About
Based in California, I’m an accomplished creative director, leader and artist with a creative resume spanning more than three decades. I have deep experience in brand identity, brand experience, fine art, illustration, advertising and retail design.
Where To Find Me
Email: steve@steveharkin.com
Design and Creative Direction
I began my design career at Nike in 1995. For over a decade, I art directed global brand initiatives for Basketball, Running and Niketown Retail. While working on projects for LeBron James and Kobe Bryant amongst others, I gained a deep understanding and passion for brand design. In 2011, I joined Interbrand New York and subsequently was assigned as Creative Director in the Singapore office. For five years, I worked with clients throughout Asia.
Since 2018, I have been the Global Creative Leader for PwC. I work with business leaders, designers and strategists to create groundbreaking experiences and evolve the brand globally across 150 countries towards a unified vision. I see my role as a leadership whisperer and egoless creative thinker that can leverage and evolve complex design ecosystems to create tangible business value and experiential benefits. My leadership style thrives on striving for quality, creating clarity from ambiguity, building trust, collaboration and positivity.
In 2025, I led creative for PwC’s global brand refresh and major global activations, including the “So You Can” campaign. This work resulted in tangible growth for the PwC brand*, including:
Brand value reached $27,417m —a +18.8% year-on-year increase, outpacing peer average growth (+9.2%).
PwC is now #79 in Brand Finance Global 500 (up from #84), overtaking brands including Siemens Group and IBM Group.
The PwC brand represents 24.7% of total business value, versus a 21.5% competitor average, reinforcing the brand as a material enterprise asset (not just a communications lever).
Brand Strength Index (BSI): 86.7/100; Brand Rating upgraded to AAA, with a +2.7pt increase (second-largest gain among peers), moving PwC ahead of EY on brand strength.
*Source: Brand Finance
Art
I was raised in a family that nurtured my passion for art, music, and philosophy. Influenced by fine art, religious iconography, album cover design, and skate/surf culture, I learned early to see art as both visual storytelling and a spiritual force. I earned a BFA in graphic design and painting from Drake University in 1995, studying under award winning painter Jules Kirschenbaum and later refining my practice in Florence, Italy. Supported by a strong work ethic and passion for art, my signature painting style merges classical painting techniques with contemporary visual culture.
Harkin.art on Instagram
