Specialized communication design
for over 16 years
Founded in 1992
Chris Barnes founded the company under the name chris barnes design in 1992. For the first seven years, Chris served clients as a solo designer, creating presentations, animation, training materials, and marketing collateral for diagnostic and pharmaceutical companies. In 1999, Chris added staff and extended the firm's expertise into branding and educational systems, transforming the company into a boutique healthcare design firm. By supplementing our staff with a well-developed collaborative network of professionals, we’ve been able to extend and deepen our expertise and achieve sustained success with slow, purposeful growth.
Rebranded in 2008
In 2008 we adopted the name Emphatic Communications to better express the value we provide to clients. To be emphatic is to be clear, definite, and direct, to stand out in a bold way. Emphatic expresses the power of a process that transforms complexity into compelling clarity.
Leadership
Chris Barnes brings extensive experience in business operations, information design, and visual communication to his roles as president and chief strategist of Emphatic Communications. He is an accomplished communicator and designer, and is especially valued by clients for insightful analysis and nuanced problem solving. Chris earned a BA in psychobiology from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1988. In addition to his passion for communication, he is a musician, ceramic artist, loving dad and husband, and big fan of chips and salsa.
Chris is also co-founder and president of Business Arts, which develops and markets innovative Excel-based planning tools. In addition to managing the company’s operations, Chris heads up the technical and aesthetic dimensions of software design.