Thomas Mueller
Global Director, Dynamic Media
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Thomas Mueller joined Siegel+Gale as global head of the Dynamic Media practice from Martha Stewart Omnimedia, where he was responsible for the customer experience of all Internet initiatives, including digital product vision and strategy, new product development, personalization tools and social media features, user research and usability, interface design and development, and the development of innovative digital marketing and ad sales products.
Since joining Siegel+Gale, Thomas has worked on engagements with clients including United Airlines, Du (UAE), American Express, Bloomberg, Care Support of America, Kahn Lucas: Dollie & Me, and LexisNexis. In his role, Thomas seeks to combine building brands with information architecture and design in a way that applies our ethos of Simple is Smart across all digital touch points.
Thomas started his career in his native Germany, where he was a designer for a number of studios and advertising agencies. Moving to Los Angeles in 1994, he worked with Praxis Design for clients including Getty Museum, Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions, the American Film Institute, and the Art Center College of Design.
In 1995, Mr. Mueller joined Avenue A | Razorfish Inc. in New York, shortly after the company was founded, as design director. He quickly rose through the ranks in his nine years with the company, holding such positions as creative director in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles, and VP user experience for North America. As executive creative director, he developed award-winning integrated campaigns for clients including AOL, Cartier, CBS, Charles Schwab, Disney, eBay, Ford Motor, Giorgio Armani, HBO, New York Public Library, Sharp Electronics, Sony and Time Warner, among others.
From 2005 to 2006, Mr. Mueller was Senior VP Creative Director at Arnold Worldwide in New York, where he helped establish the digital practice and developed 360° integrated marketing campaigns and customer experiences for brands including Hershey’s, Royal Caribbean, Fidelity Investments, ESPN Mobile, Amtrak, Spike TV, McDonald’s, GSK, and Pfizer.
Additionally, Thomas is a frequent speaker at industry events and has contributed to a variety of books, magazines and publications, including The Wall Street Journal and Forrester Research Reports. His awards include the New Media Invasion Gold Award, Cannes Silver Cyber Lion, Art Directors Club NY, The One Show, Webby, WebAwards, DesignInteract, and more.
Thomas holds a BFA in communications design from Fachhochschule München in Germany, an MFA in media design from the Art Center College of Design, and has successfully completed the Harvard Business School Executive Education Program “Business Perspectives for Design Leaders.” When not clocking an average of 100-150 miles cycling on the weekends, Thomas enjoys skiing, snowboarding, and DIY remodeling of his home with his wife.
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Richard Pasqua
Creative Director, Dynamic Media, New York
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Richard wants to do for online branding what Alan Siegel has done for the concept of brand: make it the crown jewel of the business.
"It’s no longer a luxury," says Pasqua of branding in the new media, "We’re in a time of tumultuous transition," he relates, "The old media are imploding and no one’s sure what the Internet is going to transition to…"although we suspect that Richard has an inkling. It involves social media, the wonder of the customer dialogues that smart brands are now encouraging, and recognizing that everything from the search page of your web site to the user interface on your handheld device is a brand touch point. "It’s integral for your identity and growth." And he knows, from experience building brands online for CBS News and Entertainment, Hugo Boss, Universal Pictures, and most recently, as design director for Nickelodeon Online.
Does the online conversation endanger the "crown jewel?" How do you guard the brand? As a builder of such brand communities, Pasqua knows that "Brands are building microsocieties of enthusiasts, true believers, and partisans, and these people are more than happy to contribute insights and ideas and to protect the brands they’ve sworn loyalty to." As for the naysayers, critics, and cranks who enter the dialogue, "You empower the leaders of your microsociety, the people who’ve earned the approbation of others in the community, to serve as monitors. Deputize them."
Richard graduated CW Post University with a BFA in Fine Arts and spends what little free time he has composing electronic music, designing furniture, exploring 3D modeling and dabbling in experimental photography. For a man who spends so much time online, you might be interested to know that Richard, for some reason, has taken up actual surfing, off the shores of Long Island.
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Mary Quandt
Strategy Director, Dynamic Media, New York
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Mary Quandt is a strategy director in the dynamic media practice. Her expertise in user design research, experience and service design, along with her strong background in information architecture, drives the right messages to the right people, in the right environment to ensure successful brand experiences that delight her clients.
Mary has more than 10 years experience working in the field of innovation and customer experience. Prior to joining Siegel+Gale, Mary was the creative manager for Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s Digital Group where she was responsible for defining and implementing digital strategies to reinforce the brand and bring enthusiasts together. She also served as Design For Democracy’s user experience strategist where she helped set the design standards for national election ballots on behalf of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, which were approved by congress.
Mary began her career as a technical writer for Kodak’s Healthcare division and quickly transitioned into marketing. She was among the pioneers of the Internet boom, working as an information architect at Avenue A | Razorfish. For many years, Mary served as a senior design analyst at Frog Design where she crafted solutions to integrate digital components with products and environments. Upon meeting Mary, you will have little doubt of her passion and expertise in the overlap between business strategy, visual sense-making, and change management.
Ms. Quandt holds a bachelor of arts in business management from the University of St. Thomas, and a master’s of design, communication planning & information design from Carnegie Mellon University.
Mary lives in Brooklyn, NY, but will always maintain her Midwestern charm.
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Alyson Schonholz
Strategist, Dynamic Media, Los Angeles
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Alyson is a dynamic media strategist with Siegel+Gale, where she develops branding and online initiatives for clients including Sony PlayStation, Yahoo!, and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. Earlier in her career, Alyson was the director of communications for Schoolboardnet, a web service that distributes communications for school boards and districts throughout the country. While there, she developed and ran all corporate marketing and training programs.
Prior to Schoolboardnet, Alyson served the director of marketing for the Penn Club of New York, her alma mater’s private club in Manhattan. During that time, she led the programming office in planning and executing all of the Club’s events and related communications. She also led the membership office in creating marketing programs to attract and retain new members.
Alyson graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Communications. She received her MBA from the Anderson School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles.
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Joe Kwon
Technical Strategist, Dynamic Media, Los Angeles
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Joe is a technical strategist for Siegel+Gale, responsible for providing insight and managing web development for client needs. While at Siegel+Gale, his clients have included Agility, Genworth, Sony PlayStation, and Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles.
Prior to joining Siegel+Gale, Joe was the senior web developer at Team One Advertising, leading the web development team. He ensured that his team delivered precision code for their major client’s website, Lexus. He also maintained the role as primary technical consultant to the interactive department for all online and interactive initiatives.
Before that, he was a senior engineer at Dna Studio where he worked on large scale and high-volume websites for clients including Anheuser-Busch, Sony Pictures, Boost Mobile, Universal Pictures, and Coca-Cola.
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