kickintheeye.com

What It Is

Kick in the Eye (KitE) is the personal website of Philip Kightlinger, offering design, art direction, and illustration services. Its positioning is clear: Direction + Design + Illustration, with services focused on visual design for editorial publishing, marketing materials, websites, and print products. The creator graduated from the Illustration program at Syracuse University and states that he has worked professionally in art, design, and art direction in Washington, D.C. for more than 20 years.

Core Capabilities

Based on the website copy, KitE is not an online design tool, but a provider of customized creative services. Its core capabilities include magazine and marketing design, layout and production, traditional/digital/photo illustration, and concept and brand development for web and print. The portfolio includes Army Times, Navy Times, Marine Corp Times, Air Force Times, Defense News, Federal Times, FCW Magazine, anti-bullying posters, infographics, tri-fold brochures, and more, suggesting substantial experience in visual communication for editorial publishing, defense, and federal decision-maker audiences. The text also mentions the ability to collaborate with editors, managers, photographers, illustrators, and designers, indicating cross-functional project experience.

Pricing and Rights

The website does not disclose any pricing model, project quote range, payment methods, or revision rounds. It also does not clarify key terms such as copyright transfer, commercial licensing, or source file delivery. The only visible rights-related note is the footer, Copyright © 2017 Kick in the Eye. Before starting a formal engagement, clients should separately confirm fees, schedule, deliverable formats, and intellectual property ownership.

Pros and Cons

The main strengths are its broad experience across editorial design, illustration, art direction, and brand concept development, along with a project background serving national audiences, national security leaders, and senior federal decision-makers. This makes it well suited to serious information communication and publishing scenarios. The drawbacks are that the website feels somewhat dated, many case studies are presented only as titles, and there is little detail on project goals, process, or outcome metrics. The service workflow, collaboration tools, support model, and pricing are also not transparent.

Best For and Access from China

KitE is better suited to publishers, government/defense-related contractors, nonprofits, and clients that need an experienced independent designer for editorial illustration, infographics, brochures, or brand redesign. It is less suitable for users looking for self-service online graphics tools, template-based rapid design output, or clear subscription pricing. Access from mainland China cannot be determined from the crawled text and is therefore marked as unknown.