Team

Carl founded Howard Design Group, Inc., in 1982 after a course of time as an art director and in sales and marketing. His vision for the company included it becoming a full-service marketing group, and in 1988 he added staff and formed strategic partnerships with professionals in marketing, copywriting, programming, and development to see that vision become a reality. He has been the primary force that has taken HDG into the Web 2.0 marketplace while keeping an eye on the Web 3.0 transition. Carl created an education service division in 1993 with Doodie Meyer, former Director of Admissions at Trinity University in San Antonio.

Outside of work, Carl is a volunteer coach for girls’ softball and serves as a referee for 5th and 6th Grade Recreational Basketball. He also coaches basketball and soccer for the Special Olympics program. Carl is an avid golfer; the lead singer in a band; and played pick-up basketball until his Achilles tendon started to complain.

Diane has worked in the communications field since graduating from college with a BA in English. She started as a copywriter in the public relations and advertising industry in Manhattan. She moved to Princeton, joined Peterson’s Guides, Inc., and was an account executive, production manager, vice president, and COO. At Peterson’s, Diane’s major responsibilities consisted of setting corporate policies, establishing the company’s short-and long-term goals and strategies, and managing five divisions: creative services, customer service, data editing, editorial, and production.

Diane joined Howard Design Group, Inc., as a principal and vice president, and is now COO. Her primary roles are to interface with clients, help to set and achieve corporate goals, and to work with clients, staff, and partners to maintain budgets and oversee project work.

For over a decade, Shala has been crafting imaginative packaging and brand experiences that turn products into stories worth sharing. She began her career designing packaging for fashion art, jewelry, and craft kits found on the shelves of major retailers—where creativity met commercial impact. Later, she led a team developing innovative packaging for housewares, tabletop, gift, and lifestyle products that brought everyday items to life.

At Howard Design, her creative spark has earned multiple awards, including nods from Graphic Design USA and The Davey Awards. When she’s not designing, she’s chasing sunshine, snapping sunsets, and letting nature refuel her creativity.

Jezz partners closely with the design team and clients to ensure creative projects are delivered on time and on budget. Responsive and adaptable, Jezz also supports many of HDG’s marketing efforts.

Before joining the HDG team, Jezz worked at a financial firm in New York, managing the digital marketing initiatives for wealth management solutions, building and deploying internal email campaigns to over 10,000 people, maintaining asset libraries, overseeing content calendars, and supporting web development. She has also written for The White Rabbits Magazine and Young Hot & Modern Magazine, covering social trends, pop culture, and human rights.

She holds a BBA in Advertising and Marketing Communications from Baruch College, an AAS in Marketing Management and Sales from City Tech, and is a certified Scrum Master.

Ryan grew up in Sussex County, NJ, and graduated from Susquehanna University in 2018 with a B.A. in Graphic Design. He spent the first four years of his career as an in-house designer in the eyewear industry before joining Howard Design Group in 2022. His final zoom interview was done from inside his car, and no one EVER teases him about it!

At HDG, Ryan does a variety of print and digital work for a number of clients. He earned an Education Advertising Merit Award in 2024 for a set of display ads for Ross University. Outside of his passion for design and all things visual, Ryan enjoys sports, exercise, and being outdoors, and he has yet to come across a food he doesn’t like.

Peter has been designing communications for schools, corporations, and nonprofit organizations at HDG since 1995. His work has earned recognition from the Davey Awards, WebAwards, W3 Awards, CASE Awards, Graphic Design USA, and the Annual Educational Advertising Awards.

His designs have appeared in the American Corporate Design Annual and have received multiple APEX Awards for Publication Excellence, as well as a Silver Medal for a fundraising publication for Monmouth University. Peter’s work for Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine earned Silver Awards from the HEMR Educational Advertising Awards in both 2016 (alumni magazine) and 2017 (viewbook). In 2020, he received a Gold Medal for Poster Design in the NJCAMA ASTRA Awards.

Before joining HDG, Peter worked with major architectural firms in New York City and New Jersey, serving clients as diverse as Battery Park City Authority and The Walt Disney Company.

Outside of design, Peter is an accomplished composer and pianist. His songs have appeared on Showtime’s children’s program K.I.D.S.-T.V., and he composed The Adventures of Peter Rabbit, The Musical for TheaterworksUSA (Off-Broadway). He is also the proud father of twin boys and an all-around nice guy.

Julie’s early years of writing code started with Lotus Notes. Since then, she’s spent over 20 years in web development, including 15 years of working in WordPress. In addition, Julie is also a certified Magento developer, and has worked with Joomla, Woocommerce, and as a full-stack LAMP developer. Her depth of experience allows her to, in her words, “attempt the impossible!”

Joining Howard Design Group in 2021, Julie has been responsible for the development of multiple websites, including IEEE Power and Energy Society (Graphic Design USA – Digital Awards 2023 for Website Redesign), Arts Council of Princeton (W3 Awards 2022 Gold Award for Website Redesign), IEEE Editors Portal, IEEE Photonics Society, and IEEE Industry Applications Society.

Offline, Julie’s life is equally rich. She has visited over 40 countries; she loves to go fishing and camping; she’s an activist and community organizer; is a mother to five adult kids; and is spoiling her five-year-old grandson—her true joy.

Julie has a B.S. in Computer Information Systems and an MBA from University of Virginia’s Darden Business School.

Alec is a pioneering software developer, starting his career co-creating one of Electronic Arts’ first games. That game, Starflight, was named Adventure Game of the Year by Computer Gaming World magazine. Following his days in the gaming industry, he’s worked in a variety of fields from logistics to finance, biotech, and healthcare. He’s been developing internet software for more than 20 years, and has founded or been an early stage employee in numerous Silicon Valley startups.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in linguistics from University of California at San Diego where he TA’d Computational Linguistics, and an MBA from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. He’s an avid backpacker, with thousands of miles of solo trekking experience in the Sierra Nevada.

Eiran joined HDG fresh out of college as a junior designer in 1999 and worked on print, packaging, and digital projects. As a senior designer, he worked on undergraduate, graduate, and School of Law admissions materials for Quinnipiac University and Ross University School of Medicine, as well as packaging and point of sale for Colart.

Eventually, Eiran was promoted to Director of Design Operations and then Vice President of Operations.

He is responsible for the day-to-day flow of activities at HDG in a leadership role that involves him coordinating with clients and colleagues alike to ensure the successful delivery of projects, managing both staff and our production schedule, and meeting HDG’s business goals and budgets.

While continuing to adapt to the ever-changing technologies and deliverables in the design world, he does miss the old school blueline print proofs.

Eiran received a B.S. in Graphic Design from Jefferson University (formerly Philadelphia University).

A consultant with HDG, Kristin is a seasoned senior web designer with over 20 years of web experience and a graphic design degree. Her expertise lies in crafting unique, beautiful, and functional UX/UI designs, with a keen focus on design, WordPress, and Elementor.

Kristin brings a deep understanding of client needs, latest technologies and industry trends to every project. During her career, she has collaborated with prestigious brands like Mini/BMW, Tidal, and Evan Williams Bourbon, enhancing their online presence with her exceptional design skills.

An award winning visual artist, Kristin infuses creativity and aesthetics into each website, delivering captivating and innovative solutions that leave a lasting impact. Working with HDG since May 2023 as senior UX designer, Kristin is responsible for both visual design and ensuring our websites meet established UX design principles throughout.

Emily joined Howard Design Group in 2020 fresh out of college as a junior designer (yes, a Covid graduate!). She graduated from The College of New Jersey with a B.A. in Graphic Design, and has continued to grow her skills, knowledge, and capabilities working with clients from a variety of industries at HDG. Describing herself as an open-ended designer that can help wherever needed, Emily specializes in web design and development, as well as digital design. She also handles video projects including video editing, as well as motion graphics.

A key member of the HDG Digital Team, she assisted with the build of several award-winning websites, including Jersey City Office of Cultural Affairs, 2023 IEEE Annual Report, IEEE PELS, IEEE IAS, IEEE Photonics, and Benchmark Builders, and was promoted to the position of web designer and front-end developer in 2025.

Emily has been an enjoyer of all kinds of creative media her whole life, and that does not stop at just graphic design. She watches at least one new movie a week, can never say no to a good cozy video game, has a tendency to have a showtune stuck in her head, and can most likely kick your butt in pop culture trivia. If she isn’t cooped up inside, she tends to be found at the boardwalk or taking a long stroll out in nature.

Jo joined HDG in February 2009 to support our marketing initiatives and work on business development and strategy for the company. Today, as a member of the executive team, she oversees branding and communications projects, heads up HDG Digital, and is the lead for most of our website design projects—from the pitch to delivery.

Jo has a degree in Economics from Macquarie University in Australia and is a member of Chartered Accountants Australia, New Zealand (ret.). She began her career with Ernst & Young in the audit division, providing her with a very broad perspective on business and the opportunity to work with clients from every industry. With a growing interest in communications, she joined one of the largest insurance companies in Australia as a member of a small team responsible for communicating to the company’s financial audiences and transferred from there into an executive role in marketing.

Since living in Princeton and working at HDG, Jo’s focus has been helping clients to find their voice and leverage the power of the web to better engage and connect with all their audiences. We have won many awards for website redesign projects that she has led, including websites for: Arts Council of Princeton, C-Change Conversations, Annual Report 2023 and 2024, IEEE Access, IEEE Industry Applications Society, IEEE Photonics Society, IEEE Power and Energy Society, IEEE Power Electronics Society, and Jersey City Office of Cultural Affairs, to name a few.

In addition to our clients, she has assisted a number of cause-related, nonprofit organizations in the Princeton area helping with strategic planning, communications strategy, publicity, and major events.

During her 25+ years (dang, that’s a long time) with HDG, Dori has worked on a range of projects from photographic books to packaging, ad campaigns, and web design.

Dori’s work has been recognized with a number of accolades, including a Sappi Ideas that Matter grant to produce the ABC Literacy Transit Posters. She has been the recipient of several prestigious design awards, including Case Circle of Excellence Awards, Sappi Awards, and Best in Show, Gold, Silver, and Bronze HEMR Educational Advertising Awards. Most recently, Dori was the creative director for the C-Change Conversations website, which earned a silver for “Best Visual Appeal – User Experience” in the 2021 w3 Awards.

Before joining Howard Design Group, Inc., Dori worked at Sesame Workshop in NYC and the Princeton office of Michael Graves Architect. She received a BFA in photography from New York University. When she has some free time, Dori loves to trail run so she can keep up with her outdoor-loving son.