or Mayan ruins of Central America.
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Vince Tardy
Interactive Director
Vince brings more than 15 years of experience in interactive design and user interface development to the Bates Creative team. His specialty: using emerging Web development techniques to create beautiful, standards-based websites and applications.
Vince previously served as principal and creative director of design firm Glossybox, where his clients included the Department of Homeland Security, Discovery Communications and Verdant Law. He has also taught Visual Communications courses at Sanford Brown College, including Theory and Elements of Design, 2D/3D Animation and Advanced Web Design. Besides designing, Vince spends time listening to his collection of 1960s Blue Note albums.
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Ozgur Coruhlu
Web designer / Front End Developer
As a multitalented Web designer, Ozzy is a tireless advocate for technology consumers and has a fearless approach to mastering new technology.
Although he has a degree in engineering, Ozzy decided to further his education and pursue his passion for design. After gaining his second degree in visual art and communication, he began working in the creative industry and now has more than ten years of experience in the field.
When he's not spending time with family and friends, he enjoys maintaining his music website, playing and watching soccer, and securing his reputation among friends as a distinguished movie buff.
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Gretchen Braun
Designer
As Bates Creative Group's newest designer and illustrator, Gretchen brings with her an exceptional creative process and eye for photography. She begins every idea with sketches to incorporate unique, handcrafted elements into each project.
Gretchen loves searching for beautiful typography, planning elaborate photo shoots and taking long drives in search of a stunning photograph. She is a self-professed comic book nerd, Halloween enthusiast and Tim Burton movie buff.
Gretchen holds a bachelor of design from Penn State University with a focus in graphic design and photography.
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Jane Farthing
Designer
Jane has been a vital member of our team for more than a decade, working remotely from her dream home on the coast of Maine. Her artistic background literally spans the globe, from studying ceramic art at the Kyoto University of Fine Arts in Japan to exploring multicultural design at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. Her experiences have played an integral role in her consistent design success over the past 20+ years.
When Jane isn’t on her MacBook, she can be found eating lobster, sailing or simply relishing the beauty of coastal Maine.
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Darryl Sebro
Designer
An insightful designer and illustrator, Darryl draws inspiration from a variety of real-world and virtual sources, including graffiti, avant-garde illustration and organic, hand-drawn typefaces. His stunning design work includes feature stories for Marines magazine, the overall magazine design for Infonomics, illustrations for Align and annual report design for The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
A native of Trinidad, Darryl enjoys playing soccer and basketball, hunting online for exclusive kicks and dabbling in graffiti art (on paper of course!). In his spare time, he lends his skills to up-and-coming musical artists on the Brooklyn scene by creating their promotional materials.
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Jen Fose
Designer
As an intuitive artist and tennis shoe enthusiast, Jen looks at everything in life with a designer's eye. Whether it is a movie poster or the latest pair of Nike's, she studies the world around her for unique execution and provocative design technique.
Jen joined Bates Creative in June 2011 from Ogilvy's Washington, DC office. She holds a Visual Communications degree from the University of Delaware where she was able to study abroad in London to further her education in advertising and graphic design.
Outside of work Jen is an avid tennis player and runner, and enjoys cooking with ingredients from her homegrown garden.
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Christina Bittinger
Designer
Christina hopes to change the world one typeface and (mini) cupcake at a time. She claims she can tell a lot about a font by its "a," loves quirky or powerful characters and knows more shades of "blue PMS" than any healthy designer should.
When she is not filling up her hard drive with design inspiration, Christina is cooking with rubber gloves or jumping up and down at a concert. After taking cake decorating as a child, she longs to art direct the person that will one day bake her wedding cake. Christina holds a degree in Visual Communications from Stevenson University.
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Emily Randisi
Marketing Associate
A talented writer, Emily serves as marketing associate at Bates Creative, where she develops innovative marketing and communications strategies while also assisting in business development.
In addition to the Bates Creative blog, Emily is a frequent writer for the Association Media and Publishing and an active American Marketing Association member. She also attends various networking events to connect with peers and build professional relationships. Emily has a bachelor's degree in communications from the College of Charleston.
Outside of work, she enjoys playing golf, watching Auburn University football, or planning her next trip back to the beaches of South Carolina.