Nathan Martin

About Nathan Martin

Nathan Martin is a paradox: technologist yet luddite, activist turned marketer, academic and punk rocker.He first made his name hacking Nintendo Gameboy cartridges and exhibited internationally with the art collective Carbon Defense League, with works such as Child as Audience, F the Vote, and Re-code.com. However, after multiple FBI investigations, Nathan shifted focus to design research, contributing to the Palm Pilot\'s operating system. Simultaneously, he fronted the hardcore band Creation is Crucifixion, which explored the rise of the data body and artificial intelligence (in the 90s!). He also pursued academia, earning a BFA in Electronic Media Art from Carnegie Mellon University and an MFA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. At CMU, he taught “Parasitic Media,” a class shut down due to legal investigations into students\' satirical website projects.Nathan co-founded Deeplocal with $200 in his bank account while artist-in-residence at The STUDIO for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon. Initially a mapping software company, Deeplocal crashed into advertising in 2009 with the Nike Chalkbot – the first use of robotics in advertising and winner of the Cannes Lions Cyber Grand Prix. Another breakthrough followed shortly after with the Netflix Socks, an open-sourced project at the dawn of streaming that paused wearers’ shows if they fell asleep, which garnered over 2B earned media impressions. Deeplocal has won numerous awards including Ad Age\'s Small Agency of the Year, Webby’s Shorty’s, One Show, SEGD, and more; and Nathan was named CEO of the Year by Pittsburgh Technology Council. Nathan remains true to his punk rock roots and fosters the same blue-collar, DIY spirit at Deeplocal. Nathan Martin embodies duality. He welcomes technology as a tool for creativity and innovation, yet remains skeptical of its unchecked influence. His unconventional journey from activist to advertiser today informs Deeplocal’s culture of challenging norms and the creative status quo. Nathan’s activist spirit and hacker mentality prove that unexpected – even absurd – journeys lead to the most remarkable outcomes.

Experience

1. Founder

   Ex Members Of

   Jan 2025 — Present · New York, NY, US

   Leader of award-winning interdisciplinary teams and projects

Education

• Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

  MFA, Electronic Media Art

  2002 — 2004

• Carnegie Mellon University

  BFA, Electronic and Time Based Media

  1995 — 1999

Skills

• Graphic Design
• Interdisciplinary Research
• Visual Design
• Usability Testing
• User Interface Design
• Adobe Creative Suite
• Human Computer Interaction
• User Experience
• Advertising
• User-Centered Design
• Photoshop
• Creative Direction
• Experience Design
• Multimedia
• Concept Development
• Information Design
• Information Architecture
• Web Design
• Illustrator
• User Interface
• User Experience Design
• Interaction Design
• Product Design
• Design Strategy