PROJECTS
543 WEST 42ND STREET
The theater scene is synonymous with the culture of New York City, so I was thrilled when approached with the opportunity to brand and market a theater space in a booming new neighborhood for the arts. The client wanted something unique and energetic, so I utilized striking neon gradients against a stark black background to harken to the bright lights and nightlife of the NYC theater scene. Using this identity, I developed an email marketing campaign, comprehensive brochure, social media posts, and a microsite to promote the space.
9 WEST 57TH STREET
This project was an exciting opportunity to brand and market the retail space at what is often regarded as Manhattan's most prestigious office building. 9 West 57th sits at the center of "Billionaire's Row" and is occupied some of the world's most elite companies, and surrounded by some of the highest end restaurants and retail brands anywhere. The client approached with the goal of marketing the space to the best restaurants and the best chefs in the world. However, as they estimated there may be fewer than 50 potentially eligible parties for the extremely prestigious space, it was clear that our standard marketing approach would not be effective here. Consequently, I developed a booklet that could be mailed directly to prospective restauranteurs, with fittingly elegant, ultra luxe branding to emphasize the grandeur of the offering.
AXIS AT 55 WATER STREET
This project was a full branding and marketing strategy for one of Manhattan's largest and most well known office buildings. The client approached with the idea targeting targeting a higher education institution to occupy the entirety of the north building, which was available for the first time in decades. They wanted to completely reinvent the image of the building in order to appeal to this type of tenant, so I developed the "AXIS" vanity name, to position the space as the epicenter of the action in a vibrant and booming neighborhood, as well as a vital convergent point for convenient access to the property and the city. Visually, I went for a vibrant, energetic, yet still professional look that I felt would appeal to educational institutions, and applied it to a comprehensive brochure, email marketing campaign, and various other collateral.
38 EAST 61ST STREET
An example of an offering memorandum (OM) booklet designed to promote the sale of a commercial space in Manhattan's Upper East Side. OMs, such as this, are typically extremely information dense, and consequently very cold and financial in nature. However, the client for this project wanted something that felt more visually impactful and "fun" than the typical, somewhat stale OM. I utilized bold geometric shapes along side a vibrant blue and pops of bright orange to help energize the OM, whilst maintaining its professional and data-driven nature.
PROPERTY MARKETING FLYERS
An assortment of projects created as marketing collateral (distributable/downloadable PDFs and email campaigns) for smaller and/or single floor office space offerings in Manhattan. Projects such as these make up the majority of my day-to-day tasks at CBRE, and I often generate multiple flyers per day. Consequently, I must be able to create these flyers quickly, whilst creating and maintaining a unique branding approach for each in order to help them stand out amongst a sea of competing offerings.
SHIFTING GEARS
A coffee-table style book profiling the most historically and culturally significant automobiles. Developed as my senior thesis project, I illustrated the entire book in an effort to make it feel not only cohesive, but also unique and striking in a category of books traditionally dominated by photography. The content is more focused on cultural and historical context than the cars themselves, in an effort to appeal to those who are not generally interested in the subject matter.
EVENT POSTERS
Top: A series of promotional posters for the 2021 Undergraduate Annual Exhibition at Rutgers University. With the theme of the show largely being an urgent call to action around a number of topics, I aimed to make the title/posters embody this feeling.
Bottom: Two typographical posters designed as part of assignments. The "Modularity" poster was designed to promote imagined museum exhibition. . I broke apart the typeface into modular pieces to represent the title of the show promoting the same concept. The Fossil and Mineral Expo poster is a rebranding of an an existing local event for which I used much more organic type to give the feeling of the words being buried bones or fossils.
RESIDENT PARKING ONLY
As a photographer and car enthusiast, I’ve long had a bit of an obsession with the practice of “car spotting” and documenting interesting spots through photographs. As I approached the idea of turning this practice into a book, I began to think more about what the photos might signify, beyond my interest in them as cars. This led me to the realization that the cars were really a profile of the areas in which I was finding and photographing them. For this book, I focused on photographing cars in the city of New Brunswick, a low-income city and college town. The book features approximately 50 photographs, each accompanied by the name of the street where they were taken, in order to strengthen the connection between image and location.
HI THERE!
My Name is Jeffrey Sorge
Thanks for visiting my portfolio! I'm a graphic designer based in the New York City metropolitan area with a passion for cars, photography, books and magazines, color, advertising/marketing, and (of course) design. I currently work in property marketing for the largest commercial real estate firm in the world, where I’ve garnered experience in branding, marketing strategy, and team working skills. I’m a relentlessly hard working and ambitious individual and I pride myself on my exceptional communication skills, and fun, friendly, but always professional demeanor. I’m seeking opportunities to grow my career, and I feel that I am a highly valuable asset to any team.
