Kirk spent the first 10 years of his career honing his skills as a conceptual designer, primarily working with retail and hospitality related projects - work that was typically fast paced and required facility with a wide variety of styles and influences. That experience has proven invaluable for a career in architectural illustration, where ideas are often only partially formed and much is needed to fill out an illustration and create a "real" place.

While Kirk's design input can be simply a quick suggestion for an unresolved detail, he regularly plays a larger role, providing conceptual design studies and sketches for entire buildings and complexes.

At right is a sampling of recent design studies, encompassing hospital additions here in Philadelphia, town plans in Florida, and proposals for university campus additions both locally and nationally.