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Before co-founding eBlox with Andrew Barton in 1998, Brent Buford was a prominent designer and consultant in Austin, creating and producing identity and campaign work in a variety of media for clients such as South by Southwest, Trudy’s Restaurants and 501 Group Post. His design work has appeared in locations as diverse as broadcast television, signage, and the pages of Entertainment Weekly. With the other foot firmly in the technical side of the creative business, Brent also managed the launch and support of graphic arts printer products for Summagraphics as a Product Manager, until the company was acquired by Lockheed Martin in 1996. Brent then started the design boutique Hey Daddy and subsequently joined as the Creative Director for Industrial Strength Network, which would later split and become what is now eBlox. As the creative driver behind eBlox, Brent orchestrated the formation of a joint venture, PromoFuel, with the $500M Norwood Promotional Products company to provide web technology services to the $16B promotional products industry. Two years later, Brent managed the acquisition of promoOrder, an Austin-based, venture funded company with similar ambitions for the industry. Through the acquisition of promoOrder and the constant innovation of native eBlox platforms such as storeBlox, the company has maintained a dominant share of the middle and high-end technology marketplace in promotional products, counting many of the largest distributors and suppliers among its clientele. Though Brent has taken over day-to-day operation of the company as CEO, he is still deeply involved in all creative matters such as interface, marketing and new product development. He pens a monthly column on promotional products technology for Identity Marketing and a technology webblog for the industry called PromoTech. | 