Jack Kinley founded Lab Monkey Design, a small graphic design and marketing firm, in 2007, and wants to ensure his clients know he is a fearless designer and businessman by just reading the company’s name.

“The name Lab Monkey Design is an homage to my college class. We spent many an all-nighter illegally locked into the school’s computer design lab after hours and collectively referred to ourselves as ‘lab monkeys,’” says Kinley, who is CEO and creative director.

“I wanted the type of fearless and experimental design work that we created as design peers to be at the core of my company’s mission. By putting it right in the name, I think of that experience daily and am reminded to continue experimenting and growing,” he says.

Through Lab Monkey Design, the artist takes his graphic design skills to work with clients to come up with a strategy that fits their organization in a way that is effective in reaching the public as well as ensuring his clients’ subject remains front and center.

The best thing about his job as an openly gay business owner is the relationships built with clients, Kinley says.

“I love coaching them through the thought process of creating strategies that culminate in effective design solutions,” he says. “That direct relationship with each client was really missing in past jobs and I think it can be a hindrance for both the client and the designers working for them.”

Kinley’s company is a member of the Atlanta Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce and he also does design work for the organization. He says he doesn’t consider himself much of an LGBT activist and his company is the same. But he can make his opinions known through his studio art.

“Lab Monkey Design’s client list is not especially political either. I maintain a studio art practice on the side and that’s where my real opinions and political leanings find voice,” he says.

He is also passionate about branding — not the tattoo or body modification kind, though.

“As a graphic designer I was always striving to incorporate deeper insight and thought into my projects. The primary motivator in my work is the pursuit of purpose. Smart branding reveals the true value of a client’s services or products and is, for me, a reward in itself,” he says on his website.

Top photo: Jack Kinley founded Lab Monkey Design four years ago. (by Matt Hennie)