Director of Strategy and Design Impact, Hersick + Webster Strategy + Brand Partners
By Olivia Miller
James Hersick, director of strategy and design impact at Hersick + Webster design agency, is more than just an award-winning graphic artist. He is a strategist, illustrator, photographer and entrepreneur who utilizes his passion as a creative and as a dedicated volunteer to make his local community and state a better place.
Hersick’s family moved to Ranson, WV, when he was in middle school. Growing up in rural West Virginia, he immersed himself in diverse experiences and subjects. As a child, he was a dreamer. His playgrounds were legendary Civil War battlefields, piquing his interest in history. His first job was as a paperboy, but his head was in the clouds as he dreamed of flying a space shuttle.
“We were blue collar and proudly so, but my dad wanted more for my sister and me,” says Hersick. “He sparked a fire in us to want more and to never settle for less than what we are worth, even if others couldn’t see it. We were fully immersed in the American ideal that you could become anything you wanted if you worked hard. That love set the stage for a strong sense of ‘I’ll show you.’”
Whatever trips his imagination took him on as a child, art was his constant, teaching him how to think and see the world. After high school, he enrolled in an 18-month associate program in graphic design at the Pittsburgh Technical Institute. He struggled to land his first job as a designer, settling for a sales position at a printing shop instead.
“I worked hard and constantly nagged the owner to let me work in the art department for free at night,” he says. “Eventually, he said yes. The chip on my shoulder showed up again, and somehow I was in charge of the whole design department a year later.”
This role launched Hersick into new domains, working with international companies as a senior designer at WorkHorse Creative. In 2003, he became owner of the agency, which he eventually moved to Berkeley County. In 2015, he rebranded it to Hersick + Webster alongside his business partner and wife, Laurel Webster.
While helping create a program called ClockWork, Hersick began to view design as a tool to cause large systemic change for the first time. ClockWork and Hersick both became nationally recognized for bringing together teams of creative professionals to offer marketing and design services to area nonprofits.
“Our team tackled tourism as an economic engine for creating prosperity across the rural Black Belt,” he says. “The energy, hope and potential of bringing ideas and industries together to create new opportunities hit me profoundly. I knew this was the work I wanted to do moving forward.”
Hersick would go on to work on projects aimed to rebuild economies in rural Alabama; build community around the arts in Phoenix, AZ; and create opportunities for a challenged neighborhood in Savannah, GA.
Today, he is a fierce advocate for his home in the Mountain State. He currently serves on the board of directors for Main Street Martinsburg and Healthy Berkeley. He is a founder and co-manager of the Martinsburg Farmers Market, a West Virginia representative of the National Association for Interpretation Chesapeake Region and helped launch the West Virginia FresHealthy Bucks SNAP program.
Hersick’s impact can be experienced in the community in a multitude of ways—whether it be watching the smiles of children in the Burke Street neighborhood garden as they walk through rows of fresh, free vegetables for all to enjoy, a healthy food access project he had a hand in; engaging in a community conversation led by Hersick intended to inspire and create action to build healthier neighborhoods; or attending the farmer’s market on Fridays as people show their support for their local economy.
“Like many kids, I did not see a path forward here when I got out of school,” he says. “As I got more involved in community work across the country, I always felt a desire to put what I was learning to work in West Virginia. There are good people, good places and great things happening here. I want to be part of that story, part of a growing community and state as it transitions into the next chapter of its evolution.”
1991 Graduated from Jefferson High School
1994 Graduated from Pittsburgh Technical Institute
1995 Started first job as a junior designer at The Design Studio in Rockville, MD
1997 Promoted to art director at The Design Studio
1998 Named senior designer at WorkHorse Creative
2000 Promoted to art director at WorkHorse Creative
2002 Promoted to creative director at WorkHorse Creative
2003 Took over ownership of WorkHorse Creative
2004 Relaunched company as Rocketfuel Design Company
2005 Moved to Berkeley County
2008 Became AIGA BlueRidge chapter president
2010 Participated in Alabama Design Summit
2011 Joined National Design for Good Committee
2012 Design for Good Projects celebrated at AIGA National Design Conference
2013 Completed Facilitation by Design facilitator training
2015 Added partner and relaunched company as Hersick + Webster Strategy + Brand Partners
2016 Graduated from Leadership Berkeley
2017 Married wife, Laurel
2017 Recognized as a Graphic Design USA Responsible Designer to Watch
2019 Joined Main Street Martinsburg board
