Statement
Depth is the whole practice. An idea gets considered fully before it's ever made. The work should speak for itself, not be talked over.
Everything else keeps changing: the hand gives way to the screen, the screen to the conversation; one movement gives way to the next, carried by whoever showed up for its beginning, then handed forward when it's someone else's turn. None of that is worth holding onto.
What's worth carrying is the thinking underneath it. What matters isn't how short or long something took, or what shape the work takes. It's how deeply the idea was considered before it became real.
Bio
I'm John Caponi. A practitioner in the San Francisco Bay Area. A company, a studio, a classroom, and a band are rooms the practice has lived in, but never the practice itself.
I once rebranded Pro Tools; Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails shook my hand afterward and said, "You pimped my Pro Tools."
I taught graphic design at CCA from 2014 to 2016, pushing students toward rigor without losing their curiosity. Even though the school will close after the 26–27 school year, after a century in San Francisco, I still make time for a lecture, a workshop, a room full of students.
Adobe Senior Creative Director 1991-96 & 2006-26 / San Francisco, California
As a Senior Creative Director in Adobe Studio, part of Global Marketing, I am responsible for Adobe's brand expression. Expression is how the brand is visualized and communicated to the world through partnerships, campaigns, product splash idents, and brand. I manage and mentor art directors, designers, writers, and agencies, while conceptualizing and guiding creative to execution with innovative and sound strategy. I am currently an individual contributor, having previously managed and mentored a team of up to 8 full-time employees and contractors.
Recognized that a funded $18.5M NFL media placement lacked a defined narrative, then used AI-assisted strategy tools to build the fix, wrote the narrative, and designed the pitch in Figma — winning sign-off from the ECD, Brand Strategy, and Sports Marketing.
Recognized a previously shelved internal design exploration as the right direction for Adobe's current wordmark — public since Q2 2023 — and won over early leadership skepticism to commit to it.
Served as Senior Creative Director for the motion toolkit that extended the new brand system into motion.
Led Adobe's side of the Creative Suite 6 packaging program — directing the outside agency, convincing the Executive Creative Director to commit to the direction I believed was strongest, and personally setting the typographic system — then sold the work through internal business units. Recognized in the 2012 Communication Arts Design Annual.
CCA Adjunct Professor, Graphic Design 2014-2016 / San Francisco, California
Taught the Graphic Design Tools class
Reimagined the curriculum to include more relevant exercises and modern practices
Focused the students on repetition and technical best practices while maintaining a spirit of exploration
Pioneered inclusion of new tools for graphic designers including mobile for creative expression
Design:Unknown Principal 1997-Present / San Francisco, California
D:U is a personal design practice where I consult and execute advertising, brand strategy, identity, full-funnel campaigns, experiences, illustration, and motion graphics.
Avid Creative Marketing Manager 2004-2006 / San Francisco, California
Hired and managed a team of 3 full-time and 3 freelance designers
Rebranded Pro Tools, establishing and maintaining a modern brand aesthetic for the Digidesign company in print, in-product, online, and at trade shows
Worked with managers and writers to conceptualize new marketing strategies
Maintained worldwide integrity of the brand by overseeing international teams
Winterland Graphic Designer 1989-1991 / San Francisco, California
Winterland, founded by Bill Graham, specialized in merchandising the top acts in the music industry and was responsible for some of the most recognizable concert and retail t-shirt designs of the 20th century. As a graphic designer, I created t-shirts, posters, and tour books from concept to final print-ready art utilizing digital and practical techniques including colored pencil, paint, airbrush, photography, and photocopy.
Education
Savannah College of Art and Design
BFA Graphic Design, minor in Art History 1988
1985 Outstanding Freshman · 1988 Outstanding Student in Graphic Design
Tools
Acrobat, After Effects, Figma, Illustrator, InDesign, Keynote, Logic Pro, Office, Photoshop, Premiere Pro,
Pro Tools, Slack
Pro Tools, Slack