A highly accomplished and award-winning integrated Creative Director with 25 years of experience in building and bringing brands to life within luxury, lifestyle, fashion, food and interiors.
Creating, launching and redesigning commercial concepts for successful audience engagement, I bring a purpose and passion to all of my roles, immersing myself with creative enthusiasm to solve complex problems, relishing in the detail and execution to ensure projects are delivered flexibly and resourcefully. Whilst making certain that creativity meets commerciality, I have the ability to digest and translate a market or product both online and offline.
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
• Launched Feel Free, a new quarterly interiors magazine for renowned US interior designer and Discovery Channel HGTV presenter, Leanne Ford. Launched to much critical acclaim with aspirations for growth and global circulation beyond 2022
• Working with John Lewis in Creative & Content working on seasonal campaigns for in-store, online, e-commerce, social and editorial platforms
• Working with Redwood BBDO on a social launch campaign for AkzoNobel/Dulux Colour Futures conceptualising and storyboarding for video and animation for their Colour of the Year social media campaign
• Conceptually lead, storyboarded and directed video, animation and photoshoots for Not on the High Street promoting the artisanal aspects of the business as well as key seasons for their online and social media marketing. Required good logistical skills as part of the project was filmed over three separate parts of the country, requiring decisive thinking, flexibility, leadership and strategic and common sense thinking
• Strategised, lead, coordinated and directed ambient and practical videos; Introduced a 360 redesign to Country Living across all physical, experiential and digital touch-points, thereby increasing relationship building and brand awareness with the potential to sell off the back of these videos commercially; which in turn lead to us securing brand partnerships with brands such as DFS, Yeo Valley and Interflora
• The creativity and trust I had formed from stakeholders with my strategy of the CL 360 rebrand gave me free rein to devise and create Modern Rustic, a luxury sister title to CL appealing to a contemporary younger audience. Its success resulted in subsequently expanding to three times a year and lead to its launch in the US in year two
• Devised and crafted the launch of Jamie Magazine redefining how food magazines were perceived by printing on luxury matte paper and art-directing stunning reportage and food photoshoots with the launch issue selling over 100,000 copies
Contact me at dholdway@me.com, 07968 074 625, darrenholdway.com
Projects
- Jamie Oliver ShowreelI launched Jamie Magazine back in 2008 with just myself and editor at the very beginning to later be joined by a sub and dep ed. Independently produced in the back of Jamie's test kitchen, this was a very unique and exciting time. The format, paper engineering and print finishing was quite the phenomenon in publishing, especially in food magazines. I'm still very proud of what I achieved from the shoots, typography and layout.
Projects credited in
- MAGAZINE EDITOR (Contract Publishing)Launched and edits TALES, a luxury lifestyle print magazine for private members’ club Purple Dragon. It features lifestyle and travel editorial, exclusive photoshoots and inspiring interviews with the likes of Stella McCartney, Samantha Cameron and Natalia Vodianova. Devised the concept, with a new lifestyle theme for each magazine (the Design issue, the Fashion issue, the Art issue...and so forth), as a hook to build tailored advertising packages around. Advertisers include Stella McCartney,
Work history
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Freelance Creative DirectorWorking with various clients including Leanne Ford, John Lewis, Hearst and Redwood BBDO
London, United KingdomFreelance
• Conceptualised, developed and launched Feel Free, a new quarterly interiors magazine for renowned US interior designer and Discovery Channel HGTV presenter, Leanne Ford. Launched to much critical acclaim with aspirations for growth and global circulation beyond 2022
• Working with Redwood BBDO on a social launch campaign for AkzoNobel/Dulux Colour Futures conceptualising and storyboarding for video and animation for their Colour of the Year social media campaign• Developing and producing commercial marketing materials for the Hearst lifestyle licensing team
• Conceptualising development of creative editorial concepts for Hearst Magazines
• Devised and art directed the S/S 2020 campaign for Great Little Trading Company including print, online, social media assets and GIFs. Managing a young team this role required strong leadership, team development, decisiveness and persuasiveness to get the client the results required.
• Strategised, devised, storyboarded and directed the video, animation, and photoshoots for
Not on the High Street promoting artisanal aspects of the business including Father’s Day
• Developed a storyboard format for Unilever Food Services, directing a series of videos with renowned chefs around London for a paid-for subscription service aimed at mid to senior food professionals, requiring strategic mindedness, detail orientation, critical thinking and creativity to produce great quality in challenging environments. Also required to work for Knorr where I conceptualised and art directed a series of food photoshoots, to be used throughout all of their social media channels
• Working collaboratively with Tesco’s head of Marketing, I defined a new direction in photographic style for their seasonal photoshoots to be used in brochures, online and in-store. I also art directed their packaging photography for Tesco’s own brand food range refresh working alongside key client stakeholders which required resilience, self-confidence and enthusiasm.
Art DirectorJohn Lewis & Partners
- London, United KingdomFull Time
Responsible for conceptualising and art-directing seasonal home campaigns for in-store, online, e-commerce, social and editorial platforms. Working with various stakeholders including designers such as Matthew Williamson as well as John Lewis’ premium range, translating their vision and aligning to brand guidelines
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Skills
- Directing Shoots
- Video
- Art and Creative Direction
- Adobe Indesign/illustrator/photoshop
- Editorial Deisgn
- Multi-brand Experience
- Event Design
- Editorial Publishing
- Brand Building
- Brand Strategy
Education
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BA Hons The University of Central Lancashire
Preston, United Kingdom
Combined Honours in Design and Audio Visual media Studies