Megan Coffing
Sometimes it’s the vibrant pop of color, the quirky font, or the subtle pastel hipster cool of the logo that captures our attention. Often, it’s the bright yet seamless, multi-hued energy – or lower key variations - of the product label, advertisement, brochure, or even the aesthetic interior of the store or restaurant that invites us into the experience and makes us feel at home. No matter how it strikes us and compels our minds, emotions, and spirits, every nuance, every detail, is the result of an enormous amount of thoughtful, painstaking work by visionaries who specialize in the indelible art of branding.
Brandingmag.com defines “branding” as a “marketing practice in which a company creates a name, symbol of design that is easily identifiable as belonging to the company.” It helps to identify a product and distinguish it from other products and services. Branding is absolutely critical to a business because of the overall impact it makes on a company. It can change how people perceive their brand, it can drive new business and increase brand awareness.
This is the world of Megan Coffing, where the award-winning, multi-faceted design and branding professional has long fused her talent for striking visuals and keen insight into the needs and desires of independent startups and multi-billion-dollar companies with a transcendent, undefinable magic touch that has put her at the top of her game. After years of bringing her expertise to the clients of The Chambers Group branding and marketing agency and international oil field services companies Schlumberger and Weatherford, Megan is engaged in building her own full-service integrated branding design and marketing company, Coffing Creative.
From consumer-packaged goods to foodservice/restaurants and hospitality, entertainment, and the energy industry, Megan provides a comprehensive, “soup to nuts” array of services to help new indie companies and long-existing organizations attain a competitive edge and stand out via foundational branding (for startups) and re-branding (for established companies seeking to modernize and update their image).
When she worked in the corporate world, one of Megan’s greatest accomplishments was serving as a project manager, assembling teams of brilliant creatives. As Founder and President of Coffing Creative, she sources the industry’s most skilled copywriters, illustrators, and 3-D illustrators to take a project from concept to full-fledged guidelines and deliverables. She and her teams are dedicated to leveraging the basic design elements and visually compelling, aesthetically representative logos they create to a multitude of systems to serve the client’s specific branding goals. They can create everything from logo designs, brochures and trade show materials to signage, stationery, business cards, and email signoffs, company uniforms, and interiors of offices and restaurants.
Every project starts with a diligent effort to understand the client and their specific needs pertaining to imaging for marketing purposes. Megan interviews key executives at the company’s different levels, understanding the challenges, issues, and goals from multiple perspectives. She also does a thorough competitive analysis to better understand what other companies are doing in the market while also venturing outside that specific market to formulate ideas for market advantage.
There’s no “typical day” for Coffing Creative. Whether Megan is doing research for a project or doing concept design, she’s dedicated to “getting in a zone” and devoting hours to her clients. One of the trademark elements of her work ethic is working on and presenting her clients with three different design approaches (all equally good, in her estimation) and letting them choose the direction that best suits them. Her efforts have earned her company a Lantern Award for B2B marketing and several awards from AAF American Advertisers.
“At heart, all of us who work in this incredibly diverse business are problem solvers,” says Megan. “Throughout my career, anytime I have heard people speak about branding and design, that term comes up. We embrace challenges and are always trying to find solutions to achieve maximum impact for our clients. Our work is fashioning an overall aesthetic, using copy and visuals to invoke a feeling about the company. If you see bold, heavy, and rich coloring, that makes one sort of statement, maybe something fun and family-friendly. If its hues are pastel, that hits a different chord, perhaps something on the staid and mature side.
“Newer tech companies often have a young, playful aesthetic,” she adds. “More established firms often prefer subtler touches. In all cases, however, the products we design have very clean and simple, easy to connect with fonts, and a non-crowded effect. Every task we undertake, every problem we solve, is done with the same ultimate goal in mind: getting people to know the overall vibe of the company.”
A native of Houston, Megan launched her career in Los Angeles at a type studio, doing typesetting for entertainment companies, including Warner Bros. Records, for whom she worked on packaging for artists like Prince and Randy Crawford. She then worked for ten years with The Chambers Group, which specialized in branding, positioning, and product development for consumer-packaged goods. Initially hired to design the private label packaging for a small supermarket chain, she was promoted from Designer to Production Manager and finally, the Studio Manager.
Working on behalf of multi-national clients like Con Agra, 3M, Hormel, Orville Redenbacher Microwave Popcorn, Stagg Chili, Sandblaster sandpaper, and Sparkletts, she learned the art of branding and discovered her love for the detail involved in package design and production. Also while at The Chambers Group, she experienced creating campaigns from multiple perspectives – being part of the team, growing the team, and ultimately leading the team. She credits Keith Chambers from the agency for having the most significant effect on her career.
After more than a decade in L.A., Megan returned to Houston to be close to extended family and finish raising her own. Soon after she signed up with a placement agency, the opportunity to become the Creative Services Manager at Schlumberger, the world’s top international services company. During her six years there, she expanded their internal branding and marketing team from six to 15 and created new identity guidelines to be used throughout the entire company. Among the highlights of her tenure there, she presented the guidelines in Paris directly to the global management team while leading a powerhouse group of 22 direct reports.
After leaving Schlumberger, Megan accepted a similar position with Weatherford, a multinational oil and gas company that is one of the world’s largest. In addition to being in charge of new identity guidelines, her team created numerous worldwide campaigns and updated all tradeshow materials, including the Weatherford booth. They also worked with an outside agency to update their entire web presence, including the company’s home site. Since launching Coffing Creative, she has continued to work in the energy sector for and with multiple companies and agencies.
Megan traces her love for design to the time she spent in her childhood in the Denver studio of her aunt, who was a successful commercial artist. She was fascinated with the array of tools and equipment her aunt used, including wooden lay files, T-squares, drafting table, paper sample books, type books, rapidograph pens, pencils, gum erasers, and antique wooden flat files. “Being surrounded by all these things and watching my aunt enjoy her work, I immediately knew this was the world I wanted to be in when I grew up,” she says. “I’ve always had strong artistic leanings and a good eye for design.” Another formative experience came during high school when she designed ads and circulars for both a local newspaper and later the large paper and building company Boise Cascade. She considered going to the Art Institute of Denver, but decided instead to remain close to home and get her degree from the Art Institute of Houston.
As busy as she is with Coffing Creative, Megan has for many years volunteered her time to work with numerous non-profits and charitable organizations. In addition to creating newsletters for The Parish School in Houston, a school for children with learning differences, she played several prominent roles with the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation (CAAF). She created an annual report for two years and put together a Dream Halloween, a large star-studded fundraiser in one of the hangars at Santa Monica Airport.
Megan also designed logos for the non-profit arms of Frisch’s Big Boy restaurant chain (“Frisch’s Cares”) and Schlumberger (“Schlumberger Cares”). She participated in a fundraising event for Oilfield Helping Hands (OHH) event to help oilfield industry workers who have lost their jobs and created all the graphics for the “Boots and Business” fundraiser of another client, Henderson Rigs.
“I feel honored that I have skills that can be of benefit to these organizations,” she says. “The Parish School was particularly personal as my son attended and benefitted greatly from their program. As far as working with the Children Affected by AIDS Foundation (CAAF), this was the most important issue of our time and it was an honor to serve in any way I could. Whether I’m serving the commercial needs of my clients or volunteering for causes and concerns I believe in, those I serve always get my 100 percent undivided attention and the passion for details I put into my work. Since I’ve been in business for myself, there is never a time that I won’t pick up the phone for a client. If you tell me you need something any time of day, I will deliver. I love being a hero and saving the day!”