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About Us
Meet the Team
Sebastian Ibel
Founder & President
Known to finish the food off of his friends’ plates. #hangry
Sebastian Ibel
Amanda Mazzola
Art Director
Taught herself to write with her left hand in middle school so she could be known as “Amanda-bidextrous.”
Amanda Mazzola
Danielle Weigand
Graphic Designer
Can deadlift a bison. Probably. #crossfitqueen
Danielle Weigand
Charlie Powell
Senior Web Developer
“Master of Trickery”
Charlie Powell
Leigh Pittner
Web Developer
Likes coding because it’s like playing with Legos.
Leigh Pittner
Amy Barnhart
Office Administrator
Has been drinking out of the same Jim Thome Indians cup every day for the past 20 years. #goTribe
Amy Barnhart
Sebastian Ibel
Founder & President
Education
Ecole Des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, France
Diplome (Bachelor of Fine Arts) in Visual Communication
Q&A
Tell us about a favorite project you’ve worked on.
Our next.
What skills do you bring to the team?
Leadership, Creative Direction, Client Relationships, Management, Problem Solving and Strategic Direction.
What interests you about working in a small agency environment?
Versatility and flexibility.
Who is your favorite designer or idol?
David Ogilvy. He was one of the most influential characters in modern advertising. He was smart, witty and complex, understanding all aspects of marketing, consumer behavior, and very intelligent in translating all this in smart and unique campaigns.
Why do you love what you do?
I have a passion for people, psychology, and design.
Where are you from?
Hamburg, Germany. One of my most unique experiences from there is hitchhiking across Europe when I was 17.
Amanda Mazzola
Art Director
Education
Cedarville University
Graduated December 2011
Degree
Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design, Minor in Creative Web Design
Q&A
Tell us about a favorite project you’ve worked on.
One of my favorite freelance projects was branding JONESY, an underwear line designed and manufactured in NYC. I loved working on the hand-lettered logo, fun and playful stickers, postcards, etc.
What interests you about working in a small agency environment?
I’m drawn to the flexibility and team collaboration. Small agencies tend to value communication and team spirit very highly.
Why did you get into design?
I grew up doodling on every scrap of paper I could find, and eventually I graduated to doodling on the computer. I find a lot of joy in creating new and beautiful things.
Why do you love what you do?
I love that graphic design is all about problem-solving, and each project presents a fresh challenge. It’s a blend of creativity and technique, and there’s always something new to learn!
What is the most thrilling thing you’ve ever done?
Skydiving! It was 100% terrifying, mind-blowing, and exhilarating. I’ve never been a big risk-taker, but somehow I decided it was a good idea to free-fall out of an airplane at 10,000 feet, and I have no regrets. It was absolutely amazing, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
What is your favorite place in the world?
Barcelona. It’s vibrant with rich architecture and street art, it’s youthful and quirky, and it has gorgeous mountains and white sandy beaches – what more could you want?
What is your favorite type of music?
Alternative/Indie – currently loving The Japanese House
What’s your favorite office snack?
I’m a popcorn junkie.
Danielle Weigand
Graphic Designer
Education
University of Dayton
Graduated May 2015
Degree
Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communication Design, Minor in Marketing
Q&A
What interests you about working in a small agency environment?
Working closely with everyone and being involved in all of the steps of the design process.
Where do you come up with your best ideas?
Sometimes when I am sleeping, I actually have dreams about projects I work on. “Move that over two more pixels ... perfect.”
Why do you love what you do?
The exciting part of being a designer is learning about other people and their industries. You have to constantly see different points of view to best communicate someone else’s story. Being a designer made me grow and expand my interests.
What is the most adventurous thing you’ve ever done?
After college graduation, my two friends from high school and I went on a week-and-a-half-long road trip with two weeks to plan. We flew into Seattle and made our way down to San Francisco. Along the way we went on a 17-mile-hike at Mount Rainier, ran out on one of our six Airbnb hosts, jumped into 50-degree water at Crater Lake, nearly ran out of gas on Highway 1 and slept at the Oakland Airport.
What is your favorite way to get physical / exercise? Why?
CrossFit. It is challenging but afterwards you feel accomplished.
Who is your favorite music artist?
Of all time probably Eminem, but currently Kendrick Lamar.
What is your favorite place in the world?
Wherever I can find my family—they’re my best friends!
Do you have any pets? Tell us about them.
Nyla, my dog. She is a free spirit, frisbee-fetch addict and manipulative genius that is great at cuddling (if you can ever get her to lay down!).
Where can we find you on the weekends? What are you doing there?
You probably won’t be able to. I am famous in the office for traveling every-other weekend to another city, state or even country.
Charlie Powell
Senior Web Developer
Education
Graduated 2006
Computer Networking Systems (Cisco Speciality)
Q&A
What professor or class had a major influence on you? How?
Computer networking 101; the instructor was not knowledgeable in the field at all, so I got my first opportunity to teach others about networking basics. Sadly the school did not pay me for my time.
Tell us about a favorite project you’ve worked on.
My main “side” project is a web-based framework designed to rapidly create mobile-friendly web applications and content sites with an emphasis on developer-centric concepts, best practice development standards, high speed performance, and security in mind.
What area of your job are you most passionate about?
Addressing and implementing solutions to complex problems that business owners and managers face.
What interests you about working in a small agency environment?
Less corporate “red tape”.
What are you most excited to work on/learn about/gain skills on as you grow in your position?
Having a better eye for design and colors.
What is your favorite part of the development process?
Seeing a solution that took weeks of effort to create get deployed to production.
Who is your favorite designer or idol in your field? Why?
Linus Torvalds. He created an open source clone of AT&T’s Unix kernel “just because” with no expectations of it ultimately being used in 52% of the phones in the US, more than 96% of the million most popular web sites, and nearly all enterprise-grade networking devices.
Why did you get into development?
It was originally a hobby, until I learned that people pay for the service.
Essential Movie Friday choices:
Fridays are for writing code, maybe while watching an anime show on the secondary monitor.
What’s your favorite office snack?
Coffee. There is no other appropriate office snack than coffee. (I guess espresso would be acceptable too.)
What’s your favorite app on your phone? Tell us about it.
UniFi device manager – it assists with management of UniFi network devices.
Leigh Pittner
Web Developer
Education
The Ohio State University
Graduated 2014
Major in English Literature, East Asian Script
Columbus State Community College
Expected Graduation: 2019
Major in Website Development
Q&A
What are your long-term career goals?
I have several goals. I want to continue to make mobile apps like I’m doing now. I would like to do AWS engineering or become a .NET Core MVC web developer and be able to work remotely so that I can travel, do my apps, or whatever else I end up wanting to do. I’m also really into writing, fashion and marketing.
What is your favorite part of the development process?
In general, I love the deep focus that coding demands. I like to start working and hours later, have an interactive piece that works together with other parts to create a virtual mechanism. Coders are the modern-day machinists. It’s like playing with Legos.
What is your biggest source of inspiration?
I get a lot of inspiration when I’m out walking or hiking. Sometimes when I see really good work like art or music, that someone else has done, I get extra energy to work harder on my own projects.
Why do you love what you do?
I think programming is fun and I like how instant the results are. I like that we can do anything now as programmers. Depending on what you’re doing, you can make a game, or start a business, or run a whole marketing campaign, right at your fingertips, all by writing one app. You can tell stories, which as a writer is my favorite thing about coding.
What is the most fascinating thing you’ve ever done? Details please!
A lot of people may not realize that I used to be a high fashion runway model when I was younger. I used to model for American and Dutch teen magazines, and I did Vogue, and I was in a Samsung ad. I was with Elite for seven years, then came to school back in Columbus after I decided I wanted to study there instead of in New York.
What is your favorite place in the world?
I love Norway because I love the black, dark mountains and vast outdoors, and because I think it's the prettiest place on Earth! I also like Seoul, South Korea and Tokyo. The way these cities use spaces – versus somewhere broad and sweeping like NYC or Washington DC – and the way the city just naturally exists makes it such an exciting and organic place to be.
Do you have any pets? Tell us about them.
I have an orange dog name Kitsune who is part husky, part Pomeranian. She looks like a fox, and everyone asks me if she’s a real dog. She was even on TV. I’ve trained her to do all sorts of things and she is really good and receptive, so I take her everywhere with me, including restaurants, stores, etc.
What’s your favorite app on your phone?
I’m a little biased, but my favorite app is the alpha project of my own app that I’m making. My favorite thing I’m doing right now is a mobile game that lets the user make his/her own choices, following a story, and is a simulation.
Timeline
1990
Pre-USA
Born and raised in Hamburg, Germany and educated in visual communication at the Union Centrale des Arts Decoratifs in Paris, France, Sebastian moved in 1986 to New York City to start his career as an Art Director for Arnell & Bickford where he worked on the Donna Karen, DKNY, and Christian Lacroix accounts. In 1990, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Sebastian returned to Hamburg and joined the agency Springer & Jacoby to work as an Art Director on their Mercedes Benz account.
1991
Berlin
In 1991, Sebastian moved with the Ayer Network to found the first satellite office in Germany’s future capital, Berlin. After teaming up with some talented East-German designers under the name of YPS Art, Sebastian co-founded Röttjer Schütz & Ibel in 1993. The agency was one of the first true east/west German agencies. This groundbreaking concept made for rapid growth in a very short period of time. The agency’s clients included Schering AG, one of the largest pharmaceutical companies worldwide, and the State of Brandenburg.
1996
IC Communication Team - Ibel Agency
In 1996, Sebastian moved to Columbus to join his wife Rebecca and founded IC Communication Team in 1997. Set up as a professional networking group, IC Communication Team, Inc. linked highly trained specialists in the communication field to deliver a full service marketing, advertising, and design package on the Columbus market. Sebastian led the marketing and advertising component. In 2001 IC Communication Team, Inc. was rebranded into Ibel Agency.
2013
Short North
The Short North was a long term home for Ibel Agency. In his role of Chair of marketing for the Short North Business Association, Sebastian was instrumental in defining and branding the neighborhood into the “Arts District”. Ibel Agency donated a lot of time and talent to help turn the Short North into the vibrant district it has become today.
2015
Downtown
Downtown Columbus has been home to Ibel Agency since 2015. We are excited to be part of the renaissance of our city and love the energy and diversity of our new home. We are now located at Factory No. 6 in the Warehouse District where we continue to focus on purpose-driven communication and award-winning design.
