runic icon representing Dærick W Gröss, based on the glyph he uses to sign his artwork DÆRICK
GRÖSS
MEET DÆRICK | PROFESSIONAL PROFILE | STUDIO G | UMLAUT INITIATIVES
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runic icon representing Dærick W Gröss, based on the glyph he uses to sign his artwork; a colored field, fading from red-orange at the top to yellow-orange at the bottom. Over the face of this color field is a white runic symbol across the field. Above the field and rune is the word GRÖSS all in capital letters in black on a white background  Dærick W. Gröss
 Dærick Gröss
    Creative Direction
    Project Leadership
    Thrower Of Heavy Things

Image of Dærick Gröss, standing on a field at a highland games event, holding a stone over his head preparing to throw it.
he/him   |   pro-DEI   |   diversity is strength
More about my professional background


THREE SIDES OF THE SAME COIN...

UMLAUT INITIATIVES
logo for Umlaut Initiatives, a white upright rectangle with the word Umlaut in a tall Art Deco font set above a centered colored field and the word Initatives set below it, the color field fading from red at the top to yellow at the bottom. over the color field is a white, curved arc and above the arc are two slanted parallelagrams representing umlaut marks above a partially revealed letter.
Project & Program Services For Hire
An affordable alternative for your Project and Delivery Management needs

STUDIO G PRODUCTIONS
logo for Studio G, a white upright rectangle with the word Studio in a tall Art Deco font set above a centered colored field, fading from red at the top to yellow at the bottom. over the color field is a white, fancy lower-case letter G.
Small-Press Production & Creative Direction
Comics. Activity Books. Fun.

GōZōN
icon bug for GōZōN, a dark grey box with a gold trim, inside is a gold letter O with a macron overbar. under the icon is the word GōZōN with upper case G, Z, and N and lower case O with macrons.
Fandom & Geekery Ambassadōr
Make It Fun. Make It Easy! Let's Gō!



Welcome! I'm Dærick Gröss:

  • freelance commercial illustrator
  • creative head of Studio G, an illustration/creative production house focused on original storytelling and art-related product development
  • an experienced technical program and project organization leader
  • owner of Umlaut Initiatives, a professional Project and Program consultation and service provider
  • Highland Games competitor, primarily on the West Coast... (I throw heavy things very short distances)

This site is intended to give a high-level overview of my professional background and experience for my career both as an illustrator/Creative Director/small-press publisher and as a Program/Project professional, including selected work experience and some of my achievements in these areas. You will also find links to my creative production house, Studio G, and my project consultation agency, Umlaut Initiatives.


General Overview

My initial training is in fine art and illustration, and that is where I began my career out of school. I spent over a decade illustrating for fantasy role playing and collectable card games for companies like Iron Crown Enterprises, Alderac Entertainment Group, Z-Man Games (Ed Beard Jr.), Sovereign Press, Inc., and Eden Studios working on games such as 7th Sea, Legend of the 5 Rings, Camelot Legends, and All Flesh Must Be Eaten. Initially an independent freelancer, early in my career I merged my studio with my father's (Dærick Gröss Sr.) to form Studio G, a freelance illustration and small-press publishing creative house. For most of this period, my work is credited as "DW Gröss" to avoid conflation with my father. As Studio G, I was Creative Director and managed (and illustrated for) production and publication projects for our freelance and comic book work through the mid 2000s. With the passing of Dærick Sr. in 2023, I have returned to take the helm of Studio G while we reassess our projects and determine our path into the future.

Simultaneous to my career as an illustrator/Creative Director/publisher, I began working as an Account/Project Manager in a more general sense for other companies. Since 2005, I have worked with search marketing, B2B, B2C, online games (player management), and AdTech companies to manage clients and accounts, oversee project management, and own the entire cross-organizational program execution and delivery process. I have successfully delivered projects for companies such as MTV, AT&T, Edmunds, Vineyard Vines, Rubicon Project (now Magnite, Inc.), Bruce Clay Inc., Disney, Allergan Aesthetics (AbbVie, Inc.), and Hulu. Since 2012, I have been more specifically a technical program professional in software development organizations.

Beginning in the spring of 2026, I began working fractionally with GōZōN, a creator-driven platform as their Fandom & Geekery Ambassadōr. Fun titles aside, this is just a fancy way of saying I develop partnerships with Fandom-related/adjacent content creators from around the world and drive the expansion of the platform into a thriving marketplace for digital Gōriginals and resale collectibles.

A more detailed breakdown of my professional experience can be found in my Professional Profile.