Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Keith Fiori. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Keith , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
Before ever considering a career in design, I focused on becoming a professional musician/drummer. I can’t say my parents were overwhelmed by my decision to pursue a career with minimal chance of financial success or stability, but I was young, marginally talented, and very committed. I learned so much about myself and the world in that time, I wouldn’t change it for a minute. Even from a young age I gravitated towards art I could always illustrate at a high level and had a passion for typography. Becoming an illustrator or having a career in graphic design seemed interesting, but attending college or art school was not on my radar then. As time went on, in my mid-twenties, things in music were not coming to fruition, so I had to make a hard decision and pivot. Starting literally from ground zero, I would meet with everyone and anyone who was gracious enough to give me five minutes of their time to share some guidance and story. Taking my love of traditional art and borrowing money from my brother to learn the very earliest versions of Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, I created my first design portfolio, setting out to see where my other skills could lead me.
Keith , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I sort of stumbled my way into becoming a designer, creating graphics and designing apparel for a small licensed product company in NJ. Through a colleague, I unbelievably scored an interview at Polo Ralph Lauren in NYC, landing a position on the men’s design team, focusing on branding, graphics, and fashion illustration. Eventually, I worked my way up to Art Director, leading design teams for RRL, Blue Label, Sportsman, and RLX forever changing the course of my life, I wanted to be in fashion forever. There was a collection of the most incredibly talented people you could imagine to be around, designers, artists, merchants, and stylists..I made a point to learn everything I could from them. At Polo, I learned the design principles I still base everything on today: concept is key, only the highest quality is acceptable, work harder than you think you can, and good style can open a lot of doors…I even met my wife of 20+ years there!
In 1999, I was recruited to launch American Eagle Outfitters. I am actually the designer of the trademark Eagle Icon you may have seen on all the storefronts, marketing, and millions of graphic tees. The AE icon is easily the most recognized mark I have ever done. I became VP of AE|Brand, directing multiple design teams for graphics, marketing, packaging, intimates, fragrance, and launched the influential kids brand, 77Kids. Along with an amazing team of mentors, designers, and merchants, together we grew the company to a multi-billion dollar company in the 14 years I was there…it was an incredible time!
I spent the next 4 years at Tommy Hilfiger as VP | TH Brand-North America, leading men’s, women’s, kids’ graphic design, and print & pattern teams. My role evolved to incorporate ownership of branding, and on-product marketing as a global liaison between North America and Europe, providing direction for international design and marketing teams.
I started my branding & design agency ROGUE CREATIVE in 2019 to become a complete 360-degree design source. We partner with the client and can take their vision from a simple conceptual design “napkin sketch” and see it all the way through from concept to creation. We specialize in the fashion/retail world while also leaning in heavily within the hospitality and fitness areas. We provide concept and consult on brand strategy, creative team building, brand discovery/guideline development, and innovative creative content for marketing and social media. We have a highly experienced and nimble team who can create all aspects of creative content from full lifestyle photo shoots, product laydowns, video, styling, and conceptual store design/visual merchandising…we can kind of do it all!
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Resilience is an ability as a creative you will draw from many times in your career. There will be so many ups & downs and highs & lows the longer you stay in this field. I was very fortunate to be recruited from a big job to a bigger job, never envisioning that it could end…until it did. When I turned 50, I lost my job as VP at The Children’s Place due to a corporate restructuring and company downsizing. I had no idea it was coming, there were no issues with my performance, my teams were happy, and sales in my areas were up. It’s business, it happens. I just never thought I would have to look for work, but now I did. If there is anything I know for sure in this world, it’s that all good things come from relationships…and some high quality work! When I launched ROGUE CREATIVE, I had zero clients and only connections through my years in fashion. Thankfully, I had an incredible creative community of friends and colleagues who knew my work and reputation. I slowly built my roster of clients and was doing pretty well for a small design firm in 2 short years…then COVID-19 happened, and we had to do it all over again with many of our accounts gone almost overnight. Fast-forward to 2023, and we are having our best year on record. The power of “saying yes” is the best advice I can share with anyone.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect for me as a designer and brand builder is that I get to collaborate with my clients and help them bring their vision to life. Nobody launches a new business thinking it will not be successful and in today’s climate strong brand identity and powerful visuals are an absolute must to be set up for success. My goal is to take the stress off of them, make the process fun and interactive. Some clients are in need of modernization or a rebrand, and others may be starting from scratch. I am fortunate to work with inspiring, creative partners whom I am lucky to call my friends. We have a unique roster of amazing clients who have been with me for years. When they are happy…I am happy!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.roguecreativedesign.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/roguecreativedesign/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-fiori-5179ab6/
Image Credits
@John Herr @sweetdanib