Specialized creative agency Leviathan has added creative director Cody Tilson and promoted Kyle Shoup from creative director to executive creative director.
Most recently an associate creative director for Digital Kitchen in Chicago, Tilson has been an artist and designer for over 15 years. Previously he served as a sr. art director for both Blast Radius and Designkitchen. His projects span innovative developments for such clients as Blizzard Entertainment, The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, HBO and Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Over the years, Tilson has also illustrated hundreds of book covers, gig posters and other projects on the side.
All these achievements build upon Tilson’s original claim to fame as senior designer–and later, art director–for Playboy Magazine, from 2006 to 2012. Working alongside the world’s finest illustrators and photographers, Tilson also contributed illustrations, ran photo shoots, and designed scores of provocative and visually inventive feature stories for the publication. Chicago born and bred, Tilson studied design and illustration at Columbia College.
“Cody’s conceptual art traverses power and beauty, whimsical storytelling paired with contemporary design,” said Leviathan chief creative officer Jason White. “Already we’re seeing the impact of his magical touch on the digital experiences we’re building together.”
ECD Shoup’s diverse range of portfolio projects spans from broadcast work for clients such as HBO, MTV, SPEED Network, Sundance TV and VH1, to commissioned video installations, music videos, video games and groundbreaking experiential installations. Having joined Leviathan in late 2013 from Foundation Content, he has been a vital contributor to many of the company’s most acclaimed experiences, including installations for Airbus Americas, Art Institute of Chicago, Jabil and MSI Chicago. Highly skilled across the disciplines of identity/branding, environmental wayfinding, motion, interactive and experiential design, Shoup earned his BS in Graphic Design from the University of Cincinnati.
Since launching Leviathan in 2010, White, now CCO, had served in the ECD role now occupied by Shoup. White said, “Kyle and I share a collaborative bond that spans over a decade, resulting in some extraordinary projects and a solid relationship. His design talent, entrepreneurial spirit and creative leadership are already essential in Leviathan’s work.”
White continued, “The explosive growth occurring here has resulted in a reinvention of my role as well. Moving forward as chief creative officer, I will be focusing on the direction of our brand, culture and relationships with our growing universe of phenomenal collaborators.”
