MY STRENGTH PROFILE

I lead with the Input Theme.

I have a need to collect and archive. I may accumulate information, ideas, artifacts or even relationships.

Input
Individualization
Intellection
Relator
Competition

Kyle Karnes

HEAD OF CREATIVE SERVICES

he/him | New York, NY

I am a caring, intelligent person, and I pride myself on creating lasting relationships with my colleagues. Driven by my desire to mesh creative and technology, I search for new ways to solve problems that serve the best interests of our clients.

MY SIDE HUSTLES

For Fun:

Playing rec soccer
Singing and performing
Gaming with friends

For Impact:

Political advocacy
Mentoring young professionals

How I think:

MY MARK:

Solving design and technical problems with efficiency and creativity.

As an oldest child, I was adept at creating problems for everyone. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found that solving problems is way better than creating them. Creativity and logic each help make the other better, and now I’m able to use my logic in creative ways to help solve problems, build brands, and create gorgeous user experiences.

MY WHY:

To fight for values and real action to improve the lives of people around me.

People are my most important driver, day in and day out. I have friends, colleagues, and other close relationships with people from every walk of life. Through these relationships I’ve seen how many of the things we’ve been taught to accept as normal have negatively impacted the lives of others around us. Breaking norms and finding solutions that promote equity is the guiding passion in my professional and personal life.

WHAT LED ME HERE:

I started my career as a freelance web designer and developer.

Like many millennials, I graduated college without a job lined up. Agencies didn’t want to hire me because I didn’t have a design or development degree. Despite years of work experience from my time working in school and a portfolio of work that showcased real-world work examples, I interviewed for months without finding a job. Spurred on by a need for income, I took to freelancing.

My self-taught skills birthed extreme versatility in the creative field.

When you grow up as a homeschooled kid in small-town Ohio, there isn’t much else to do outside of sports, musical theater, and reading books. Even as a teenager, I became adept at using my experiences in self-led learning as a homeschooler to start teaching myself new skills. As my freelancing career took off it gave me an opportunity to flex that self-teaching muscle even more. If there is one thing that freelancing will provide, it’s a breadth of experience. I have worked designing, developing, and managing the digital and physical creative footprints of dozens of growth-stage technology and B2B companies, supporting these companies with everything from brand designs to complete site re-builds. Many of these companies have gone on raise capital, to be featured Y-Combinator companies, and win or finish as finalists at TechCrunch Disrupt.

Am I left-brained or right-brained? I guess both.

This is a question I’ve been asking myself since I decided to try and double major in vocal performance and mechanical engineering in college. The answer to this question is a resounding “both.” Exercising both sides of my brain has allowed me to become the perfect person to translate between two disciplines that historically don’t work well together due to communication issues: developers and creatives. Not only does this translation help the end product of our creative work look and function better, it also allows us to help nurture a more well-rounded team of creatives and developers by equipping them with knowledge to better understand how their counterparts work and think.

I'm your friendly, singing, full-stack creative and digital director.

Singing is, was, and always will be a big part of my life, ever since I did my first musical as a seven-year old. It led me through my college degree, and although I don’t pursue it professionally, it still allows me a creative outlet on days where my job is very technical. If you catch me singing to myself before I notice you’ve logged onto the video conference call… well, my apologies in advance.

I work to fill the void between creative thinking, business strategy, and digital experiences.

We all know creatives and developers have issues communicating effectively. This often results in work that is subpar, looks unfinished, or doesn’t even remotely resemble the mockups provided. Bridging this disconnect is where I’ve found myself most effective and fulfilled on a day-to-day basis. Here at Aggregate, I specialize in helping companies tie their physical and digital brand assets (websites, social, apps, etc.) to their brand design, brand and marketing strategy, and messaging. The result is a perfectly seamless brand experience, and the pursuit of creating one for every client is what drives me and my team each day.