Curiosity drives us to explore and learn. It opens the door for our imaginations and our technical expertise to work together, and it allows us to wonder, “What if?” As we gathered to celebrate 2025 and welcome the adventures of 2026, we challenged our team to engage their creative curiosity on a familiar object.

The task: reimagine the Mayer/Reed logo as a holiday gift—in just two hours.

The activity encouraged us to flex our creative talents and experiment with materials and processes available in and around the studio. The instructions were purposely ambiguous: be curious and play.

The studio was soon buzzing with energy as our team, fueled by sugary holiday treats and music, began sketching, painting, building, filming, photographing and animating. Exploration awakens a bit of joy in us all.

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Cheers to a prosperous year filled with abundant curiosity and moments of discovery.

Mayer/Reed is pleased to announce the promotion of four team members whose leadership and dedication continue to elevate our firm. 

Landscape Architect Shannon Simms has been promoted to principal. In this role, she co-leads the firm’s urban design and landscape architecture group alongside Principal Jeramie Shane. Known for her big-picture thinking and ability to bring clarity to complexity, Shannon is a respected voice in public open space design with particular expertise in multimodal streetscapes. She is currently engaged in efforts to reimagine downtown Portland as a livable neighborhood and strengthen its relationship with the Willamette River. Her recent projects include the Green Loop Concepts and West End Street Plazas in Portland, Oregon, and the Riverwalk in St. Helens, Oregon.   

Landscape Architect Michael O’Brien has been promoted to associate. With more than 30 years of professional experience, Michael brings finely honed design and management expertise and is valued for his mentorship of emerging landscape architects. His sensitivity to site context, ecological function and human experience informs all of his work. Michael’s recent projects include OHSU’s Doernbecher Children’s Hospital expansion and Errol Heights Park in Southeast Portland.  

Senior Visual Communications Designer Margaret Drew has been promoted to associate. Margaret is recognized for her approach to planning and designing inclusive wayfinding systems that inform, guide and connect people across differences in language and ability. Her recent work includes leading signage standards for Multnomah County Library’s 15-branch system.  

Content Coordinator/Editor Stefanie Warmouth has been named associate in recognition of her vital role in quality control and promoting Mayer/Reed’s story and culture. Her copyediting and communications expertise upholds the firm’s standard of excellence. Stefanie’s recent initiatives include managing the firm’s social media presence and project-managing our 2025 Portland Winter Light Festival installation at Mill Ends Park. 

We are proud to recognize growth from within and grateful for the contributions of these four individuals. 

Our in-studio gallery recently featured the vibrant work of Mayer/Reed Senior Designer and Associate Mike Hawks. The three paintings, from his Engaging the Body, Quieting the Mind series, are a colorful expression of the body’s innate creative language. 

These bold, abstract compositions stand in contrast to the precision and logic of Mike’s professional design work. In his paintings, instinct and improvisation take the lead. “In my personal artistic pursuits,” he shares, “I’m free from rules and rational thought, allowing pure expression to flow.”  

That flow, however, didn’t come easy this time. After a hiatus from painting, Mike faced the blank canvas without the spark that had once driven him. What followed was a period of creative struggle — a reckoning that ultimately forced him to let go of artistic habits and expectations. As Mike began to embrace the discomfort and push beyond familiar techniques, things started to change. A new color combination, a different brush, small things built up to big discoveries, and finally a breakthrough. 

Outside of Mayer/Reed, Mike has shown his art in two Portland exhibits and he’s currently working on new paintings for a third. With lessons learned from his previous creative challenge, Mike is now approaching the blank canvas without expectations. “I feel creatively liberated, like the guardrails have been removed from my mind.” 

Our in-studio gallery recently exhibited a work by Willow Scott, lifelong artist and Mayer/Reed project accountant. Willow put aside her usual paintbrushes for this piece and instead painted with only her hands. Titled “Resilience,” the painting represents the healing process of creating art.

“I began with finger-painted words representing negativity,” she shares. “Then I made the negativity go away — layering and blending primary colors over the words with my hands.” The cathartic piece is the first time the artist has used this process.

Willow embodies that rare combination of “accounting brain” (as she calls it) and artistic soul and finds that the creative process of making something balances her analytical, mathematical side. She moves between painting, fiber arts and small ceramics — always chasing new forms of expression.