Mary Elise Chavez
Executive Creative Director
As Emotif's creative leader, Mary is responsible for holistic brand design that integrates many distinct disciplines into a powerful overall design vision for our clients. Mary’s unique skill is in her ability to maintain the integrity of a strong design vision even as the medium, and the context changes during different phases of a project.
It is this skill that allows her to orchestrate complex multi-layered design projects that incorporate many different elements: visual identities, graphic design, digital experiences, product, packaging and experiential environments for consumer, corporate, and emerging brands.
Mary's roots are in digital design, where she led branding and product design efforts for online and mobile-first businesses during the first 10 years of her career. She’s helped build and develop brands in a diverse array of industries including: art & design, luxury, fashion & beauty, hospitality, retail, technology, media, consumer packaged goods and direct-to-consumer.
Mary’s Stream
Blog Posts by Mary
James Turrell’s Roden Crater Project in Southern Arizona | Currently in the works, this fascinating endeavor is a gateway to observe light, time, and space. Learn about it via LACMA’s feature on Vimeo or check out their Instagram to follow the journey.
“I worked with Mary for several years and she is one of the most versatile and talented designers I’ve ever worked with. Her UI designs are always a work of art - functional yet full of brilliant new ideas (always!). Exceptional leader, confident product manager, expert at UX, really hard worker, great friend and team player - highly recommend Mary for where making a miracle daily is expected.”
Alex Apollonsky, CTO, Mana Health
Hilma af Klint at the Guggenheim Museum | The otherworldly abstract artworks of Swedish artist, Hilma af Klint have me mesmerized. They provoke the question of what is modern - especially relevant during our technology-laced times. Her energetic color palettes, perfect forms and flowing compositions are simply magnificent. Klint’s paintings were among the first abstract art, she lived 1862-1944. A considerable body of her abstract work predates the first purely abstract compositions by Kandinsky.
A reinvention of hospitality rooted in think globally + design locally | Key examples of this contemporary approach to luxury are the 1 Hotel Brooklyn Bridge launched by Barry Sternlicht (of W Hotel fame), with artfully sustainable interiors by INC Architecture, and Ian Schrager's Public Hotel, which coins itself as "luxury for all"
Immersive Art-Forward {discreetly branded} Experiences
R29 Rooms | Dream Machine | Museum of Ice Cream
The J. Paul Getty Museum | Los Angeles, California
David Bowie Is @ Brooklyn Museum: The 2018 exhibition on the life of my beloved creative inspiration, David Bowie.
I'm loving Monochrome and the visual impact it can have in its simplicity. This image captured at CJ Hendry’s Brooklyn pop-up featuring a variety of Pantone-hued rooms.
Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear by Elizabeth Gilbert
“if I am not actively creating something, then I am probably actively destroying something”
Glossier: An innovator in the beauty and skin care space; offers well-performing, sharply-packaged products and acts as a keen example of building a brand today that resonates and connects
Neon Light Art (especially when it pays homage to Ziggy Stardust)
“Mary is one of the most talented creative forces I have worked with in my years building technology driven ventures. It is a rare find to bring together world-class design skills with a firm understanding of new technologies in a person who can also jump in and “get it done” to hit deadlines. I have great appreciation for the work we’ve done together building groundbreaking products that put usability and great design in focus. In short, Mary is truly one of a kind!”
Raj Amin, Founder, Teem Ventures
D.C’s ARTECHOUSE | At the crossroads of art, science and technology.
Fondazione Prada | Milan, Italy
Originals: How Non-Conformists Move the World by Adam Grant
“Being original doesn’t require being first. It just means being different and better.”
Resurgence of Food Halls | I'm loving the creativity and food&bev innovation happening in fast casual dining in New York right now. We're spoiled with a diverse array of street-food inspired eats like Union Fare, Dekalb Market Hall, Gotham Market, Canal Street Market and Urbanspace
The Songwriter Fonts Project by French graphic designers Julien Sens and Nicolas Damiens
The 'Design Matters' Podcast by Debbie Millman: Features interviews with designers, artists and cultural leaders, including Lawrence Weiner, Barbara Kruger, Malcolm Gladwell, Eric Kandel, Stefan Sagmeister, John Maeda, Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones, Michael Arad, Milton Glaser, Massimo Vignelli, Paula Scher, Steven Heller, Jonah Lehrer, among others.
Currently Reading: Neil deGrasse Tyson's latest
“The universe is under no obligation to make sense to you."
Cooper Hewitt Design Museum: My favorite design museum in NYC - the show 'The Senses: Design Beyond Vision', which explores scent, touch, sound and sight.
Street Art | The streets of Brooklyn are vibrant and ever-changing, I love capturing the latest murals with Rocksy. Check out the latest at: #onthestreetMC
#MiniByMary: Explore the teeny, tiny, microworlds of my imagination, if I was only one inch tall.