Workhorse

WORKHORSE COLLECTIVE · WASHINGTON, DC · CHARLESTON, SC · UNITED STATES OF AMERICA · EST. 2014

From

WORKHORSE COLLECTIVE, LLCC/O ABRAHAM GARCIA1223 CHICORIE WAYCHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, 29412

To

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN
Workhorse

WORKHORSE COLLECTIVE · WASHINGTON, DC · CHARLESTON, SC · UNITED STATES OF AMERICA · EST. 2014

General application

Abraham Garcia

Designer • Creative Director

From

WORKHORSE COLLECTIVE, LLCC/O ABRAHAM GARCIA1223 CHICORIE WAYCHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, 29412

To

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

Dated

JUNE 18, 2026

To whom it may concern,

I'm Abraham Garcia, a designer, creative director, and educator based in Charleston, South Carolina. I've led Workhorse, a Washington DC design studio, for a decade. Over the past few years I've rebuilt it on AI-native rails, with Claude, ChatGPT, and Cursor as daily collaborators.

My work has always crossed brand, product, and engineering. The work I'm proudest of is the work where those threads pull together. A brand that ships as a product, a product that argues for a way of working, an essay that argues for both. I draft intent in a model, prototype in the browser, put it in front of real people, and only systemize what survives.

What interests me now is the work that sits between disciplines. Creative direction that knows how the system gets built. Design engineering that respects the brand. Teaching that connects design to the cultures and tools moving underneath it. That seam is where I want to keep working.

If any of that resonates, I'd welcome a conversation.

With care,

Abraham Garcia

Designer • Creative Director

Workhorse

WORKHORSE COLLECTIVE · WASHINGTON, DC · CHARLESTON, SC · UNITED STATES OF AMERICA · EST. 2014

Abraham Garcia

Designer • Creative Director

Designer, creative director, and educator based in Charleston, South Carolina. Since 2014, director of Workhorse, an interdisciplinary design studio in Washington, DC working with founders, cultural institutions, and mission-driven brands. Practice spans brand strategy, creative direction, design engineering for the web, photography and motion production, design systems, and AI-native delivery. Track record shipping launch pages, marketing sites, product surfaces, brand identities, and flagship cultural events for clients including Giffords, ADL, PBS Kids, Priori Skincare, Neurogazer, the National Women's History Museum, and the DC/DOX and Double Exposure film festivals.

Portrait of Abraham Garcia

Summary

PRACTICE

Brand & Creative Direction

Identity systems, campaign work, and editorial direction for cultural institutions, founder-led brands, and federal initiatives. Sixteen years directing teams across writing, photography, motion, and design. Recognition includes a Congressional Record citation, two Core77 awards, an AIGA50, and original research featured in Ellen Lupton's Type on Screen.

Design Engineering

AI-native engineering practice. The loop is intent in a model, prototype in React, test with real users, then systemize what survives in Figma. I direct Claude Code and Cursor through the build, reviewing every change through the brand and product lens. Designed and shipped launch pages, marketing sites, and product surfaces for Giffords, ADL, PBS Kids, AACT, Priori, Neurogazer, and Workhorse itself. Stack today: React 19, Astro, SwiftUI, Framer Motion, and edge runtimes on Cloudflare. Headless CMS (Payload) and WordPress theming when the project calls for it.

Design Systems

Token-based systems that hold up across web, product, and print. Foundations, primitives, component libraries, and motion language built on Radix, shadcn, Framer Motion, and GSAP, with brand-level governance so the system survives a redesign. Currently directing @workhorse/ui, the token-based web design system used across Workhorse sites and client work.

AI-Native Practice

Daily practice on Claude, Cursor, and the Anthropic API since 2022. Custom tool-use agents, MCP servers, and agentic content pipelines are now part of how the studio scopes, builds, and delivers. Frontier models in the loop, not on the side. Writing publicly about it at meaninglayer.substack.com.

Photography & Production

Studio and field production for skincare, floral, hospitality, and editorial portrait work. Built media libraries used in national press, ad campaigns, and ecommerce for Boodywear, Priori, Crystal City BID, and others. Comfortable directing a crew or working solo with a single body.

Teaching & Studio Access

Faculty experience at MICA and George Mason; mentorship across cohorts of working designers since. Workhorse keeps a two-story carriage house on Capitol Hill: production floor, conference room, and workstations, open to collaborators and clients for meetings, shoots, and residencies.

Workhorse
Abraham Garcia Designer • Creative Director
1223 CHICORIE WAY, CHARLESTON, SC 29412 ABE@WRKHRS.CO · (202) 550-7569

Work Experience

1/2

Workhorse Collective

Washington, DC & Charleston, SC

2014 – Present

Design and Technology Director, Managing Partner

Leading end-to-end brand strategy, creative direction, and design for an award-winning studio serving cultural institutions, educational organizations, and founder-led brands.

Studio Leadership

  • Launched Workhorse with a pioneering distributed talent model, activating and sustaining our network of elite experts.
  • Led a strategic merger to build a unified, design-led digital marketing studio serving emerging lifestyle brands; integrated teams, process, and pipeline to drive sustained growth.
  • Positioned Workhorse as a key collaborator during the 2020 pandemic, guiding clients through digital transformation, remote operations, and process and systems modernization.

Integrated Design and Digital Marketing

  • Directed integrated campaigns with agile teams, coordinating UGC, influencer programs, design and development, photography, retouching, motion, and video editing to deliver cohesive social media brand experiences.
  • Directed brand identity, website design, and content strategy for DC/DOX and Double Exposure film festivals, unifying advertising, campaigns, web design, and live event marketing.
  • Directed digital strategy and design for the National Women's History Museum, strengthening engagement for the world's largest online museum dedicated to women's history.

Project Highlights

  • Designed and developed interactive e-learning websites, and web applications, including projects for PBS Learning and the American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT), requiring specialized scientific knowledge, technical expertise, and developer collaboration.
  • Designed and developed the brand and product prototypes for Neurogazer, a neuroscience and AI startup, including identity, product design, and original portrait photography.
  • Led design for Up from the People: Protest and Change in D.C., the permanent installation at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C.
  • Partnered with advocacy organizations including ADL, Giffords, and the American Immigration Council to deliver pandemic-era digital transformation, producing online galas and campaigns that maintained donor engagement.

Clientele

  • Hospitality & Tourism:: Eastern Market Main Street, Melange, Epic Curing and Smokehouse, DC Environmental Film Festival, Double Exposure: The Investigative Film Festival, DC/DOX (DC Documentary Film Festival), National Women's History Museum, DC Public Library
  • Science-backed Consumer & Health:: Boodywear, Boody Baby, Center for Plastic Surgery, Kane NY, Priori Skincare, Superfoods Rx
  • EdTech & E-learning:: American Association of Chemistry Teachers (AACT), PBS Kids, PBS Digital, Demme Learning, Resume Place
  • Tech & Data:: Avhana Health, Datafresh, Neurogazer, Surprise Ride, Starry Night Capital, Blueprint Equity, Lavrock VC, Transit Labs, 1776
  • Real Estate:: Bozzuto, Vornado, Coba, Crystal City BID, Faison
Workhorse
Abraham Garcia Designer • Creative Director
1223 CHICORIE WAY, CHARLESTON, SC 29412 ABE@WRKHRS.CO · (202) 550-7569

Work Experience

2/2

Bloompop

Washington, DC

2013 – 2014

Designer, Frontend Developer

Launched the 'Etsy for Florists' as an integrated brand, product, and content system. Comprehensive product and go-to-market design for a seed-stage floral business startup.

  • Designed and built the brand, marketing site, and consumer product end to end as designer and frontend developer at seed stage, working from the 1776 incubator in Washington, DC.
  • Designed and produced the viral 'My Fake Valentine' campaign, leveraging product features to drive national press and brand recognition (NPR, The Washington Post).

Genius (Rap Genius)

Brooklyn, NY

2012 – 2012

Designer, Frontend Developer

Culture-forward design and development at a fast-growing music platform. Helped evolve the product from a lyrics site into a headline-grabbing annotation platform.

  • Led early product and brand design as Genius evolved from a niche lyrics site into the internet's annotation platform.
  • Collaborated with artists and creative partners to develop viral content and branded experiences that fueled viral moments and cultural relevance.

CP+B (Crispin Porter + Bogusky)

Longmont, CO

2011 – 2011

Design Intern

Fast-paced branding and design at an iconic advertising agency working on national and global campaigns. Led design on new business pitches for Fortune 500 brands.

  • Owned story, creative comps, and presentations for Microsoft's Windows 8 launch pitch, which won the account and expanded CP+B's technology portfolio.
  • Supported integrated advertising campaigns for AmEx, Kraft, and Domino's, working across print, digital, and experiential channels.

Innovative Solutions International

Rosslyn, VA

2009 – 2010

Designer

Strategic and technical design and illustration for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other government transportation agencies and initiatives.

  • Worked directly with engineers and scientists on communication and design projects related to Global Positioning System (GPS) and new technology initiatives, translating complex technical language into approachable, informative, and concise writing and design.
  • Produced high-resolution photography and designed high-quality, detailed, and accurate technical design, illustrations, catalogs, and exhibition graphics.

La Clinica del Pueblo

Washington, DC

2007 – 2010

Communications Officer

Communications, design, and marketing for a non-profit clinic serving the immigrant population in NW Washington, DC.

  • Led new campaigns and initiatives to appeal to fundraisers while maintaining a brand that represented unity and strength in the community.
  • Collaborated across departments and disciplines and partnered with organizations like the Human Rights Campaign for events and fundraisers.

The Media Network

Silver Spring, MD

2007 – 2009

Designer, Account Executive

Comprehensive research and behavioral design for Hispanic and Latino populations. Leading evidence-based creative strategy, research, and strategic insights.

  • Led evidence-based creative strategy, research, and strategic insights for U.S. federal agencies: Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and more.
  • Managed cross-functional teams turning theory (self-efficacy, norms, perceived risk) into clear message frames, CTAs, and toolkits for Latino-focused health initiatives.
  • Built and managed a custom digital asset management (DAM) system to organize and distribute campaign materials across diverse projects and stakeholders.
Workhorse
Abraham Garcia Designer • Creative Director
1223 CHICORIE WAY, CHARLESTON, SC 29412 ABE@WRKHRS.CO · (202) 550-7569

Education

1/1

Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)

Baltimore, MD

2010 – 2012

Master of Fine Arts (MFA): Graphic Design

  • Collaborated with graduate advisor Ellen Lupton and graduate studio partners on 'Type on Screen: New Typographic Systems.' Contributions included original research, writing, and icon design featured in Chapter 4: Icons and Logotypes.
  • Thesis centered on the history of sound and image technology through a deconstruction of electronic media (image, sound, symbol, emergence, silence) using custom-mapped MIDI controllers, Ableton, and Quartz Composer.
  • Conducted graduate research on design for public and community health. Documented a workshop with the Baltimore City Health Department and the MICA Center for Social Design in collaboration with the Noun Project.

The University of Texas at Austin

Austin, TX

2000 – 2005

Bachelor of Science (BS): Human Biology, Social Aspects of Health and Disease

  • Unique interdisciplinary science degree focused on history, human evolution, and research/writing methods for public health. Coursework in anthropology, language, psychology, social sciences, natural science, and mathematics.
  • Mentored first-year natural sciences students in the Partnership for Excellence in Natural Sciences (PENS), supporting first-generation students through integrated coursework, counseling, tutoring, fellowship, and mentoring.
  • Completed coursework in Spanish, German, and natural sciences at the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela, Spain.

The University of Texas Health Science Center

Austin, TX

2005 – 2006

Graduate Certificate: Public Health Communication

  • Completed an accredited, accelerated graduate certificate spanning epidemiology, biostatistics, health behavior/health promotion, environmental health, and health policy/management.
  • Graduate assistant to behavioral scientist Alfred L. McAlister, ScD; supported behavioral research and health communication projects through literature reviews, instrument development, and data management/analysis.
  • Used behavioral theory constructs (e.g., self-efficacy, perceived risk, social norms) to shape health-promotion strategies and evidence-based messaging.
Workhorse
Abraham Garcia Designer • Creative Director
1223 CHICORIE WAY, CHARLESTON, SC 29412 ABE@WRKHRS.CO · (202) 550-7569

Teaching Experience

1/1

George Mason University

Fairfax, VA

2016 – 2016

Professor, Adjunct

Designed and taught web design and usability courses focused on interdisciplinary, user-centered digital experiences.

  • Guided students through an iterative design and development process of research, prototyping, and product development.
  • Integrated design theory, art history, and philosophy of science to build students' design intuition.

Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)

Baltimore, MD

2010 – 2011

Graduate Assistant

Supported design faculty in advertising, electronic media, and visual communication courses for undergraduate and graduate students.

  • Led studio critiques and hosted office hours, giving students the conceptual framework to talk about, present, and defend their work.
  • Assisted with syllabus development, project prompts, and assignment sequencing to balance conceptual rigor and technical skills.
  • Delivered lectures and demos on advertising design history, copywriting, digital tools, interactive media, and emerging design practices.