Smrvl™About

Hi, I’m David Somerville—a creative director and game designer who spends a lot of time thinking about wonder and empathy.




Identity DesignLogomarks2012–Present
Each logomark is a labor of love. Some came together in seconds, others took countless hours to carefully construct. Some are simple, others complex. Some are polished, others intentionally rough. All are designed to pique curiosity, convey personality, and draw the viewer into the worlds of the brands they represent.


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Influences Aaron Draplin, Paula Scher, David Airey, Bill Gardner, Armin Vit, countless designers

Process Research, brainstorm, sketch dump, fast render, typset, color, polished render, variations, with conversations with the client throughout

Beliefs No logo can say everything, but every logo should say something
Brand Strategy
Concept, Design & Creative DirectionSelections from 2022–Present
Great brands tell great stories. From the earliest days of my career, I’ve been fascinated by what turns a brand into a movement, an ad into a belief, a product into a lifestyle. I’m a passionate explorer of brand truths. My brand strategy work is all about expressing something profound, or shocking, or silly, or striking, to move human beings to a new place of openness and interest.


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Influences Made to Stick, Primal Branding, The Brand Gap, Designing Brand Identity, Sprint, Chiat\Day, Stefan Sagmeister, David Foster Wallace, countless artists & storytellers 

Approach Deep listening, believing the story, finding the emotional resonance, clearing obstacles to communication, creating surprise and delight, making people feel something, making people part of something

Beliefs  Great creative work clears all the obstacles that stand between humans earnestly seeking to communicate





And then, of course, 
sometimes you just have to 
throw out all the rules
and do something silly.


Graphic Design & Illustration
Assorted2008–Present
Clients
Personal & Agency2011–Present
David is a seasoned creative leader and game designer of acclaimed titles like Vast: The Crystal Caverns and Planegea. 

With a career spanning design, publishing, and strategic communications, he has led creative teams at The Atlantic and is the Head of Creative at FGS Global, where he crafts award-winning campaigns and experiences for Fortune 10 companies and entertainment clients.

A lifelong creator, David lives in St. Petersburg, FL, with his wife and three children, a home they found on a year-long RV journey across America.


1. Created original game IPs generating over $1.4M in crowdfunding (so far).

2. Fostered the reinvention of The Atlantic Festival through a week-long creative sprint.

3. Inaugurated the role of creative partner and global creative lead to guide FGS Global’s 50-person creative team in service of Fortune 5 and 10 clients across the world.

4. Created Planegea, a 380-page prehistoric D&D 5E setting book, leading to work as a credited Dungeons & Dragons author in D&D sourcebooks (2025).

5. Launched The Manifold, a tabletop games media company in 2019.
Creator, writer, artist, art director, and/or game designer for:

  1. Prismanox (2023 TTRPG, independent)

  2. Planegea (2021 TTRPG franchise, Atlas Games)
  3. Never Tell Me the Odds (2019 TTRPG, independent)
  4. Farhaven (2019 AR mobile game, Path & Patch)
  5. Die Trying (2018 dice game, Golden Bell Games)
  6. Lightning & Bolt (2018 board game, independent)
  7. Question This (2016 card game, The Atlantic)
  8. Vast: The Crystal Caverns (2015 board game franchise, Leder Games)
  9. Chicken Coop (2011 mobile game, Technosight)
©MMXXVDavid SomervilleAll rights reserved