In 1991 Jack Burke, an artist and 3-D animator with a strong entrepreneurial spirit, took a chance. He believed he could build a marketing business based on the strength of the creative and working collaboratively with his clients. Armed with his talent, some savings and a fearlessness that belied the failure rate of first-year businesses, Burke Computer Designs was born. Over the next few years he added talented people to the company, building it as the needs of his clients dictated, not by conventional ad agency wisdom. Recognizing the widening scope of the work as well as the importance of his team, the name no longer fit. So the company became Burke Design Group.

Over the next few years, the agency grew in size and ability, expanded to a larger space...twice...and increased revenue. Much of the work was being done anonymously for area advertising agencies that were unable or unwilling to branch out into 3-D graphics or web design. Jack saw this as another opportunity to fill a void in the market.

By 1998, with the addition of a few key pieces, the "little agency that could" found itself with all the tools necessary to be a full-service agency. Now the company would be known as Burke Communications, and clients included the country of Portugal, Ispat America, UNC Charlotte and a host of others.

The agency followed no model to mold into what it is today. It defies tradition in many ways, like having a creative-heavy staff, having its own video and DVD production and post production facility and keeping a larger-than-usual roster of diverse clients rather than a few within a certain sector. You could say that the agency’s unconventional roots provided the foundation for what makes it different today. We certainly do.