Brave Appliance is Zack Goehner.

Nutshell

I’m currently a Creative Director for Ascender.
I help people solve problems and explore new ideas for the web and beyond.

Brave Appliance Philosophy No. 1

Zoom Out

Search for the bigger picture. Consider context. Think diversely.

Brave Appliance Philosophy No. 2

Work the Problem

Define the problem(s). Define the goal(s). Create solutions.

A Bigger Nutshell

I’ve provided design, strategy, and development since 2002, supporting clients from a variety of industries, including real estate, healthcare, tech startups, entertainment, the arts, non-profit, and education. My approach to projects is simple: define the problem(s), define the goal(s), then explore solutions.

On any given workday, I may be found: creating a prototype for a web app, designing a brand package, writing marketing copy, designing a landing page, writing code, or outlining a marketing strategy (among other things).

When I’m not working, you’ll find me reading and learning about space and dinosaurs with my two sons, dropping puns by the dozen, or running around somewhere in Wauwatosa.

Work I Do

Strategy

  • Product strategy
  • Marketing strategy
  • Prototyping
  • Copywriting

Design

  • UX/UI design
  • Web and print design
  • Identity and logo design
  • UI kits and style guides

Development

  • Front end development
  • Prototype development
  • Web app development
  • WordPress development

Words
that describe me:

  • Focused
  • Imaginative
  • Conscientious
  • Cooperative
  • Calm
  • Tidy
  • Punny

Things
I am passionate about:

  • Space
  • Dinosaurs
  • Gray
  • Science Fiction
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Ambient music
  • Running

Creative
bucket list:

  • Write and illustrate a children’s book
  • Design a board game
  • Write a Choose Your Own Adventure story
  • Build a globe
  • Produce Christmas music
  • Design something with procedural generation
  • Make a sand castle on the moon

Lives there a man with soul so dead
He’s never to his toaster said:
“You are my friend; I see in you
An object sturdy, staunch, and true;
A fellow mettlesome and trim;
A brightness that the years can’t dim.”?
Then let us praise the brave appliance
In which we place this just reliance.
And offer it with each fresh slice
Such words of friendship and advice
As “How are things with you tonight?”
Or “Not too dark but not too light.”

Thomas M. Disch
The Brave Little Toaster