Janice Ferrante has worked in advertising for more than two decades and she’s got skills and scars to prove it. Starting out at big agencies in New York and New Jersey, it didn’t take long for this Jersey native to realize that her ambitions weren’t destined to stay on the East Coast. Janice is one of the risk-taking, soul-seeking, wander-lusting few who hate to follow the status quo and want nothing more than to be happily immersed in new creative environments. (Sounds like a case for Colorado if you ask us.)
So in 2002, Janice decided that her passions for entrepreneurship and the outdoors would be best served in the company of Boulder’s famous Flatirons. She soon opened Oblique’s doors and has since been proudly serving clients in the automotive, healthcare, software, higher education, footwear, technology and renewable energy industries. Among others.
When she’s not standing at her computer, you can probably find Janice on her motorcycle, a yoga mat or feeding her diehard fixation with fashion. She’s also a lifelong learner who loves to explore the latest industry trends and an ardent traveler who daily integrates international influence into her daring designs.
Sy Kraft walks the talk. As he sees it, strategic branding is pinpointing the delicate balance between intention and perception. It’s a philosophy that guides him to find harmony— fitting things together in new ways that delight and inspire people.
Formerly a journalist with over 400 published articles, Sy spent decades as a student of the human condition. That experience informs his strategic insights. He knows when to trust intuition, and when to rely on data, research, and facts. His passion for leadership and experience with different cultures worldwide has earned the nickname “The Glue” because he really does help hold it all together.
Never satisfied with an easy answer; Sy’s passion for getting it right has guided him through over 20 years of collaborating with top-tier brands like General Motors, Microsoft, P&G, and Google. Currently, Sy lives in Los Angeles with two rescue pups, a few classic cars, and his motorcycle.
Stop and smell the sweet aroma of your every need being met because Laurel Van Woerkom’s in the house, and getting-it-done is her middle name. Actually, it’s Laurel, but you catch our drift. This client service savant never shies away from a challenge and she speaks 2.25 languages (konnichiwa to you) so as far as we’re concerned, she pretty much has it all.
Laurel is as curious as she is professional, which probably has something to do with her stellar resume. After serving agency gigs in Denver and Chicago, the Rocky Mountains beckoned her back to Boulder for a time where she found her way to Oblique. Although Colorado promises loads of hiking, skiing and proximity to family, after a few years at the foot of the Rockies, her sense of adventure set Laurel on the road again. In fact, she’s been puddle jumping from country to country for the past 21 months with no end in sight —but her sense of adventure doesn’t end there. Her career has seen its share of exploration too, including clients in healthcare, education, government agencies, non-profits, technology, fast casual restaurants and skincare. So, if you’re looking for travel advice, the best spots to hike or just want to chat about budgets and timelines, give Laurel a call. She’s always willing to make time for a chat.
Since 2001, Chad has been working to build a better Internet, one website at a time. Over the years, he’s created large business directories, custom content management systems, and college basketball bracket games. He’s translated government regulations into interactive maps and tools, automated massive data migrations, and solved a lot of intractable problems.
Chad loves breathing life into beautiful website designs, building them to last, and making them easy to manage. His expertise in web application security and hosting leaves hackers frustrated, and keeps his corner of the Internet running smoothly.
A family man through and through, Chad loves movie night and making pancake breakfast on Sunday morning. He enjoys hiking, playing chess, watching college football (Roll Tide!) and reading.
A jack-of-all-trades, or should we say joe-of-all-trades, Joe has been known to do everything from branding to UX/UI design and front-end development here at Oblique. Joe has been a part of projects spanning various industries working with clients like STUDIO Architecture, Anthem, Hill Park Integrative Medicine and Shames Construction.
While many job postings use the verbiage “rockstar”, Joe spent a good part of his twenties driving cross country in a van and trailer aspiring to be a literal rockstar. In that life he wore many hats including designer, developer, marketer and advertiser, all in addition to his musician duties. This DIY mentality of the independent musician has translated to a “do a little of everything” role with team Oblique.
Keith comes to us by way of Manchester in the north of England. When Keith emigrated to America several years ago, he brought with him a passion for creating coherent, original and distinctive design that always have clients clamoring for more. (We’ve never seen such clamoring). Keith also imported his love of foreign movies, food, technology, start-ups, traveling and football team, Manchester United.
Keith is a supreme talent in a down-to-earth package. To use the vernacular of his home country, Keith is a diamond geezer–meaning a gem of a man you can always count on. Goodness knows we do.
During his many years in logo, print and digital design, Keith has lent his talents to a plethora of global clients in technology, sports, automotive, telecoms, fast casual restaurants and healthcare.
When Keith isn’t turning his hand to design, he enjoys attending concerts, watching his home team run around the football pitch and a good beer. We guarantee his sharp eye and sophisticated design aesthetic will have you clamoring for more too.
Hire Natalie Legg, they said. She has tattoos and makes her own kombucha and her brain is an embarrassment of design talent, they said. Well, we nabbed her, and boy are we glad we did. Not only does Natalie geek out on brand identity, packaging, web design and typography, but she legitimately enjoys laying out brand guidelines. We know, crazy. But who are we to argue with a rare talent like that?
Throughout her career, Natalie has designed for massive companies like Gatorade, Quaker, Tropicana and Cover Girl, plus smaller startups (mostly of the organic, sustainable variety), including Ridge38, Love The Wild, Alpha Skincare and Little Secrets candy. Before getting her slant on here at Oblique, she was a senior designer at SMAKK where she worked her magic on SW Basics and Waggo, plus some dynamite digital stuff for Edox and kCura. When she’s not being all design-y, Natalie’s main hobbies are throwing ceramics on the wheel (like that scene from Ghost, but even sexier), camping, hiking, gardening and kicking it farm-style with her cat, six chickens and three dogs. Overalls optional.
As a seasoned senior writer, Joel has 20+ years of advertising experience building brands across all traditional, digital and social channels. Joel’s career began in the burgeoning Denver advertising scene before he set out to hone his writing chops first in SanFrancisco, then six years later on the mean streets of NYC. After nine years he returned to Colorado where he currently lives in Boulder with his daughter.
Joel’s clients include, Rowdy Mermaid Kombucha, Apple, KIND Snacks, Copper Mountain, Weber Grills, Nike, Uniqlo, Levi’s and Shimano.
After 9 years of managing SEM and SEO accounts in a mid-size agency environment, Sam stepped into a different role in 2014. He still manages accounts and generates revenue for clients, but the focus is on problem solving as much as managing SEO or running SEM campaigns. Digital marketing functions like an ecosystem, so he brings the focus to long-term growth across multiple channels as much as short term fixes. Sam has worked on clients such as Teleflora, Vitamin Shoppe, Brookstone, MooseJaw, Sketchers, Armani Exchange, Title Nine and Little Tikes.
When he’s not working Sam hits the single track or the wood shop to get his hands dirty and create something other than search engine rankings.
Andrea Korab came to us by chance on a rogue encounter in Lima, Peru. Hailing from DC, Andrea traveled the world with Kelly and Janice all throughout 2019. She’s a copywriter by trade and has grown her craft writing our company blogs, and web headlines.
Andrea’s witty and creative, and has a colorful resume. After working in Ads Fraud at Facebook in Austin, Andrea wanted to give the left side of her brain a wake-up call and moved into the creative field. Working in branding for a Social Emotional Learning School in Budapest, construction company in Michigan, a British Music School, and a couple Hungarian digital agencies, Andrea found her way into copywriting. When she’s not behind her screen, you can find her exploring the world or playing piano.