Seriously informed creative.
Get off on the right foot with a partner who gets you.
McGuffin Creative Group is the creative services source dedicated to banks, financial services and healthcare organizations investing to grow their brands and motivate sales.
Our expertise means we deliver high-impact creative, faster, backed by a seasoned, strategic team dedicated to relationships that endure. When time is short and the work is important, count on our specialization to provide certainty.
Our Work
The Teller
Megan Gross
Betsy Fiden
Danielle Filippone
Chris McGuire
Chris McGuire
Sarah “Sid” Sidani
Middle Child via Middle East
Sid is a Senior Designer who found her passion for design through her interest in identity after being a third-culture kid. She attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and believes that each project is an opportunity for brands to present their most authentic selves. Sid is never too far from her sidekick Nino the cat and her latest crafting project.
Nick Orlandi
Outgoing skier generously dishes up the ravioli
Nick is an Account Supervisor helping clients bring a wide range of work to fruition. Nick’s strong work ethic was formed working for his father’s company, manufacturing statues used as public art pieces throughout Chicago. He graduated from the University of Illinois and, while born and raised in Chicago, is a die-hard Green Bay Packers fan.
Betsy Fiden
Night cycling concert goer seats fifty
Betsy is a Partner at McGuffin. She started her career as a copywriter at Dukane Corporation and later managed their in-house ad agency before going agency-side. There she met McGuffin’s founder, Chris. Betsy now focuses her time on strategy and client success. Betsy devotes her little spare time to taking in live music, photography and collecting chairs.
Bob Sprecher
Sasquatch-loving family man wishes you were here
Bob is McGuffin’s CCO, with 25+ years helping brands both big and small find, refine and perfect their experience. Results-oriented and creatively driven, Bob brings clients unexpected ideas that move both metrics and minds. And if you need to move something more tangible, he’ll show up with his pickup.
Chris McGuire
Optimistic lifeguard with a favorite bike
Director of Business Development Chris is expert in marketing and promotions, helping financial powerhouses discover ways to motivate consumers to act. He’s an AMA Chicago board member and currently serves as secretary of the local school council. During his free time, you’ll find Chris cycling the lakefront and hanging with his wife and two adorable daughters.
Chris Sculles
Banjo soundtrack to a battle with sleep and gravity
Chris is Founder & President of McGuffin. Chris knows his way around corporate brand development, information design and tech solutions and believes great creative direction combines the right balance of firm guidance and free rein. When not running an agency, you can find him plucked and strumming one of many stringed instruments and building furniture for fun.
Megan Gross
12,000 stickers and a bowl of fettuccine
Meg is an Art Director born and raised in Indiana. She’s a proponent of the ways graphic design can be both visually attractive and informationally user-friendly. In her spare time, Meg practices calligraphy and feeds her dependents — a golden retriever named Hamilton, a fiancée named Jon and a sourdough starter named Norm.
Rob Anderson
First chair Minnesotan per usual right on time
Rob is Director of Client Services. Rob has spent his 20-year career working for ad agencies in Minneapolis, Portland and Chicago. From mom-and-pop shops to Fortune 500 companies — Rob’s body of experience runs a gamut. Having grown up in the heart of Minnesota, he loves the Twins, indulges in the occasional Jucy Lucy but still complains about the snow.
Rob Brookman
Sound and fury and white light, white heat
Rob, Creative Director & Senior Writer, has worked as professional writer for more than 30 years. Following stints in politics and financial marketing, Rob launched a freelance writing business, Pen & Inc., which thrived for an improbable 15 years. Rob joined McGuffin in 2010 and lives in Oak Park with an increasingly obsolete CD collection that taxes his home’s structural integrity.
Sarah Elwyn
Spoon player, production slayer
Sarah is a Production Artist bringing with her a commitment to acting as a rigorous steward of clients’ brands. Whether it’s executing print-ready files, creating digital assets or consulting with designers and art directors in concept development. When she’s not threading the needle for our clients, Sarah — perhaps unsurprisingly — spends some of her downtime beading.
Valerie Rausch
Soapist runs on iced coffee
Valerie is an Associate Creative Director. Led to graphic design through her lifelong passion for photography, Valerie’s belief in mentorship and working collaboratively with co-workers and clients make her a natural leader. In addition to photography, her extracurricular passions include soapmaking, running and lots of iced coffee.
