Optimus ups Ciacciarelli to ECD, Bauer to design CD

Chick Ciacciarelli, Optimus new executive creative director

Optimus has made two important personnel changes, naming of 13-year post house veteran Mike (Chick) Ciacciarelli to the newly created position of Optimus executive creative director and promoting former design director Donnie Bauer to creative director, Ciacciarelli’s previous role.

As executive creative director, says Optimus president Tom Duff, “Chick will bring to the entire company the holistic approach to creative direction skills that he honed when leading the design group. 

“And Donnie is a natural leader and collaborator who sets the example of how to execute flawless work.”

During the 13 years he spent leading the design group — “who are some of the most talented artists in the industry” — Ciacciarelli has worked on projects for Nutrilite, Craftsman, The Chicago Museum of Science & Industry, Budweiser, Supercuts among others.

New design creative director Donnie BauerOriginally from Downstate Pontiac, new design creative director Bauer, who has a fine art and multimedia background, joined Optimus as a senior designer almost five years ago from boutique post house Load Project.  

He leads a design team of nine award-winning directors, animators, artists and designers.

They work on all aspects of the broadcast industry for a diverse set of clients, from broadcast design for clients such as Pitchfork on its new Pitchfork Weekly YouTube channel, to more traditional work for clients such as Suave and Aveeno.