Quinnton Harris | Designer, Creative Director, Entrepreneur, Storyteller, Black Business Owner, Photographer, Editor X, Shaun J Wright, Ariel Belgrave Harris, Neko Harris, Jacquelyn Eagle, Gym Hooky, Retrospect, Retrospect Studios, Blavity, Walker and Company, Publicis Sapient | Forbes 40 under 40, Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity, Alvin Ailey, GM Financial, University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, alumni, black man
Strides in
the Valley
For less than a year and a half I served as the inaugural Creative Director at Blavity, Inc., a venture-backed media company that curates content and live experiences for Black American millennials.
The startup experienced exponential growth in its third year, acquiring multiple companies and nearly tripling the size of its signature AfroTech conference. I built and led the company’s newly formed Creative team. We did everything from design the new corporate brand identity to redesigning 3 of its 5 major brand assets. The volume of work we did in such a short amount of time was simply incredible.
Morgan DeBaun at Blavity HQ. April 2018.
Blavity Co-Founders Aaron Samuels, Morgan DeBaun, and Jeff Nelson in San Francisco, CA. June 2018.
Hasani Tyus at the VSCO Office, Oakland, CA. September 2018.
Shane Bernard, West Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA. May 2018.
Shadow and Act's UpNext Series, featuring Eris Baker, Trinitee Stokes, Lonnie Chavis, Seth B Carr and Laya Deleon Hayes. Los Angeles, CA. May 2018.
Robin Thede and Ashley Blaine Featherson at Summit21 2018. Atlanta, GA. June 2018.
Blavity is such a unique blend of familiar Black culture and corporate business tradition..
I had the pleasure of working with so many young, incredibly talented people — several of which were Forbes 30 under 30 awardees. I developed hard skills as a project manager and people manager. I discovered my love for mentoring early stage creative talent, and I learned to better trust my intuition as a leader. I had to mature quickly at this early stage startup, becoming more decisive and growing comfortable with ambiguity. I even gave a talk October 2018 at the Creative Works Conference in Memphis, TN about the growing pains of being a first time creative leader.
I learned so many important lessons during my time at Blavity — one in particular was that business impact does not need to come at the expense of cultural nuance and quality design. The better you serve your people, both inside and outside the organization, the better business outcomes you’ll see.
Crowd at Summit 21, Atlanta, GA. June 2018.
Cross Culture Ventures 2018 CoHort Photo Shoot in Los Angeles, CA. May 2018.
Elton Anderson, Jr. shooting Cross Culture Ventures in Los Angeles, CA. May 2018.
I had to mature quickly at this early stage startup, becoming more decisive and growing comfortable with ambiguity.
The Bevel Shave System. Photo courtesy of Walker & Company Brands.
Walker & Company Brands Office, Palo Alto. April 2016.
Prior to my tenure at Blavity I spent a little over 2 ½ years at Walker and Company Brands, a consumer goods start-up founded in Palo Alto, California.
It was founded by Tristan Walker, a prominent and charismatic tech industry leader that dreamed of elevating the health and beauty customer experience for people of color. The first brand launched in 2013 was Bevel, a haircare brand developing products for men with curly, coarse hair.
I became completely enamored with the mission of the company. The cultural vignettes Tristan and team created in the marketplace spoke directly to my experience as a Black man in America, and I felt his company would be a great place for me to follow my curiosity and examine the intersectionality of design and culture in my work. I joined the team in 2015 as a UI/UX designer, moved to California in 2016 and quickly climbed the ranks to become Design Lead. I helped launch Bevel’s second product, the Bevel Trimmer, curated editorial content, designed eCommerce platforms, and launched the company’s second brand Form Beauty.
Nas for Bevel Trimmer Campaign. Photo by Elton Anderson, Jr. November 2015.
AfroTech Conference at the Palace of Fine Arts. November 2018.
August Greene speaking at AfroTech Conference, San Francisco, CA. November 2018.
Cuts at Spelhouse Homecoming, Atlanta, GA. Photo by Aundre Larrow. October 2016.
Aundre Larrow and I in Dumbo, Brooklyn. Captured by Jeff Hodson. February 2016.
The better you serve your people, both inside and outside the organization, the better business outcomes you’ll see.
I’m incredibly proud to have co-authored a historic moment in Silicon Valley alongside some of the most brilliant minds, including Mari Sheibley, Aundre Larrow, Mir Anwar and Iyore Olaye. In December 2018 the company announced that it had merged with Procter & Gamble, and moved its base of operations to Atlanta, Georgia.
Nana Achempong in the office, Palo Alto, CA. July 2017.
Form Beauty Bottle Design. July 2017.
"God Light" portrait series featuring Joanne Hsieh, Khaaliq DeJan, Rachel Heaton, and Romy Macasieb in Palo Alto, CA. March 2017.
Only a month before I interviewed with Walker and Company, I interviewed for the then one-year-old company Blavity.
While the founder Morgan DeBaun and I both determined that it wasn’t quite the time for us to work together, she boldly claimed to me “Oh don’t worry, I will hire you one day when we get some money.”
Fun
Fact
Only a month before I interviewed with Walker and Company, I interviewed for the then one-year-old company Blavity.
We tied the knot May 4, 2017 in Nassau, Bahamas.
French Cloisters at Versailles Gardens, Nassau, Bahamas. Photo by Karston 'Skinny' Tannis. May 2017.