Who I Am
I’m originally from Tampa, Florida (don’t hold that against me!). I became fascinated by art, design and music at an early age — while poring over art/photography books and helping my mother design flower arrangements, experimenting with double exposure camera techniques and listening to my parents’ and older siblings’ records. In seventh grade I won a crosswalk safety poster design competition and found the process of planning and laying out a concept very satisfying.
For two years at the University of Florida I studied design, psychology, sociology, architecture, art history and more, then I headed to Boston and graduated with a Professional Music degree from Berklee College of Music.
Eventually, I took more design classes at the Worcester Art Museum and read many ridiculously thick how-to books on Adobe design software. Since then I’ve become a jack-of-all-graphic-trades, and a chameleon of sorts, able to adapt quickly to any design or production environment.
Working alone, or as part of a team, I solve design problems and create work that is clean, effective and professional. My print work has appeared in NYT, People, Boston Globe, WSJ, Newsweek, Stereophile, and more.
I’ve been playing guitar, singing and writing songs in bands since I was 12 (current bands: will-r, count-zero). I’ve toured Europe and North America, won many awards and have appeared in the Rock Band and Guitar Hero video games. Other interests include yoga and meditation, tennis, sci-fi, technology, movies, good food, museums, nature, history, philosophy, learning new things and trying to live in the moment.
Here’s a recent article about me.
Work History
- Johnson Roberts Associates – Marketing Manager/Graphic Designer 7.20 – Present
Creating digital and print designs, managing social media and preparing proposals for successful architecture firm. - Freelance Graphic Designer/Video Editor 3.20 – 7.20 (and during other gaps below)
Graphic Design (print and digital), Website Design, Video Editing, Motion Graphics, etc., for clients from a variety of fields, including: Healthcare (Beth Israel Deaconess Hospitals); Financial Services; Restaurants; Fitness Studios; and Media Production Houses. - George P. Johnson Experiential Marketing – Production Designer 1.20 – 3.20
Created graphics for NEXT developers conference and TensorFlow conference for Google. Job ended because of corona virus cancellations. - Abbott Laboratories – Graphic Designer/Video Editor 11.18 – 8.19
A long-term rebranding project that was supposed to last six months, but after other designers were let go I was asked to stay on for three extra months. While there I worked on updating and designing printed collateral materials such as brochures, white papers, flyers, ads, infographics, etc. I also created trade show videos (see some of those videos on Vimeo) and booth graphics, as well as email headers and logo concepts. - Powderhouse Productions – Video Editor/Motion Graphics Artist 10.17 – 3.18
Compiled, edited and created motion graphics for nineteen online dog breed videos for the American Kennel Club website (cut hours of raw footage to fit three minute narration). See some of those videos on Vimeo. And designed a series industry-targeted brochures. - Bennett Group – Digital Designer/Production Manager 1.13 – 4.17
Manager of all print and web production and designer of print (brochures, billboards, ads, annual reports, direct mail, etc.) and digital/online (animated online/social media ads, websites, landing pages, digital displays, PPT, and much more). Bennett Group specializes in healthcare advertising, identity and collateral materials. We won more than 100 awards for healthcare advertising and collateral design in New England (NESHCo) — including a 2016 Gold Award for Brochure Design for me — and nationally (Healthcare Advertising Awards) while I was there (including several Best of Show). I also organized all the files on their server. - Cue Acoustics – Senior Communications Designer 2009 – 2013
In charge of all print/web design, production and front-end development for high-end audio startup featured in The Wall St. Journal, The New York Times, and Stereophile. Took company from having no website and little collateral to having a sleek site with an e-commerce store, brochures and sell sheets, an app (design), dynamic online/print ads and a professionally branded look and feel which was admired by both investors and customers. I also handled email and social media marketing, SEO and UX/UI design for the first year there.
Testimonials
I both worked with, and gave direction to Will on projects big and small for almost a year. I found Will to be a thoughtful designer who has the design chops, but still isn't afraid to ask questions. Will accepted a very heavy workload, but executed carefully, quickly, and with a consistent eye for quality.
Will was a true pleasure to work with. He was a great deal of help for all the trade show video work. And when I say "all video work", I mean all of it. He was the sole designer working on multiple videos at a time. He was able to make the process a lot smoother and faster, which was vital during our busy season. Not only did he pick up our brand guidelines quickly, but he also was a great fit and addition to our team. I would be lucky to work with him again.
Will was a solid design player on the team, able to translate the brand standards onto any type of material. When not working on videos, he pitched in on whatever we needed: executing everything from brochures to product sheets to logos.
Will was a reliable, fast and accurate designer. Will was great to work with and was a huge contributor to the success of our department from a creative and executional perspective. I would work with Will again in a heartbeat. He's well rounded, personable and creative.
I have been working with Will Ragano for the last five years. He is an absolute pleasure to work with. Will really listens and asks questions and as a result, he is able to create a finished product that is aligned with my goals quickly and efficiently. This saves me time and money! But most importantly, I now have a suite of aesthetically appealing, professional marketing materials to represent my organization.
"Will is an extremely creative and capable communications designer, in both electronic and print media. His work on the web presence for Cue was not only well organized and extremely navigable, but frankly looks awesome. He has a great understanding of cross browser design.
In addition to his impressive technical abilities, Will is easy to get along with, works hard, and enjoys taking on new tasks and challenges."
"I've seen and worked with many web and graphic designers but very few come close to matching Will's finesse to design and eye for detail. He is extremely talented, motivated and a pleasure to work with."
"Will is a one-of-a-kind graphic designer professional. He has immense skills in both print and web-based media."
"Will has a deep knowledge across a wide swath of topics. He is focused, capable and a pleasure to be around. You are lucky if you can get his talent on your team or project."
"Rarely will you find a better co-worker/employee than Will. I had the pleasure of working with him for 3+ years at Bennett Group. His sense of design and level of creativity are outstanding and his attention to detail is the best I have seen. His calm demeanor and quiet sense of humor add to his value in the office every day. Will would be a true asset to any agency looking for someone with excellent production, graphic design and web design skills and comes with my heartfelt recommendation."
"Will would be an excellent addition to any communications design group and, on a personal note, he is very reliable and enjoyable to be around."
"Will Ragano has designed and maintained two websites for me since 2009 and I still enjoy how easy he is to deal with. It is a great relief to not have to worry about the technical and design aspects. I have found Will be be a dedicated, creative and talented person with integrity and I highly recommend him. He has a warm personality and is multi-talented. Anyone should feel lucky to work with him!"
“I’ve had the pleasure of having Will as my Production Manager and Designer at Bennett Group for four years. His dedication, thoroughness and work ethic make him a highly valuable member of our agency. He has been a central part of our design team and has contributed greatly to the success of many campaigns, which produced results that exceeded our clients’ goals. I highly recommend him to anyone needing a creative, multi-talented designer and an all-around wonderful employee.”
“Will was an excellent addition to our agency: he's highly organized, a fast learner, and has great communication skills. In addition to his print and design capabilities, Will was also our office manager. It was a pleasure working with Will. He would be an asset to any employer and I am happy to recommend him.”
“With a smart eye and a keen sense of design, Will has been instrumental in giving shape to marketing campaigns, digital and print ads and a myriad of other creative pieces for our clients' brands.
I've worked with many great graphic designers in my career and Will is one of the best — as well as one of the absolute nicest guys I've ever had on my team.”