Retail
The Creatives: Michael Ellsworth
By John Levesque July 17, 2015
This article originally appeared in the August 2015 issue of Seattle magazine.
Michael Ellsworth
Cofounder and chief creative officer, Civilization
Capitol Hill; builtbycivilization.com
FOCUS: We believe in using design as a means of social change. We work with clients who share our philosophy, including the World Economic Forum, architecture firm NBBJ, slow fashion brand Olderbrother, the recently rebranded Sorrento Hotel and the Frye Art Museum.
MOST CHALLENGING ASSIGNMENT: Creating the suicide prevention site Now Matters Now with Group Health Cooperative. Its an online platform that provides a series of practical tools and coping mechanisms that have worked for others. If you go to the homepage now, youll see we use real faces from the team. The project got an amazing boost when Facebook partnered with Now Matters Now to link Facebook users in need to Now Matters Now videos and resources.
VACATION LOCATION: Regionally, the Souwester vintage RV park in Seaview; nationally, Marfa, Texas; globally, Berlin or Hong Kong.
HOW I WOULD BRAND SEATTLE: We wouldnt. We dont believe in branding places like cities or neighborhoods the places people live. Remember the Capitol Hill logo debacle of 2009?