About Lodgepole · Big Bear Lake
A small team with experience in design, technology, client relationships and project management.
Meet our leadershipOur leadership
Ben, Brian and Amy lead the work. Coordination, communication and consistency guide how they work with clients.
Founder, Systems Architect & Creative Director
Design, code and the bigger picture.
Ben leads creative direction and systems architecture. His background spans coding, design, production and business problem-solving.
Read Ben’s storyLos Angeles · Orange County · Palm Springs · Big Bear LakePartner · Client Partnerships
Ideas, relationships and follow-through.
A practical problem-solver who turns ideas into workable plans. Leads client partnerships across the Midwest and manages the BarZcash project.
Brian and Ben grew up together, and Brian moved to Indianapolis to help launch Kozmo Graphics. He later connected the agency with Diamond Billiard Products Inc., where he spent 20+ years as Director of Sales. His work went well beyond sales: developing ideas, solving problems and coordinating across the business.
Project Management & Accounts
Project management. People skills.
Amy manages projects and accounts, drawing on her background in real estate, finance and project management. She keeps clients informed, schedules organized and project details on track.
Amy managed The Shop by NineZero9 in Big Bear and is involved with The Shop Lab & Studio and Ride Big Bear. As Account Executive for BigBear.today, she brings that hands-on experience to client relationships, while keeping Lodgepole projects connected across Big Bear Lake, Palm Springs and the Inland Empire.
Ben’s story · Founder since 1999
From an Indianapolis design studio to race-car graphics, live events, a mountain-town shop and connected systems. The work has always crossed disciplines.
01 / The foundation
Before founding Kozmo Graphics Inc. in Indianapolis in 1999, Ben interned at Bloomington internet provider LSI, attended Indiana University and developed a background in Microsoft systems engineering.
Early beauty-industry work connected brand and digital design. He helped American Crew with marketing, worked with John Paul Mitchell Systems, and returned to Professional Salon Concepts to build its website and help manage its graphics.
02 / Across industries
Interaction and interface work at Brand Logic, later acquired by Miller Brooks, led into wider agency projects. An Aquent placement put Ben in a creative-director role for Nike Skateboarding for a little over a year.
At Chicago’s Quicksilver Associates, his work included Cunard and Seabourn. Other hospitality projects included Ron Jon resort work in Florida. He founded Benjamin David Group in Broad Ripple, Indianapolis, and expanded into Chicago and Los Angeles.
03 / Production at scale
After purchasing Sign Max and rebranding it as Indy Sign Co., the focus expanded into high-end vehicle graphics. Work included Al-Anabi Racing and Alan Johnson Racing, from Funny Cars and Top Fuel dragsters to haulers and hospitality vehicles.
Sports and event projects ranged from graphics for the Colts’ move to Lucas Oil Stadium to Diamond Billiard Products Inc., the Derby City Classic and BCA Pool League tournaments at the Riviera. Branding, websites, signage and on-site production had to work together.
04 / Art and live culture
Ben started Artbox with Jason Myers in Indianapolis in 2005. The Stutz-complex gallery made art a lasting part of his practice. Through MainGate Inc., work included Kentucky Derby projects and Thunder Over Louisville.
Benjamin David Group evolved into Voyage Minds. After a 2017 move to La Quinta, project setup and management included work at Coachella, Stagecoach, the Indian Wells tennis tournament and PGA West. Merchandise work also included the Forum. Festival projects connected on-site merchandise and sales with the online experience.
05 / Big Bear
During the pandemic, Ben moved to Big Bear, worked at the ski resort and sold skateboards he built on trips to Ocean Beach. That hands-on work led to 909 Skateboards and The Shop by NineZero9, open in the village from 2020 to 2023.
Retail and wellness ventures led into Pacific Roots Farm, Big Bear Lake Farms and maker STEAM, bringing farming, fabrication and creative learning into the same practice.
06 / Since 2022
Alongside those projects, Ben began exploring AI in 2022 and built his own system and an assistant named Rooty. It brought him back to the design, development and business problem-solving that shaped his earlier companies.
Today, Lodgepole connects that experience with brand work, websites, marketing, private AI planning and custom workflows. Understand the whole problem, build what the business needs and help people use it.
Selected past projects reflect Ben’s individual career, including agency and production work. They do not imply current client relationships, sponsorship or endorsement of Lodgepole.
How we work
Ben, Brian and Amy set priorities and review the work. The named roles below belong to our working system, not additional people on staff.
Track the brief, decisions and next steps.
Track responsibilities, handoffs and review.
Process mapping, project organization, documentation and clearer handoffs. The focus is reducing the gaps between a plan and day-to-day delivery.
Web development, system architecture and technical review. A focus on how websites, applications and business tools fit together, including Google Cloud and Firebase deployment.
Positioning, campaign planning and content across search, social and video. Bring the offer, audience and next customer action into one plan.
Brand identity, art direction, visual systems and digital design. Keep the expression consistent from the first impression through the customer experience.
Custom web infrastructure uses Google Cloud and Firebase. For private AI, access, data handling and review are agreed before systems are connected. Explore private AI
When a project needs additional expertise, we agree the specialist’s scope, responsibilities and review process with the client before work starts.
Our toolkit
Research, writing and analysis, with people checking the result.
AI-assisted development and custom tools.
Lodgepole is part of B4 Systems, a Google Cloud partner. Google Cloud and Firebase support our web infrastructure; Shopify supports commerce where it fits.
Private AI and business workflows can include tools you already use. We confirm connection options, access and scope for each project.
Tools vary by project. Product names identify the technology, not sponsorship, certification or an endorsement. Private-AI hosting, data handling and permissions are defined in the project scope.
A clear starting point