Forty Under 40: Joey Nelson

Joey Nelson developed an affinity for art early in life. 

“I was really one of those creative kids who liked to take nothing and create something out of it,” he said.

In 2002, he earned a degree in advertising, with a minor in fine arts at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas.

As mobile technology soared in popularity, he turned his focus to that.

The self-taught designer’s work includes Anthony Bourdain’s app, The Layover, named one of Apple Store’s “hidden gems” of 2012.

Nelson found his niche in digital brand strategy when he moved from Dallas to Northwest Arkansas in 2006 and was hired by Rockfish Interactive.

He was the fourth person hired by the firm, which grew into a multimillion-dollar digital agency with 350 employees in five offices and major clients like ESPN, The Travel Channel, Sam’s Club Inc., and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

A few months after it was acquired by ad group giant WPP in 2011, Nelson, by then a senior creative director, left to follow his dream of starting his own creative studio.

BLKBOXLabs opened in 2012, now has 16 employees and has done work for Oprah Winfrey and Cosmopolitan magazine, in addition to local, “hip” brands that include coffee shops, breweries and fashion brands.

In 2014, it opened the e-commerce site Southern Swim.

“I couldn’t think of doing anything else, and I wake up every day looking forward to what we’re going to build and do,” he said. “It’s just fun.”