Mr. Bascome has been immersed in the arts world from a young age when his father was aged 33, he enrolled at Boston's Berklee College of Music to study arrangement and composition and the family went with him.

"My parents were highly imaginative and inventive. It was a fantastic environment for someone with my [artistic] interests," Mr. Bascome said. "I think those early experiences probably changed my life."

His parents soon recognised his own artistic talents and as a 15-year-old he was sent to the Massachusetts College of Art and Design's summer programme.

He loved it so much he returned the following summer and enrolled as a college student. On breaks he interned at Aardvark in Bermuda, which he cited as a "great training ground", because of the people he worked with such as Dusty Heind, Janelle Wesch, John Elesgood and Tim Taylor.

After graduation, he worked for a number of agencies and design studios in the US, but museum design had the greatest impact on him a skill, which he still calls upon on projects.

He worked on the National Museum of Australia, the Taiwan National Aquarium, the Aquarium of Barcelona, the Jazz Museum in Kansas City, and the Experience Music Project in Seattle.

His life changed after he heard murmurs of redundancies at the museum design firm he worked for, so he went to the CFO and asked if it was true and would they consider laying him off.

"Immediately she invited me into her office and offered me a package. After a couple days they agreed to throw my computer into the deal, and having a computer included at that time was a pretty big deal."

Within a fortnight, Mr. Bascome had set up shop as a freelancer and with business booming, in 1999 he decided to found Proverb, Ltd., a full service agency that develops brand strategies, media and communications, user experiences and environments.

Clients and projects include work with MFS Investment Services, which celebrated the 85th anniversary of its invention of the mutual fund. "We've completed a permanent corporate exhibit, marrying innovative exhibit design techniques to retail and advertising techniques, which helps them to tell their story, build their organisation, and close deals with their most important potential clients," he said.

Mr. Bascome said they work with organisations that are tying to improve the world, ranging from socially-minded not-for-profits to cultural institutions like Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, where Mr. Bascome serves as an overseer.

He is working on the Dalai Lama Center on Ethics and Transformative Values at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. "The Center is focused on affecting policy decisions that are intended to have an impact beyond our lifetime," he said.

Anotherproject is Aksyon: a Forward Vision for Haiti, which is for economic development in Haiti. "This initiative has partnered with The Clinton Foundation, The Museum of Arts and Design in New York City, and Donna Karan's Urban Zen to develop a number of events and exhibits to promote design and manufacturing opportunities in Haiti to help build the Haitian economy in the long-term," explained Mr. Bascome.

Proverb just finished the launch of a new boutique hotel opening in Harvard Square, called Hotel Veritas. "It is a very high-touch and high-end boutique hotel opening in Harvard Square," he said.

"The 30-room hotel offers an intimate elegance in a hip Cantabrigian setting. The Hotel Veritas and its branding combine the current and modern with a nod to the traditions of the Ivy League, the promise of the golden age of travel, and the style of a supermodel.

"In this case we've touched on everything from the branding and advertising, to the signage and uniforms and ties we had custom created by Brooks Brothers."

A project with Greenrock project involved generating a conversation promoting how small decisions people make have a huge impact in this case buying and using a reusable bag or bottle.

"The campaign brings up several of the economic, environmental, and health implications of those small decisions in a way that is engaging and accessible while also inviting consumers to be a part of the larger movement," said Mr. Bascome.

The company has won several awards for its innovative designs one was the coveted Boston Ad Club's Hatch Award for the Greenrock campaign.

"In many ways we've always thought of ourselves like the Manny Pacquiao of the industry, we fight above our weight class," said the 41-year-old father of two.

"However we aren't fighting in order to chase awards, but rather to generate impactful campaigns. That's why in some ways I have mixed feelings about awards, because an ad or campaign can be award-winning, however that may not accurately reflect the product or organisation.

"We've had the good fortune of wining several this past year, both regional and national."

When he was an independent designer, part of his track record, and now Proverb's track record, is the ability to attract projects that are influential.

"These are the companies and organisations that view themselves as game-changing. This means they are trying to do one of two things: either shake up existing markets or create new ones in order to construct openings for new ideas or products.

"We're becoming known for delivering high-impact work that is really bold, assertive and accurate.

"We're producing the kind of things you only need to see once yet it resonates. From there we'll take that resonance and design a system that conveys across various channels, i.e. web strategy, retail space design, packaging and advertising."

Mr. Bascome said that Proverb can go toe to with just about anyone both its creative directors have worked at Saatchi & Saatchi and Arnold Worldwide and have worked on brands like Lexus and Red Bull.

"We're building an organisation with a similar pedigree, however what's unusual about it is that we're a much leaner outfit with fewer layers that still executes at an exceedingly high level.

"We're also a shop that's focuses on innovation. We make it a point of having a diversity of perspectives and experiences in the room so we can constantly bring new thinking to pre-existing problems.

"It is more of an affirmation than a surprise. It feels like we are within the conversation of the upper tier of the industry and they are recognising the value we are creating."

For Proverb, despite the economy, they've never working harder, or produced more impactful work.

"We've actually had a really successful year and managed to double our revenues and grow the size of our team pretty significantly. We've been fortunate enough to work with a number of very large and important products and organisations, delivering work that is essential to their success."

For more information on Daren Bascome and Proverb, Ltd. visit www.thetruthmadesimple.com.