Pinch is a compact firm, consisting of two design principals, working together to manage a variety of projects. The firm is designed to expand as needed, culling from a diverse reach of extended resources which includes writers, editors, designers, photographers, illustrators and programmers. Our clients have found this extensible model both effective and efficient, providing for a process that is specifically tailored to meet the needs of the engagement.
The Creative Director at Verse Digital Design Group prior to forming Collective Incorporated in 1997, he later evolved that concern to become Pinch. A Design Office. Hillerns studied journalism at Blair Academy and Princeton University and architecture at The University of Idaho at Moscow. His experience in working with startups to Fortune 100 firms has defined his counsel in approaching business issues through the considered development of brand identity, information systems, exhibit design, and social media. He currently serves on the executive board of directors for AIGA Portland and is the chapter's representative to AIGA's Center for Sustainable Design. An advocate for regional design, he created Designspeaks, a small-talks series dedicated to advancing the conversation about design in the Pacific Northwest. Hillerns writes extensively about design as a process and contributes to juried exhibitions and panel discussions about the subject. He is an associate advisor to Cre8Con (formerly The Portland Creative Conference), a member of ICOGRADA, The Designers Accord, and the American Marketing Association. And while he'd much prefer being on the river to writing about it, HIllerns is the Conservation Editor for Westfly, an online journal serving the western fly fishing community. He lives on the property adjoining Pinch House with his wife, Lisa, and their three sprouts.
A typographer with almost twenty years’ experience in all aspects of communication and brand development. Along the way, McIsaac's work has been noticed by The American Center for Design 100, The New York Art Director's Club, The Type Director’s Club, The AR100, The Mead 50, the Mead Annual Report Show, Graphis Poster, and Graphis Annual Reports, among others. He studied literature at Willamette University and did postgraduate work with Wolfgang Weingart at the Basel School of Design in Switzerland.
A mediocre jazz musician, McIsaac has the dubious distinction of having arranged the best-selling arrangement of "The Theme from S.W.A.T." on the iTunes Music Store for his previous project, Spot 79. Currently, he serves as pianist and balladeer for the Portland disco/cabaret act Int'l Male. He lives in southeast Portland's Brooklyn neighborhood with his wife, the sculptor Marie Watt, and his daughter, Maxine.