While working on the Converse By You team we had the opportunity to design this collaborative shoe with Billie and her team. It was amazing to see this process through and watch the final product get such a positive response. None of this would have been possible without the talent on the Converse By You team and everyone behind the scenes. Growing up watching SNL it was wild to see her perform wearing the custom Chuck Taylor Lifts.
Ray is no stranger to rebranding a business. He single-handedly redesigned and reimagined Castle Island Brewing's identity in 2024. The brand needed a refresh that spoke better to who they were and what they represented. Ray took that information and transformed each can into an illustration of what to expect off that first sip. Whether you're being blasted from the Hi-Def tanks with a juicy burst of tropical hops or finding your own adventure in the Keeper, the branding hones in on that happy place with each design. The color-way of the original cans remained the focus for consumer consistency during the makeover The new pill shape framing creates total brand cohesiveness among the core cans and limited releases alike.
From his time on the close to market design team at Converse Ray had several notable designs. The first was inspired by Camp Converse where Ray utilized vintage pendants and varsity jackets to create heelstay and patch references. Another project involved designing a shoe for Journeys featuring a flower application adhered to the mid sole, along with print and embroidery details around the iconic Chuck patch. Additionally, he created a Journeys exclusive shoe with an alien space, travel theme, incorporating glow in the dark accents that brought the shoes lateral and medial sides to life.
What evolved from bartending became an entire restaurant rebranding for Yellow Door Taqueria. Ray created the iconic black and yellow sombrero skull seen all over Boston’s best taco spot. From logo redesign, hot sauce labels and blazing neon signs, Ray has crafted a variety of engaging art that highlights the whole restaurant rebrand.
Keeping it local, Ray has had many opportunities to collaborate within the city of Boston and the refresh of the Garden Neighborhood Charities logo is no different. With multiple views of North Station, and a perspective from Lovejoy Wharf he created a new logo that embodies Boston
The line art was passed off to their team and finished the logo from there.
Ray has been consistently working with Castle Island Brewing for the past 5 years doing everything from label design and branding to posters, email and social media design. A few years ago when Castle Island opened its South Boston location, Ray spent most of his time creating murals, neon signage, menus, and way findings to create consistent branding throughout the building. With all this background he has been able to learn many different pre-press capabilities and prepare graphics in different formats.
When Local Boston skate brand, Orchard and Castle Island Brewing Company joined forces there was only one choice for the design. Combining Ray’s favorite hobby and job together, it was the perfect dream to reality scenario for this collaboration.
Ray is a well-rounded artist and started expanding his design work into murals where he can lay a big footprint of art, changing an entire space.
In 2016, Ray spent a month in Siena Italy where he crafted his own type face, influenced by the architecture, euro currency and unique surroundings of Italy. This experience was invaluable, providing a deeper understanding of classic type design.
In 2019 Ray had the opportunity to create a brand logo for Blackroom, a best of Boston winning salon. From that initial logo design, he also got to conceptualize all apparel for this LGBTQAI friendly hair salon.
This Taqueria logo and branding is for a personal friend and chef on his new endeavor.
