Donnie Bell

Having your name on the sign outside the building lends itself to a lot of pressure and expectations. Donnie Bell strives to exceed those expectations with his design firm. Hailing from the deceptively quiet town of Ruston, LA with a bachelors of fine art from Louisiana Tech University, Donnie left the south behind for the...um...southeast...to begin his design career at Oden Marketing and Design in Memphis, TN. Deciding that he didn't like country music that much after all, Donnie returned to his roots as Creative Services Manager in the Marketing Department at Louisiana Tech University.

During this time, Donnie leveled up with a Masters of Fine Art graduate degree in 2005. In 2004, Bell drove the 60-mile round trip each day to work at Architecture Plus in Monroe, LA where he was introduced to the world of environmental graphics. Bell then worked as a freelance designer and helped shape young minds by teaching at Southern Arkansas University. His years of freelancing in and around Ruston, efforts to grow his client list and establish his name paid off with the opening of Donnie Bell Design in 2009.

Taking time away from baby sitting his coworkers — and vice-versa — Donnie loves spending time with his wife Sarah and two boys Jack and Brett, eating out at the many fine eateries offered by Ruston (you're welcome chamber of commerce), basketball, golf and woodworking.

Donnie's commitment to his art and business is evident in his attitude that it's not work, saying he would do it for free...if not for that whole bills thing. He wants to make quality, creative work in a flexible, spontaneous and fun environment with service that is second to none. "If we say we're going to provide quality, then we need to back it up." And you can trust that from a guy with his name plastered on the studio walls.

Daniel Hudgens

Daniel "Hudgie" Hudgens may have the appearance of a mild-mannered graphic designer, but lurking underneath the surface there lies a beast of creativity waiting to be released. As a child, the Magnolia, AR native could often be found at a table in the corner of his family's seafood restaurant keeping himself occupied by creating new, exciting characters and worlds on his sketchbook. The source of his inspiration? Classic comic books. The world of Spiderman and the X-Men, as well as extended periods of time alone, let Daniel lose himself in his imagination and hone his skills as an artist. His art becoming a second nature, he eventually grew powerful enough to obtain an art department scholarship from Southern Arkansas University.

A  graduate of SAU, Daniel had used his creativity for the good of man by working as a production designer for the Banner-News and then three years at Southern Aluminum, growing from an intern to creative marketing manager and, finally, marketing director.
While at that highly influential period, Daniel made a friend in Donnie Bell at SAU, playing sidekick to his superhero by completing several freelance jobs.

Daniel eventually committed to the Donnie Bell Design team in August 2008 to work as a graphic designer.
While always maintaining a vigilance over all things graphic, Daniel does take time to practice martial arts, go fishing, delve into nature photography and spend time with his family and dog. A personal goal of Daniel's is to read the entire Bible every year. He also claims to have started "making noise" with his trusty guitar.

Citizens relying on the service of Donnie Bell Design can take solace in the fact that Daniel looks forward to opportunities where he can challenge himself creatively and produce eye catching imagery that demands attention as well as produces a return on investment.

Neal Breeding

Some guys only react and some make things happen. Neal Breeding is one of the latter.

The web puppet master's computer knowledge gives Donnie Bell Design a definite edge in web programming and hosting. We provide our clients with a simple, reliable web hosting solution and an interface that makes updating their websites straightforward and easy.

Neal's path to joining the DBD crew started when he began messing with computers in 8th grade. The Tech graduate's resume notes his first gig was service manager at Computer Solutions in Ruston, LA during a period now called the 90s (who remembers that?). He then started his own web service company Innovative Bits, LLC in 1999 while moonlighting as Coordinator of Information System for the Division of University Advancement at Louisiana Tech University. In 2002, Neal was promoted to Director of Information Systems for the Division.

When he's not bending web sites to his will like Neo in "The Matrix", Neal enjoys cooking and the subsequent fruits of that labor, everything Disney, working in the yard and shop, movies, music, and studying the Bible. The family man has the fortune of being married to his best friend, Jennifer, since 2000 and has 2 really cute boys, Caden and Caleb.

Neal does what he does because it is a problem solving, creative process that combines the graphical creative process with a programming creative process which brings new challenges every day.

His goal at Donnie Bell Design is simple: offering our clients a worry free experience when it comes to his website. "Web hosting is something that should just work. Our clients won't have to worry if their site is working or not."

Courtney Pugh

Courtney "The Goose" Pugh. Man about town, oil baron, member of the upper crust — none of these adjectives apply. However, despite his lack of blue blood, Courtney is a first-class graphic artist. From a young age, growing up in El Dorado, AR, Courtney had a passion to create and to be creative. No matter the task, Courtney's work is his way of expressing himself to others and he always aspires do it to the best of his ability.

His impressive pedigree includes a bachelors of fine arts with emphasis in graphic design from Southern Arkansas University. While still enrolled in classes at SAU, Courtney completed an internship at Southern Aluminum in Magnolia, AR eventually working his way up the corporate ladder one whole step to the lowly rung of employee. There Courtney honed his pixel wizardry over a one-year period, describing the experience as a good test of his multi-tasking and time management skills.

After learning how to not only adapt, but thrive in the world of graphic design, Courtney made the move to Donnie Bell Design in October 2008. The Goose feels the environment and atmosphere of his new nesting place to be more conducive to the creative process necessary for his growth as an artist.

While not glued to his computer screen, Courtney's hobbies include a robust love of all things football, especially the Universty of Arkansas Razorbacks (his blood runs cardinal red, everyone). He also spends weekends playing wildcard to a group of close friends and never misses an episode of "The Office" — often going so far as to compare his experiences to that of the FICTIONAL characters.

He envisions his role at Donnie Bell Design as playing an integral cog in helping establish Ruston as the creative nerve center for northwest Louisiana.

Sean Green

Straight outta Shreveport to your Facebook and Twitter pages — Sean Green is so sharp that his copywriting and editing knowledge can carve your boredom to bits. Believing that the pen is indeed mightier than the sword, Sean has been writing creatively since high school, desiring to reach people on an intellectual or emotional level that cannot be obtained through passing speech.

The El Dorado, AR native is a Ruston transplant by way of Magnolia, AR where he received a bachelor's of arts from Southern Arkansas University in 2007. He then began his career as a reporter at the Banner-News newspaper.
Sean left the sleepy, small town for the Port City a year later to bite off more than he could chew as managing editor of the Bossier Press-Tribune. Sean took this on the fly, under the gun learning experience to hone not only his knowledge of media but how to churn out a premium product in the quickest turnaround possible.

He is now using these same skills to help add another branch to what Donnie Bell Design can offer its customers. He believes the flexible work environment staffed with some of the most creative people in Louisiana will push his work to levels unseen.

When not giving himself carpal tunnel syndrome, Sean likes to work out and play soccer (he lives and dies by what Chelsea FC does in the English Premier league). He also lives for football season. He has a close group of friends that he loves like a family and enjoys watching a mix of cartoons and educational programming.

Sean hopes to play a crucial role in varying the abilities of the studio that can propel it to national success.

Holly James

We take care of our clients at Donnie Bell Design like we take care of our Faberge eggs (we have, like, 3 of them). And the primary caretaker (of clients, not the eggs) is Holly James.

The Ruston native must have some magic spell she uses with the way she makes our current clients happy and makes new ones feel more welcome than a World Series in New York.

But not only is she a people person, she's super smart, too. The University of Mississippi graduate, and Delta Gamma Sorority member, was inducted into the university's first class of Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society.
After leaving the beauty of Oxford behind for the Real World — not the MTV show — Holly began a four-year career in pharmaceutical sales with Pfizer, Inc. winning both regional and national sales awards.
It was when she began expecting her daughter, Ava, that Holly left her sales career for an even more important and rewarding one: Stay-at-home mom.

She has re-entered the field of sales at DBD with the lofty goals of increasing our clients, handling social media, managing office workflow (pray for her), and serving as the bridge between clients and the DBD creative team.
When she's not being super woman to our clients, Holly is super mom to her daughters Ava and Caroline. She also likes to spend time with her high school sweetheart and, now, husband Max along with reading, exercising, traveling, and watching "24."

In addition to being a client representative, saleswoman, social media manager, and mom, Holly is a lifetime member of Temple Baptist Church, a book club member, involved in the Chautauqua Club, and is enrolled at Louisiana Tech University pursuing a Master of Arts in Teaching.

Sarah Bell

Watch out, boys. She's married to the boss. And with that title comes privileges--bathing his children, cooking his supper, paying the bills.

A pharmacist by trade, Sarah has transformed her latest obsession interest into a service line for Donnie Bell Design. After attending a BlogHer conference in San Francisco, Sarah became enthralled by the possibilities of social media marketing. Interacting with fellow female bloggers across the globe, she learned tricks of the trade to apply to her own website. Amazed by the results, she began speaking with others about the infinite reach of social media and its potential impact for business owners.

The biggest perk of being married to the boss? Raising their two boys, Jack and Brett, together. If she is not folding paper airplanes for Jack to fly, Sarah could be playing peek-a-boo with Brett. Singing along to VeggieTales in the car or playing chase in the backyard, Sarah gets a kick out of watching them grow. Giggling is an every day event around the Bell household.

If she found a genie in a bottle, she would wish to stop time long enough to read an intriguing novel or whip up a delectable feast from the latest issue of Food and Wine or Bon Appetit. Until she finds that genie, she sneaks in her book-reading by listening to audio books in the car. And the feasts these days are Saturday breakfasts of melted chocolate hazelnut spread slathered on challah French toast sprinkled with confectioners sugar. That is one past time none of the boys mind her indulging.

Melissa Bradford

A Ruston lifer, Melissa Tolar Bradford is a 1997 graduate of Louisiana Tech University, earning bachelor of science in accounting. Melissa soon received her MBA from Louisiana Tech four-years later and eventually earned a CPA license in 2004.

In 2005, Melissa left the world of number crunching behind for a career in “Domestic Engineering” — a job that pays six figures in the form of memories, not dollars.

In October 2009, Melissa began taking a few seconds away from the full-time job that is "Mom" to act as bookkeeper for Donnie Bell Design. Melissa greatest pleasure is spending her days with her boys, but she also loves to read and hopes to reside by the sea.