When Seamus Culligan was eight years-old he launched his first company. He and his mom made cookies and sold them to a local store. Seamus created the Big Lake Bakery Cookies brand identity, t-shirts and even a point-of-sale poster.

“It was wildly successful and netted well over $100,” Seamus said. “Enough to buy a Timex computer.”

As creative director for Avenue C – The Barcode Group’s in-house design agency – and vice president of creative at The Barcode Group, Seamus has played an integral role in the creation of hundreds of brands since he came on board in 2010.

Hailing from Saint Paul, Minnesota, Seamus graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison with a degree in psychology, focusing on primatology. This deep dive into the evolution and behaviors of primates may explain his expert level grasp of human behavior and what drives brand loyalty and purchases.

After college, he began his career in advertising at Weiden + Kennedy in Portland, Oregon and then launched Design Division in Los Angeles, California. He was responsible for the creation, design, distribution, manufacturing inventory and sales of two personal care product lines that he built from scratch then sold.

He came back home to Minnesota and created a design agency, Avenue C, within Portu Sunberg. In 2024, Portu Sunberg combined under the umbrella of The Barcode Group and Seamus became the vice president of creative for the organization.

While one of Seamus’ favorite projects of his career has been creating a signature scent and amenity package for the legendary Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles, he deeply enjoys flexing his creative muscles for every brand he’s helped to strategize, create and design.

Seamus’ guiding philosophy revolves around the principle that every package should function as a stand-alone advertisement while delivering on the brand promise with thoughtful design.

To connect with Seamus or learn more about The Barcode Group’s retail design capabilities, contact us at info@thebarcodegroup.com.