Designing Moments Worth the Wait
From dealership launches to print campaigns to a 60th-anniversary book, this is several years of work helping McLaren Americas turn engineering excellence into experiences people remember.
Born on a racetrack, McLaren is a pioneering, spirit-driven, supercar company that exudes excitement and modern luxury. Known for pushing the limits of engineering, their products and experiences are human-focused, emotionally charged, and designed to be breathtaking.
I've worked with McLaren Automotive and Pure McLaren, its racing-focused event division, across events, dealerships, print, and publishing — always chasing the same goal: making sure the experience matches the engineering.
Events & Experiences
Launching the artura in Chicago
art direction & Design
The Artura was McLaren’s first model with a hybrid-engine. The launch was highly-anticipated as the production of the vehicle was notoriously delayed, more than 18 months, after the design was revealed. It meant the world-wide events hosted for the launch needed to be special, intimate, and embody the company’s spirit, showing the guests that the delay was well worth the wait.
Historic McLaren cars, both race cars and road models, were on display, adding a level of emotional depth to the event, tying the new model to a lineage of engineering excellence, going back to namesake, Bruce McLaren. The event was hosted by Nicolas Brown, President of McLaren, The Americas, and featured guests with deep ties to the brand, and interactive experiences.
A signature Aperol-based cocktail was also created so even the drinks looked on-brand.
I designed projected backdrops for the main event, printed informational signs that were hung above the historic cars on display, and window banners displaying a historic McLaren logo which were used to black-out the room, allowing for greater control over the environment. Additional banners, interactive table tents, cocktail menus, and swag bag were also produced for the event.
monterey car week - Digital invitation & Brochure
Art direction & Publication Design
Monterey Car Week is one of the most-premier automobile events in the world. Set in Monterey, California along one of the most picturesque highways in the United States, McLaren takes advantage of the breathtaking location by hosting several events in the area for its customers, from a company dinner hosted by top executives to driving experiences on closed roads. In the past, McLaren sent out invitations and information via email largely because the details weren’t solidified until after the invitations went out. But in 2024, for their 60th Anniversary, they wanted to expand the depth of the information provided into a multi-page brochure to appeal to its well-heeled clients.
Because I have extensive experience in publication design I was tasked with overseeing the project which ended up being successful enough that McLaren began to take the same approach for other events like their Circuit of the America’s (Austin, TX) Track and Amelia Island Concours Week experiences among others.
Pebble Beach Owner’s Rally - memento
art direction
McLaren owner’s from all over the world converge on Southern California for its annual Pebble Beach Rally, one of its events during Monterey Car Week. One of the quirks of the rally is they stop at an In-N-Out along the route. In 2023 we commemorated the rally with a t-shirt for the participants. Illustration by Katie Carey.
McLaren Americas HQ Experience concepts
McLaren opened a new headquarters just north of Dallas in 2022. Besides housing its business operations for the Americas it was also built to showcase the McLaren brand. These were proactive conceptual experiences for their visitors—1. a “track tour” of the lab-like facilities; 2. a company store with a sound booth to demo partner Bowers & Wilkins speakers that; 3. plays historic McLaren races and events, controlled by era-specific switches and buttons; and 4. a display for a 570S Spider that was wrecked during a test drive by Car and Driver magazine. The car rolled twice at 78 mph and no one hurt, both the driver and passenger simply walked away. A testament to the technological superiority of McLaren’s carbon-fiber tubs.
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Keep warm gift for Artura depositors
The launch of McLaren’s Artura was notoriously delayed for a myriad of reasons. It was a new type of car for the company and was designed with all-new components not shared with any other models. Engineering hiccups, supply shortages, and at least one prototype fire pushed the first deliveries back an additional nine months so we created unique gifts to keep Artura depositors happy.
Owing both to a slim budget and the knowledge that well-heeled McLaren owners can buy most anything they want, we built an emotional experience for the customer by gifting them a custom speedforms, those car-shaped objects found in dealerships to show paint colors. Each speedform was painted with the customer’s custom color, evoking memories of the original excitement of buying a McLaren in the first place. It was an emotionally charged gift that couldn’t simply be purchased somewhere and was relatively inexpensive to make.
The forms were provided by McLaren; I designed the gift box below. The interior of the box says, “McLARENS ARE HAND-BUILT IN WOKING, ENGLAND TO YOUR EXACT SPECIFICATIONS” and each form was accompanied by a letter from the President of McLaren, Americas.
Performance in Print
A Fresh Perspective for the Artura Spider
Print Ad, Art Direction & Design
McLaren wanted a new ad to coincide with a duPont Registry cover feature on their new Artura Spider, the convertible version of the Artura model that also included performance and technical improvements.
The headline was purposely ambiguous, alluding to the rush of fresh air from driving a spider, the new technical take on a previous model, and a reference to the photo selected for the ad.
Pulling Out the Stops for the 750S Art Direction & Design
When McLaren launched the 750S in 2023, the last model with a traditional gas engine, it also happened to be their 60th anniversary as a race car constructor, so they purchased space in the duPont REGISTRY and wanted to create a special ad for the occasion.
Because the car was not available yet, photography of the 750S was extremely limited and duPont was running all of the available press photos which meant I had to create bespoke images for the ad using McLaren’s custom car configurator, adding my own environment, lighting, and textures.
Be Part of the Scenery with an Artura
Print Ad, Art Direction & Design
After long delays, the first McLaren Artura models shipped just prior to Monterey Car Week, one of the most-premier gatherings for auto enthusiasts in the world. They wanted to run a localized, targeted ad in the program for the The Quail, a Motorsports Gathering, the most high-end and exclusive car show during the week, because the attendees at that event are the ones with the deepest pockets.
Most people who drive McLarens are not cavalier in the way that you may have seen on Silicon Valley. They’re often life-long racing fans and don’t necessarily feel the need to be seen. They’re the anonymous donors for hospital wing and live lives full of adventure.
And at a gathering like the Quail at Monterrey Car Week, with celebrities and ultra-rare, multi-million dollar cars galore, set along one of the most gorgeous stretches of highway on earth, the scenery is definitely the show. So hop in your new hybrid McLaren and revel in being the scenery.
CELEBRATING MCLAREN’S 60TH Anniversary
ART DIRECTION & BOOK DESIGN
McLaren commissioned a book to commemorate their 60th anniversary. Originally to be used for a single event, highlighting the salient points of their history with a handful of models and drivers, it was expanded to include all models of McLaren road and race cars and was digitally distributed worldwide.
