about me

Crispee Grafix is the Colorado-based design studio of Chris Besett.

As a young man, my design life started out in the innards of a small catalog company called Living Arts located in Santa Monica, California. I spent many long days and nights working on catalog layout, package design and web design. From that experience, rising through the ranks, I have drawn much knowledge.

As a Creative Director at Gaiam I was lucky to work for the largest "green products" company around and was involved in nearly everything including eCommerce, DRTV, online community, streaming video, DVD authoring, as well as myriad other types of web collaborations.

Now that I'm on my own I use all of my experience and know-how from my past lives to help other companies and individuals become (hopefully) a lot more successful. I also learn a lot from everyone who walks through my (virtual) door.

More than just a designer

Design is just one piece of the puzzle, but it's what most people like to consider first. I feel that delivering a well-rounded service is best for my clients. That means getting beyond colors and aesthetics, and really analyzing what makes their business work or not work. What are they missing from their current strategy and website, and how can I position them to succeed?

Most designers won't do this as it isn't something you learn in art school. It is something I've learned from over a decade running websites and internet marketing, strategy and business groups. It is something I will do for you.

What is up with that name?

Okay, I knew you would ask that.

My name is Chris and the bad thing about having that first name is that I, at one point, knew about six others with the same name. One of my friends started separating us by using the first name and last initial. So I was "Chris B." That became "Crispee" soon enough and that's what I was referred to as.

And to my assistants...

Well, they are dogs so they don't "assist" all that well, but if you hear barking when you talk to me, you'll know why.

Thank you for visiting.

A Total Package

With me you always get a well-rounded set of capabilities. Design, coding, CMS development, marketing, analytics and overall consultation on web practices. My years of experience working on high-profile projects will come to work in your favor no matter what size company or website.

Philosophy

There is a wonderful moment at the end of the Sondheim/Lapine musical "Sunday in the Park with George" where the 1984 George reads the words "Order. Design. Tension. Composition. Balance. Light. And Harmony." Those words are such a marvelous way to sum up the creation of art (any art) so succinctly. I have been lucky to been involved with so many enlightening and light-filled projects. And those words represent a lot of what I would hope to achieve in every artistic endeavor.

Technical Proficiencies

I have extensive print design, catalog, packaging and advertising experience, but recently I have been focused on web design and implementation. I work mainly in PhotoShop, code by hand and have developed using many CMS's both open source and proprietary.

Process

The design process starts with you. I don't believe in pushing a design ethos or canned structure on your project. Whether it is a new brand, improving a current brand, building a website or a brochure—I always begin with a design interview to make sure that we can agree on the basic principles of your project before getting to the artistic stuff.