Jo Burton - Portfolio

J — B

bio

Life and career

Born and raised in Spain, I earned my MA in Architecture in Madrid and specialized in Corporate Architecture in Cologne, My career kicked off in media and print creation at Studio Dror in New York. I later discovered my passion for furniture design while working for a major furniture retailer in Germany. My personal life brought me to Chicago where I designed for Turf, an architectural products manufacturer. Now, as Creative Director at Zachary A. Design, I blend creative strategy with manufacturing management and furniture design. With eight years of experience across freelance work, medium-sized studios, and established public companies, I have developed a wide range of multi-disciplinary skills in various contexts. My insatiable curiosity and high craft enable me to be a highly adaptable designer and a self-proclaimed radical generalist.

creative director

Zachary A. Design

02/2022 - Present Chicago, IL

As the Creative Director at a mid-sized design and manufacturing company, I wear many hats. I oversee every stage of a product’s journey—from ideation to launch—while ensuring a cohesive vision across design, marketing, and brand strategy. I manage a catalog of 150 furniture pieces, developing shop drawings, models, and renderings. My role encompasses all aspects of content creation, including digital and print collateral, video production, photography, and website management. Collaborating with external PR consultants, I work to align the brand’s presence with our vision and growth objectives. I am deeply involved in new product development, partnering with designers like Karim Rashid to bring collaborative designs to life. Additionally, I work closely with our factory and production teams, preparing shop drawings, CNC files, and production documentation. My work bridges design and strategy and product management.

senior designer

Turf Design

06/2019 - 02/2022 Chicago,IL

My role at Turf was to materialize design concepts into tangible PET felt products. I collaborated closely with architects and interior designers to create custom solutions. My responsibilities included managing detailed shop drawings tailored to specific sites and developing internal drawing packages with CNC cut files, production documentation and build instructions. I expanded into leading creative direction initiatives, managed external art direction contracts, and contributed to the development of proprietary software.

co-founder

heinlein studios

09/2018 - 01/2022 Chicago,IL

While working in Germany, I founded Heinlein Studios after identifying a significant gap in the furniture industry’s online product configurator quality. We developed our first product configurator powered by Unreal Engine, enabling real-time rendering of product specifications and delivering an enhanced user experience compared to existing solutions. We expanded our offerings by developing various proprietary software solutions for product manufacturers, combining real-time rendering experiences in the front end with back-end ERP system integration to output automated paperwork generation.

designer

Designfunktion

01/2017 - 12/2018 Bonn, Germany

I joined the interior design team at a leading furniture retailer as the Creative Concept Designer. Recognizing the need for a fresh perspective, my primary mission was to elevate interior designs by infusing them with innovative and high-concept features, giving our projects a competitive edge and refreshing the company’s reputation.

Additionally, I spearheaded the creation of a fabrication lab and “Future Office” showroom space. I managed the facility, developed prototypes, and conducted workshops focused on the future of workspaces.

Furthermore, I assisted the corporate team in creating video and print content for marketing initiatives.