Since 1994 Kevin Sprague and the team at Studio Two have been creating bold brands and identities for commercial and institutional clients in the heart of the culture-rich Berkshire hills of Western Massachusetts. In 2012 Kevin took his work national with the opening of a second office in Miami, FL.

    Kevin Sprague is also a leading creator of innovative photographs and images. The integration of innovative imaging with design and branding has proven a powerful combination for clients nationally.

    He is the Author of “Imagining Shakespeare” about his imaging work for theatre, and “Muse”, a graphic novel, as well as “Viewfinder”, a novel. He is involved in many aspects of the local community, including Berkshire Creative and the Lenox Land Trust. You can view his commercial work at Studio Two.

    Kevin is a frequent consultant to non-profit organizations in arts, culture and regional economic development and education.

    Board Participation

    Kevin’s images can be seen across media in collateral materials, posters, web sites, fine art collections, magazines and book covers. He is the recipient of numerous regional and national awards for imaging and design. Since 2001 Kevin has been expanding into the fine art world. His evolving collection of limited edition prints, entitled “Postmarks” have been widely collected. This series is marked by the digital composition of floral elements with antique correspondence: postcards, notes, envelopes and ephemera. The images that have emerged are both appealing and curious, inviting further exploration. Currently there are 26 different images in the collection, which continues to evolve. These limited edition prints have been extensively shown and collected in the region and are available via The Sohn Fine Art Gallery.

    In 2004 Kevin displayed a significantly different body of work, entitled “Tidal Forces”. These large format black and white prints explored an imaginary intersection of water and architecture, with oceans invading cathedrals, private rooms and empty spaces.

    Kevin has recently complete work on a project entitled “Muse”. A book-length work incorporating over 87 entirely new panoramic composite images, the book is a completely new novel form, one that tells a story through images, fragmentary text and traditional text elements. This project draws from the tens of thousands of images in Kevin’s digital archive. An expert at digital imaging and photography, Kevin considers the digital realm to be his true creative space. The opportunity to have thousands of images at hand, to be able to bring them together to make something new that is curious, beautiful, mysterious and compelling, is his muse.

    A brief list of Showings/Galleries

    • 2002 “Postmarks” at Naoussa Gallery, Tyringham, MA.
    • 2004 “Postmark” prints selected for the permanent collection of the Crane Paper Museum of Fine Papermaking
    • 2006 “Tidal Forces” on display at Berkshire Theatre Festival for the summer.
    • 2005 “Undermountain Farm Panorama” selected for display at the Berkshire Museum summer exhibit “Landscapes of the Berkshires”.
    • 2006 New “Postmarks” on exhibit at Lauren Clark Fine Art in Housatonic, MA.
    • 2007 Presentation on “Muse” at IS183, Art School of the Berkshires.
    • 2007 New “Postmarks” on exhibit at Gallery 37, Williamstown, MA
    • 2006 One of 4 photographers at the Berkshire Museum featuring the “Photographers of Berkshire Living’.4 large format prints of work from the “Muse” project shown.
    • 2007 “Muse” is the recipient of an American Graphic Design Award.
    • 2007 “Muse” awarded a Creativity Merit Award from Creativity Annual </code> [[28]]
    • 2008 Solo show of work entitled PAST/PRESENT at Gallery 37 in Williamstown, MA
    • 2009 New work at group exhibition WOMEN: Portait+ Figure at Ferrin Gallery, Pittsfield, MA
    • 2010 Publication of “Imagining Shakespeare”. Recipient of numerous national design awards.
    • 2011 Solo Exhibition of “Imagining Shakespeare” at Westfield State University, Downtown Gallery
    • 2012 Solo Exhibition of “Imagining Shakespeare” at Cranwell Spa and Resort, Lenox, MA courtesy of the Sohn Gallery of Fine Art
    • 2013 Studio Two receives 10 American Graphic Design awards for work in branding, packaging and collateral design
    • 2015 “Muse” at Sohn Fine Art Gallery

    I was born in New York, NY and lived there till I was about 9. That year my parents moved my 3 brothers and I to the Berkshires of Western MA full-time. Overnight we became country boys – they purchased an old farm and we started down the path of rural living. Growing up on the farm was a joy – I’ve always been an avid biologist and comfortable in nature so having access to the woods, the fields and the waters was incredible.

    My brothers and I grew up working on the farm – in the summer we baled hay on our acreage and for many neighboring farms and fields. It was hard work but we had a lot of independence and developed the skills and resources required to do it right. In the summer of my 16th year my brother Steven and I pretty much single-handedly put up 10,000 bales in 3 months.

    We rode horses, showed cows at 4-H, built trails in the woods for our 4-wheelers, did some light hunting and fishing – all the usual things one would expect for a life on a farm.

    The next revolution in my life came when I left home for 4 years at the Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, CT. This elite prep school was in a time of difficult transition (not that we knew it at the time) – in 4 years at the school I had 4 different headmasters. The school was unpleasant and turned me off school for a while. After graduating I took a year off – exhausted and embittered by my experience.

    That year was one of the best of my life – I drove out to California in a rusty BMW 2002 that provided me with many adventures along the way. During my stay in CA I worked at a small business that my father was an investor in. I taught myself the computer systems, publishing systems, I sold ads for the magazine we ran, and did all kinds of office work. I had my own small apartment that cost me half my monthly salary. I rode and raced bicycles with a team of young professionals and had a great time being independent.

    At the end of that year away I applied to Cornell University – I was accepted and joined the incoming freshmen class. The BMW made it back across country and then promptly gave up the ghost.

    My 4 years at Cornell were intense and engaging – I spent a semester in Rome with my girlfriend who later became my wife. I studied English Literature, dabbled in genetics, struggled with calculus. In my last year at Cornell I wrote my first novel, “Viewfinder” as an exercise in setting a substantial goal and achieving it.

    After graduation I spent a confusing year trying to figure out what to do for work – college had done a poor job preparing me for a career. In sympathy to my plight, my grandfather – who ran a mid-size engineering company that developed waste-water treatment equipment for paper mills – gave me a job developing marketing materials or the company. He had little regard for marketing and so I was mostly left on my own. Through a series of happy developments I wrote, directed and edited my first video productions, teaching myself the craft on the way.

    Shortly after finishing the projects he had assigned me, my grandfather let me go (it was traditional in our family to get fired by him). I started to get work from other businesses in the area who needed video production. I bought a state-of-the-art Quadra 700 Mac and began experimenting with digital video editing (postage stamp quicktime movies!) and had my first brush with Photoshop 1.0.

    Photoshop changed everything. I had been a life-long photographer since I was a kid. My brothers and I set up a darkroom at home and had a great time making prints and photograms. Photoshop changed my photography. Suddenly I was in possession of the greatest color lab on the planet. I rapidly acquired significant expertise with the software and around early 1994 got my first real contract to develop a substantial marketing brochure for a technology company. I paired up with my friend Mary Garnish, a professionally-trained graphic designer, and Studio Two was born.

    Over the next two decades I grew a thriving design business working with clients in the region and up and down the NorthEast. We developed a specialty in working with non-profit cultural organizations – museums, theaters and development agencies. I grew my skill in photography and video to become the leading commercial studio in the region, shooting for catalogs, websites, theater – you name it, I shot it.

    From the beginning of the web we built websites – early static HTML sites, database-driven MySQL/PHP sites with significant logic, Flash, WordPress, ecommerce – today we have over 300 websites under management.

    Personally I am the father of two boys, Matthew and Nicholas. Nicholas is just entering college at Irvine, University of California. I’m divorced after 21 years of marriage – proof that life continues to evolve and challenge us every day.

    Looking ahead, I’m engaged in the question of what’s next – the next challenge, the next opportunity, the next thing to learn. In my career so far I’ve written and published three books, countless websites, dozens of brands and campaigns. I’ve run a staff of 2 and a staff of 12. I’ve opened a new office in Miami and virtualized my business. I’ve partnered with my clients for decades in helping to grow and build their businesses and opportunities.

    What’s next?

    My work is best seen by taking a tour through Studio Two – my agency since 1994. Please be aware that like all creatives there is a “cobbler’s children” aspect to the portfolio there – it’s always a year or so out of date waiting to be updated!

    In summary though my work – personally – can be seen as an evolution of skills and focus. In my early career I was focused on developing the skills and knowledge around graphic design, commercial photography and fundamental marketing. My work during that period was focused on developing accurate color-workflow out of photoshop and Quark Xpress and developing relationships and expertise around color printing and reproduction. A highlight of that period was the redesign of the complete line of Strathmore Paper’s Artist’s Papers – the best selling in the world. We developed an entirely new direction for the line and shepherded it through a multi-year design, production and printing process.

    The next phase of my career was about scaling – we grew from two to three to eight to twelve. We built a new studio and office. We took on substantial projects – large books, big catalogs, complex websites. We developed design teams and added new skill sets – programmers, social media managers, web designers. More and more of my attention shifted from the daily work to selling our services and consulting with our clients on their larger goals. During this period my work with organizations like Shakespeare & Company and the Normal Rockwell Museum took off – we had a hand in nearly every aspect of their marketing, imaging and overall media expression.

    I also became deeply embedded in the larger role of entrepreneurship and creative thinking in building regional economic development and opportunity. I worked as a volunteer for seven years with Berkshire Creative – a new organization focused on developing the creative economy of our region.

    Starting in 2011 I began a process of expanding my view of my business and my career. Through work with a business coach I expanded my vision of Studio Two. We opened new, larger offices in Lenox, MA and expanded our team significantly. We raised expansion capital and developed a fledgling presence in Miami. We initiated significantly more robust processes for our web division with increased security, standards and vision.

    Our client base today is diversified. The act of disconnecting ourselves from a single geographic location and taking steps to virtualize our offices and systems have led to significant new business development across the US. Today we find ourselves working intensively on data-driven ecommerce strategies with Barrington Coffee, assisting the Women’s Fund of Miami-Dade with their web presence, building new brands for real estate and construction businesses in Miami, and helping get the word out about non-profit consulting services with Palmer-Westport Group.

    I’m proud of our decades of work – the opportunity for the talented people who have worked with me and for the impact we have had on our clients and the communities we serve together.