I am an award winning multi-disciplined Creative Director with over 15 years of London agency experience in AKQA, TBWA & JWT. I’ve worked for some of the world's most fun and engaging brands including Adidas, Audi, Carlsberg, Diet Coke, HSBC, Microsoft, New Balance, Nike, Philips, Puma, Sega, Shell and Unicef. I’ve produced smart, fresh and unexpected work in virtually every client category and across every marketing channel or platform and have over 20 industry awards to show for it, including Cannes Lions & D&AD. I always aim to make work that moves the target audience to laugh, cry or change their behaviour in some form. I consider myself to be more of an art director/copywriter hybrid, with strong strategic understanding. I’ve always been a hard working, passionate hands-on creative obsessed by effectiveness, crafting and insight. I love emerging technology and I’m excited by the massive changes happening in our industry. Specialties: Strategic Creative Development, Creative Department Management, Integrated Brand Development, User Experience, User Interface Design, Mobile, Social Media Marketing, Digital Strategy and Corporate Identity. I have experience of leading, managing and mentoring Creative departments - both conceptual and production teams, so I know how to get good work out of people. I believe diversity and collaboration breeds creativity. I have an astute commercial mindset combined with excellent client-facing and presentation skills. I have a career pitch win rate of 65%. I’ve also been a jury member for both Campaign BIG and CIPD awards.
Locked Pro Plan featureCreative Director at an independent branded content agency called ZAK. After helping lead the successful pitch win, I became accountable for the development of creative strategy, communications and experience for the 2017 New Balance global brand proposition. I was also Creative Director across both the New Balance Lifestyle and Football global business units. I led ZAK creative initiatives for new business interests in branded content, digital and social media. Particularly for the Drum Dream Award winning Market View. In total, I was responsible for a concept and ideation team of 4 creatives day-to-day as well as co-managing a studio of 10 multidisciplinary designers, motion graphics + freelancers.
I was brought in to Hiveworks to run a three month agile UX discovery phase to establish a new innovative Health & Beauty retail product experience as part of an omnichannel approach who's IP is still protected under NDA. Once that work was completed I was extended and moved on to the Orange account for various multidiscipinary briefs including the BIMA nominated 'phygital' new year greeting card 'Orange Wishes'. As Freelance Creative Director I covered ideation, UX/ UI design, copywriting, and video production. I managed a team of 8 including UX, UI Design and Motion Graphics. Also during this period, while acting as a mentor of students at the SCA2.0 helped them make a discounted viral version of the John Lewis Christmas ad in 7 hours for £700 #notonthemoon
I've worked as an interim Creative Director for Digital Annexe to help out the CEO who is an old colleague from AKQA. During the three months tenure I had to take a handover from the exiting Creative Director and then manage a team of 10 creatives and designers working on content management for Mercedes-Benz UK along with campaign work for Smart Car. The role involved mainly performance marketing on one side and some product innovation on the other. I also helped DA with their positioning for 2015/16 along with some new business pitches.
Through the latter half of 2014 I worked as Creative Director of mobile tech start up Somo. My remit was to drive creative strategy through the business and establish a creative department. I led and directed product and campaign creative development for Audi Mobile UK, Expedia, Goldman Sachs, British Gas, UNNA & OneSubsea. Projects included an Oculus Rift experience for Audi e-tron and an enterprise event experience demonstrating the Pore to Process™ journey for OneSubsea. I also led the rebrand of Somo in June 2014, based on a new strategic positioning of 'Solutions for the connected world.' This led to the inception of a new multipurpose identity called SPARK across all Somo comms.
For six wonderful years, I worked as a Digital Art Director then Creative Director and finally Creative Techologist across JWT London's key accounts including; HSBC, Shell, Bayer, Johnson & Johnson, Nestlé, Nokia and Unilever. During those six years I also previously spent time working on employer brand projects for Rolls-Royce, Tesco and Lloyds of London. Collaborated as Digital lead on network-wide pitch winning work for HSBC Business School, Shell, Bank of America, Diageo, ATOS Healthcare, Listerine, Calpol, Lloyds of London, Tesco, Kit Kat UK, Kit Kat Global, HSBC, Rowntrees, Puma and TATA Global. In terms of awards, my Kit Kat PlayCaptcha project won 'Best User Experience' at the MOMA's and was awarded a Eurobest Innovation Trophy at the 2014 Lions European Festival of Innovation. I also picked up a RAD Awards Innovation Gold for Shell Geopursuit and a CIPD Awards Best Use of Video for JWT Graduates. During this period I also self-published my debut eBook Tattooed Baby - The art of telling big stories in small spaces.
I served as Senior Art Director for TEQUILA\London, where I was integral in establishing one of the first digital departments inside a direct agency. While there, I worked on projects such as rich media advertising, email marketing and microsite projects for Vauxhall, Abbey, Adidas, Three and Unicef. It was at 82 Dean Street under the previous agency alias TBWA\GGT as project leader, I built and led the team who created the online experience to the Cannes Lion Direct winning Plan from the Pru campaign in 2003. Collaboration on Vauxhall Meriva microsite led to a D&AD in book and a Cyber Lion Silver award during that period as well.
Before working in integrated communications I held a key role at ModemMedia as Senior UX Designer and Flash Designer in establishing the first iteration of Philips.com. I was responsible for website, email, and display advertising for clients Friends Provident, The Law Society, General Motors, UBS and Unilever. I led the design and user experience teams on Prudential.co.uk. Also in my own time, as creator, writer & art director contributed 10 Pages of visual synopsis about interface design theory called 'Telepress' for the ATTIK Design book NOISE>FOUR.
I was a Senior Creative AKQA where I built a reputation producing award winning websites and on-line advertising campaigns for Carlsberg Tetley, SEGA, Sainsburys and Nike. At AKQA I became brand guardian of Cable & Wireless and led both pitch winning teams on Diet Coke and Nike in 1999. The resulting Nikelondon.com website won a gold ICVA award.
Education University of Westminster BA First Class Honours: Graphic Information Design Key achievements: • Student Finalist R.S.A. National Student Awards for Interface Design • Spent a week working at Apple HQ in California on a product brief for a touch screen interface • Commendation for best Graphic Design at The Apple Macintosh Student Design Project. Featured in the Business Section of The Observer January 1997.