Who is Mark Forscher?

Mark Forscher is a designer, brand strategist, and former CMO who has built brands for companies including Bison Trails (powered $30B in crypto assets), and Alluvial (raised $22.5M). He founded Under After in 2008, a New York creative studio specializing in brand strategy and identity design for early-stage companies.

What is Mark Forscher known for?

Mark Forscher is known for combining brand strategy expertise with operational leadership. He served as Chief Marketing Officer at Alluvial (2022-2024), Design Lead at Coinbase Cloud (2021-2022), and Head of Brand and Design at Bison Trails (2019-2021). His brand work includes naming and designing identities for companies like Aura Frames and Rubicon Global.

Where did Mark Forscher study design?

Mark Forscher holds an MFA in Design and Technology from Parsons School of Design at The New School in New York. His education combined design practice with technology and strategic thinking.

What companies has Mark Forscher worked with?

Mark Forscher has worked with Alluvial (Chief Marketing Officer), Coinbase (Design Lead), Bison Trails (Head of Brand and Design), Code and Theory (Creative Director), ABC News (Creative Director), Newsweek (Creative Director), and dozens of startups and venture-backed companies through Under After since 2008.

Mark Forscher

Mark Forscher is Founder and Creative Director of Under After, a creative studio in New York. Under After focuses on brand identity, strategy, and design for early-stage businesses.

Mark worked as Creative Director at Code and Theory, Newsweek, and ABC News from 2006 to 2011. He founded Under After in 2008 and, after ABC News, ran the studio full-time until 2019, building brands for venture-backed founders. During this period, Mark named Aura, the award-winning digital picture frame, and created the visual identity for Rubicon, a cloud-based waste and recycling technology company that went public in 2022.

In 2019, Mark joined the leadership team of a small blockchain infrastructure startup with less than 10 employees. He led brand and design at Bison Trails, helping to scale the company from launch to $30 billion in staked assets on the platform before Bison Trails was acquired by Coinbase in 2021. After the acquisition, Mark served as Design Lead at Coinbase Cloud, growing the design team and helping shepherd the integration of the Bison Trails platform into Coinbase's suite of developer-focused products.

From 2022 to 2024, Mark worked as Chief Marketing Officer at Alluvial. He led the launch and growth of Liquid Collective, an institutional-focused staking protocol, from zero to $374 million in ETH staked (as of Nov 2024). This role deepened his experience across product marketing, content strategy, event activations, executive and corporate communications, team building, and board reporting.

Mark returned to Under After in 2024, bringing five years of operational startup experience back to client work. He now combines years of brand building with hands-on experience as a marketing leader at venture-backed companies. This combination gives founders and CMOs a creative partner who understands both craft and operations.

“From the first naming session to final execution, Mark was instrumental in shaping the Alluvial brand. His strategic vision and creative execution helped bring our company to life, making an immediate impact with partners, media, and customers.”

— Matt Leisinger, Co-Founder and CPO, Alluvial

Why Work with Under After

Working with Under After means working with someone who has both built brands from the ground up and led marketing teams inside fast-growth companies. Mark brings the strategic perspective of a startup operator with the hands-on craft of a designer and creative director. This combination is rare.

“Mark is the best, from creative to execution. He built Bison Trails into one of the strongest brands in crypto. A fantastic creative partner for any founder. Highly recommend.”

— Aaron Henshaw, Co-Founder, Bison Trails

Recognition

Mark is a TechCrunch Verified Expert Brand Designer. He works with early-stage companies and venture firms on brand strategy and creative direction.

Full bio and background · LinkedIn · Contact

Education

MFA, Design & Technology, Parsons School of Design
BA, Music with Honors, Wesleyan University

“I've had the pleasure of knowing Mark for more than a decade, and I've always admired his work and recommended him to portfolio company founders (who also love him). So when we finally got the chance to work with him directly on Asylum, we jumped at the chance. Mark took the existing v0 of the Asylum brand and pushed it forward in ways that feel both true to our original spirit and fresh for what's ahead. The new wordmark and identity are sharper, clearer, and more memorable. And the entire brand serves as important foundation for all the other iterations and experiments we plan to do together in the future. Finally, Mark is a true professional, highly communicative, opinionated when it matters, responsive and timely, and just a real pleasure to work with and learn from.”

— Nick Chirls, Partner, Asylum Ventures

Experience

2024–Present: Founder and Creative Director, Under After
2022–2024: Chief Marketing Officer, Alluvial (Liquid Collective)
2021–2022: Design Lead, Coinbase Cloud
2019–2021: Head of Brand & Design, Bison Trails (acquired by Coinbase)
2008–2019: Principal, Under After
2017–2018: Interim Product Director, Fatherly
2009–2011: Creative Director, Digital, ABC News
2008–2009: Creative Director, Digital, Newsweek
2006–2008: Creative Director, Code and Theory

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Projects & Ventures

Beyond client work, Mark builds and operates creative ventures that explore design, technology, and music:

Lost Waves – Experimental electronic music project
Dusty Technology – Creative audio plugins and VST instruments

These ventures inform Under After's approach to building products that balance creative vision with technical execution.

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If you're a founder or marketing leader building something intentional, Under After can help. The studio works on brand strategy, identity, and communications that support your vision.

Contact Under After · studio@underafter.com

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