A recruiter? In a hurry? Who would’ve thought — here’s all you need…

Rates Start @ $99/hr

Hire Me!

Rates Start @ $99/hr Hire Me!

Designer for Hire!
Full-Time, Part-Time
& Contract

Quick Bio

Hi! I’m Todd. I am a designer: I make things for a living.

“So, what do you make?”

It’s a difficult question to answer. It used to be that designers were expected to be able to design everything from “a spoon to skyscraper.” I like to think of myself as that type of designer.

Over the course of my highly-varied career I’ve done, or worked in: fashion design, furniture design, product design, graphic design, website design, information design, packaging design, interior design, UI/UX design, service & operations design, human-centered design, and strategic design.

(Phew, that was a lot.)

Whether I’m working by myself, within a team, or for an organization…
I make things that people love.

Need a hired hand?

There may be no such thing as a free lunch, but I can make you a mean cacio e pepe…

It’ll always be good, I can make it fast, but it won’t be cheap...

Need to get in touch?

Here’s my card…

M. Todd Toland Cooke
@anothertoddcooke
cooketodd@gmail.com
Philadelphia, PA

  • Born in Hong Kong and raised overseas by diplomatic parents, I grew up moving through and absorbing cultures that were not my own — China, Taiwan, Japan, Germany, and Russia — before returning to the United States. (This means there’s a lot of pre-2004 American culture that I just missed, like The Simpsons.)

    As a result, I have at some point studied : Chinese, Japanese, German, French, Russian, but I don’t speak any of them fluently any more.

  • In my professional work as multidisciplinary designer, I seek to combine:

    1. Humanistic Thought: through deep empathy for specific subcultural audiences to bear on:

    2. Multi-disciplinary Design Practice: creating sustainable, humanistic, and compelling design interventions across a range of media in order to effectuate:

    3. Cross-functional Business Strategies: made possible through a combination of qualitative and quantitative reasoning.

  • I’m looking to join a small- to mid-sized design-led company as a Senior Individual Contributor, Entry-Level Manager, or Creative Director.

    Ideally I’m looking to join:

    1. Architectural/Interior Design Firm

    2. B2C Retail (Furniture, Fashion, Design, etc.)

    3. Strategic Design Consulting

    4. Human-Centered Design Team in the Technology/Healthcare Space

    5. Non-Profits Utilizing Human-Centered Design

    • You’re in need of Swiss Army knife-style talent

    • You’re a design-led organization, or looking to integrate design in your business practice

    • You’re a small- to mid-sized company

    • You’re a small- to mid-sized team with a specific mandate operating within a larger organization

    • You’re in early- to mid-stage growth

    • You’re interested in running (and funding) small, targeted, and strategic interventions and learning from what happens

    • You’re in
      retail, strategicconsulting, architecture/interior design,luxuryfashion & design, furniture design, healthcare, or technology industries

    • You’re dedicated to fostering an inclusive and equitable workplace

    • Driving (or more likely restoring) my 1974 MG MGB GT

    • Searching through odds and ends at estate sales and thrift stores with my partner in crime

    • Painting or experimenting with some newly acquired craft-based skill

    • Reading very dense works of fiction (e.g. Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time, David Foster Wallace’s Infinite Jest, etc.)

    • Reorganizing my kitchen and/or devising new improved organizational systems throughout my home.

    • Playing guitar way too loud and pretending I’m Kurt Cobain.

    • Traveling throughout Asia

Toolkit

Fine Art & Photography

Product & Object Design

Graphic Design & Branding

Furniture & Interior Design

Art Direction & Styling

Digital & Service Design (UI/UX)

Human-Centered & Strategic Design

Design Writing & Interviews

Press & Awards

Fortune Magazine

Shu Magazine

Google Arts & Culture

Heddels Magazine

Core 77 Design Awards

Clients

Employers

Testimonials

"Todd is an amazing thought partner who can jump from a 10,000 foot view to a 1 inch view with ease."

"Todd is an amazing thought partner who can jump from a 10,000 foot view to a 1 inch view with ease."

Jesse Gaskin

Human-Centered Design Lead
@ Kaiser Permanente (TPMG)

“Todd is an amazing thought partner who can jump from a 10,000 foot view to a 1 inch view with ease while keeping the perspectives of multiple stakeholders in view [….] I'd recommend Todd to anyone looking to affect human-centered design strategy within their organization.”

Jesse Gaskin, HCD Design Lead
@ Kaiser Permanente (TPMG)

"He brings a unique balance of thoughtful design frameworks and quantitative rigor that is hard to come by, and was immensely helpful in driving product decisions and research strategy."

"He brings a unique balance of thoughtful design frameworks and quantitative rigor that is hard to come by, and was immensely helpful in driving product decisions and research strategy."

Lauren Meyer

Director of Product Management
@ Kalderos

“Todd was one of my favorite people to work with on strategic projects at Kalderos. He brings a unique balance of thoughtful design frameworks and quantitative rigor that is hard to come by, and was immensely helpful in driving product decisions and research strategy. I also really value his interest in learning and collaboration - always willing to solicit others opinions and dive deeper into a topic to ensure he was equipped for effective decision making.”

Lauren Meyer, Director of Product Management
@ Kalderos

"Todd is able to self-drive and dive into big, ambiguous initiatives."

"Todd is able to self-drive and dive into big, ambiguous initiatives."

Andrea Weinfurter

Director of Client Experience
@ Trium Consulting Group

“Todd is a fantastic partner, driver, and strategic thinker. Todd is able to self-drive and dive into big, ambiguous initiatives. I was impressed by his responsivity, initiative, and ability to navigate immense detail while also pulling out and seeing a strategic story - all with very little direction. I would absolutely love the opportunity to partner with him again in the future!”

Andrea Weinfurter, Director Client Experience
@ Trium Consulting

"He is one of those rare people who can take an (often ambiguous) project, run with it, and bring it back to you in far better shape that you had ever imagined."

"He is one of those rare people who can take an (often ambiguous) project, run with it, and bring it back to you in far better shape that you had ever imagined."

Kristin Gecan

Senior Director & Assistant Dean of Content
@ IIT Institute of Design

“Todd gets my absolute highest recommendation. He is one of those rare people who can take an (often ambiguous) project, run with it, and bring it back to you in far better shape that you had ever imagined. This incredible initiative, paired with strategic, big picture thinking and an attention to detail upon execution—not to mention design knowledge, business acumen, creativity, and people skills—make him my first choice for any number of wide-ranging projects. The only problem, of course, is that he's in such high demand.”

- Kristin Gecan, Senior Director & Assistant Dean
@ IIT Institute of Design