Sub Rosa Announces Four Key Hires

Experience design and innovation practice, Sub Rosa, announced today the hires of Forrest Jesse as Spatial Design Director, Esther Downton as Production Director, and Arnava Asan and Mark Drapeau as Senior Brand Strategists. Jesse will be charged with overseeing and building Sub Rosa’s existing Spatial Design department and helping to maximize the offering for client projects. Downton will oversee Sub Rosa’s production department, providing leadership, strategic support and management in producing work for clients and for business development efforts. Asan and Drapeau will both help drive strategic insights across Sub Rosa’s many clients and projects. 

“Esther, Forrest, Mark and Arnava are significant hires for us as we continue to advance our experience design and strategy capabilities,” said Matt Lower, General Manager of Sub Rosa. “They all have the passion and drive we look for in our people, and their unique and impressive individual backgrounds will help us to further grow the company.”

Forrest has more than seven years of professional design experience in built architecture projects and print and digital design. Most recently he was at Diller Scofidio + Renfro, where he headed the publications department and set graphic standards for the studio, working with clients like Lincoln Center, Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and Columbia University.

Downton brings more than 12 years of production experience to Sub Rosa. Prior to joining the firm, she was Executive Producer at Stinkdigital, where she was responsible for driving business strategy and production management for all of the agency’s projects. Prior to that, she worked as Digital Producer and Senior Producer for agencies including AMV BBDO, Collective London and Saatchi & Saatchi. 

Arnava joins Sub Rosa from innovation consultancy, ?WhatIf!, where he held the role of Lead Inventor. Prior to that role he spent time with branding and package design agency, Pearlfisher, where he worked as a strategist.

Prior to joining Sub Rosa, Mark Drapeau held positions at Atlantic Media and Microsoft, focused on implementing creative methods to engage influential audiences. He has also taught at the School of Media and Public Affairs at George Washington University, held a AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellowship at the Center for Technology and National Security Policy at the U.S. Defense Department, and held a National Institutes of Health fellowship at NYU’s Department of Biology.