Alumnus designs label for RIT-themed beer

When David Moffitt ’07 (film and animation) began studying at RIT, he never imagined he would design labels for beer inspired by his alma mater.

“I didn’t even like beer when I started college,” said Moffitt. “It wasn’t until I took a class called Beers of the World that I realized that beer actually tastes really good when you have the right one.”

Today one of Moffitt’s many duties as the creative director and co-owner of the Rochester-based marketing agency Grid Marketing is designing the beer labels and packaging for Three Heads Brewing, a client of his since 2012. When Moffitt was tapped to create the labels for cans of Tiger Blood India Pale Ale, the RIT-themed beer Three Heads Brewing will release again this fall, he was elated to work on a project that brought him back to his roots.

“I was super excited,” said Moffitt. “When I started talking to (Three Heads Brewing President) Dan Nothnagle about it and I saw the art from Al (Firlit ’99, ’01 [illustration, MST]), I was like, ‘this is going to be so much fun.’ Anyone from RIT can look at it and recognize the Infinity statue, the bricks, Ritchie the Tiger. You just get a big joy looking at it.”

Moffitt got his start in the marketing business in 2004 while working at his father’s Montana-based company, Going to the Sun Marketing. He said he felt uniquely prepared to handle the demands of the workplace.

Moffitt recalled that “the professors are really good about bringing in your work early for critiques and going through the process and not just setting students loose and saying ‘all right, go do something cool and show it to us.’ Having that level of review and feedback prepares people, whether it’s working with clients or the internal department, for a collaborative process.”

He credited the co-op program with providing him an early jump on his career path.

“Having such excellent co-op placement opportunities and such strong support for that, I basically embarked on my career several years before graduating,” he said. “I officially graduated in 2007 even though I started professionally in 2004 and was essentially working full time and completing my studies in addition to that.”

When his father retired in 2014, Moffitt and his wife, Cassandra, purchased the company, rebranded it Grid Marketing and relocated it to Rochester. As creative director, Moffitt oversees all projects his company takes on from a creative, quality control and production standpoint. On a daily basis, he might be working on a beer label for Three Heads Brewing, overseeing a digital ad campaign for Fort Knox Federal Credit Union, creating a billboard for Sony or even helping with product design and industrial design for some of his clients.

He said his versatility is a product of RIT’s emphasis on cross-disciplinary studies. While working toward his degree in film and animation, he picked up skills in graphic design, photography and printing that he still uses daily.

“It’s cool,” he said. “I get to kind of flex the geek muscles. I get to do creative things as well as technical things like code. There’s definitely never a dull moment.”