the Koehler Nelson team
Kim Nelson | Creative Director
Kim graduated from University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) magna cum laude, in 1997, with BA in graphic design. She cut her teeth as a professional in Springfield, VA, as a designer, then manager of an in-house corporate marketing department managing the design, printing and distribution of multi-national marketing materials.
She moved to Virginia Beach to escape becoming another road-rage statistic and found life at the beach much more to her suiting. Here, she has drawn upon her past experience as a merchandising manager, T-shirt artist and screen printer, sign-painter, taxi-cab painter, pooper-scooper and Girl Scout to further develop her design skills in print, web and motion.
She's a racquetball widow to her husband, Lee, and the sometimes-sane mother to Sam (who is now learning to drive...yikes). In addition, she is a lampwork bead artist and jewelry designer and co-owner of Loverly (a fabulous little shop in Historic Hilton Village).
John Koehler | President
John is a multi-talented award-winning designer, entrepreneur and author of two books. One of six kids, John grew up in Virginia Beach, and after years away, again makes it his home. A 1980 graduate from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) with a BFA in Communications Arts and Design, John went on to graduate studies at George Washington University (GWU), in Washington, DC.
After stints as Art Director at several DC area ad agencies, including Stackig Sanderson & White, John started Koehler Studios, Inc. in 1993. At the same time, he quit his job as Sr. Art Director at the agency, sold his house, moved to Virginia Beach, bought a new house...and convinced his lovely wife, Patty, and kids, to stay with him...phew!
Since then, Koehler Studios become Koehler Nelson Studios after John did the right thing and brought on Kim Nelson as his partner and Creative Director.
John is also the Metro Area Director for Young Life Capernaum in Hampton Roads, a ministry that helps kids with disabilities. John is a past president of the local Ad Club, and is a member of The Noblemen, a fundraising group for kids.
Perhaps his best known accomplishment was winning the 1991 Boomerang World Championship in Perth, Australia. John milks this relentlessly and gives away signed boomerangs like candy. He was also a member of the Foster's Boomerang 2000 Team, a touring demo team that taught the NFL, MLB and others the gospel of boomerangs.
In 2005 John published his first book, Bipolar by Koehler, about living with bipolar syndrome. Since then he has given many talks around the state to help people in the mental health community. In 2007 Koehler published Benjamin, The Road to Capernaum, a novel based on a crippled man from the Bible.
Married since 1982 to his college sweetheart, Patty, an art teacher at Old Donation Center for the Gifted and Talented, John is the proud father of Kimmi and Danielle. Kimmi is attending VCU in the same arts program her parents met at in 1980, and Danielle is attending JMU.
John also wastes a considerable amount of time writing stories on his blog: koehlerville.blogspot.com
In addition: We work with a number of talented colleagues (writers, illustrators, photographers, marketing strategists, etc.) to create a more dynamic and complete "team," when it's called for.