DAVID BARRINEAU

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I’ve worked as a Creative Director/Art Director for over two decades. Most of my career has focused on Arts and Culture advertising, especially Theatre. I have handled and supervised the design and creation of advertising/marketing materials for over 200 Broadway and off-Broadway theatrical productions. My prior agency work focused on fashion, fragrance and home furnishings.

After graduating from New York University with a BFA in theatre – and quickly realizing that performing was not for me – I made a decision to go back to school for design. While working full-time in a photo lab, I attended the Parsons School of Design, where I was awarded a Type Directors Club scholarship. After graduation, a professor offered me a position at his small agency, Albrecht Advertising + Design. This three-man shop primarily handled fragrance accounts.

From there I moved to a position at Jeff McKay, Inc., a slightly larger agency that focused on fashion and home furnishings. I was quickly promoted to Senior Art Director. When Jeff closed up his shop, I worked for a short time at Unilever on Nautica’s men fragrance line.

Subsequently, I found my way to Serino/Coyne, moving from freelancer to Senior Art Director to Associate Creative Director during my time there. Serino/Coyne primarily handles advertising for Broadway shows and other cultural institutions (The Metropolitan Opera, Radio City Christmas Spectacular and the Rockettes, etc.). One of the first shows I opened was Mamma Mia!, which I continued on for 11 years. I also opened and worked on Wicked for over 10 years. Some other highlights during my time at S/C were Peter and the Starcatcher, Next to Normal, and The Lion King.

After thirteen years I left Serino/Coyne to join AKA, where I am Senior Creative Director. AKA is the only fully-integrated, global agency for arts, entertainment, tourism and culture, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Manchester, and Melbourne. It's a thrilling place in which to work.

While the entertainment industry is certainly exciting, the behind-the-scenes thrill comes from the variety of clients I’ve been able to handle. On Broadway some shows are fortunate to have lengthy runs, but that isn’t the case for many – which means there are always new shows in development. Some featured clients are Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Come From Away, The Band’s Visit and The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

On the over 200 productions, I've worked in various capacities. For some shows this involvement is extensive: I’ve been responsible for developing and creating the key art or I’ve been responsible for maintaining the visual brand identity on a daily basis. Sometimes I pitched in on specific individual projects. The exciting thing is that each show is different; bringing new challenges and requiring specific solutions.

And while I certainly have a strong background in live entertainment, my experience extends into other cultural institutions as well. Using AKA’s philosophy of “getting people to go places,” I’ve also been privileged to work on some of the most prestigious museums in the world, including The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Frick Collection.