Christian owns and operates Helms Workshop, a design and brand development studio in Austin, Texas. He’s also co-owner of Frank, Purveyors of Artisan Sausage, and Standard Grit Textiles.

Beginning his career as an intern for Michael Beirut at Pentagram NY, Christian went on to blaze an unremarkable trail through Manhattan before serving as a founding member of John Bielenberg’s socially-conscious design collective, Project M. After a stretch at McGarrah Jesse, Christian co-founded the celebrated design collaborative The Decoder Ring Design Concern. His obsessive sketching and perpetual motion soon resulted in award-winning work for clients ranging from Spoon, Wilco and Modest Mouse to AT&T, Toyota and the Obama campaign.

In Fall 2010, Christian founded Helms Workshop with the goal of taking the collaborative, unconventional approach he developed to broader projects and bigger clients. During the studio’s inaugural year, Workshop worked on brand projects for Hasbro, Lone Star Beer, Lollapalooza and Happy Cog. In addition, the studio has partnered in launching self-initiated ventures like Frank restaurant, Standard Grit Textiles and We&Co, a new social app with former Coca-Cola marketing head Marc Mathieu.

Christian lectures across the country, has served as a juror for the Communication Arts Design Annual and received awards from a host of esteemed entities including Communication Arts, Graphis, Step, ID, Print, and Metropolis— not to mention a gold record from the RIAA.