This is my dumping ground for all kinds of stuff from a work perspective.
Here’s my CV:
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Creative Director with fifteen years of experience developing interactive work that delivers a strong return on investment. Expert in concept and strategy development for holistic 360 campaigns. Full understanding of what Technology can and more importantly cannot do. Proven ability to motivate and inspire creative and technical teams to deliver superb creative work under tight deadlines, to budget and client expectations.
Specialisms:
Brand Strategy, Product and Service Marketing, On/Offline Communications, Social Media, Application Development, Customer Retention and Acquisition Strategies – B2B and B2C.
Core Skills:
• Creative: Art direction, corporate identity, illustration, photography, typography
• Web: e-commerce, Advertising campaigns, cross platform web development, Social Media and Mobile Apps
• User Experience: Front-end interface design, site usability studies, web statistics analysis
• Information Architecture: Site map development, content strategy development and integration
• Researching: Markets, trends, consumer profiling, personas/end users, new and ahead of the curve technology
• Developing: Business plans, brand awareness programs, editorial content, strategic website plans, SEO and PR
• Managing: Teams, clients, projects, developers, suppliers, budgets
• Executing: Innovative concepts that increase brand awareness sales and profitability
• Mobile Apps: iPhone [objective C], Android and Blackberry
Worked across the following sectors:
Financial Services, Retail, Arts, Charities, Education, Health, Public Sector and Quangos.
Across the following media:
ATL, TTL, BTL: TV, DM, SP, Online, Social Media, Application Development, eCommerce, Catalogues, Print, Press.
B2B and Consumer.
Recent Work:
Web:
Fat City Records
Fylde Council
ACDC Lighting
Brio
BCL LEGAL
BCL Graduates
Fine Bedding Store
EVERYCANCOUNTS
EVERYCANCOUNTS (Campaign)
Visitour
British Gas (Generation Green)
TREKAMERICA (TUI)
Apps: Opens Appstore Links
Routes Development Group
Twitfaced
Manchester Airport
Space Invader Radio
Fluttr
Retron
Glacier Racer
Trollex Enterprise App
Facebook Apps:
Due to the nature of these campaigns many are now no longer live.
No longer live:
Trek America 8 mates across the states, The ulti-mate Roadtrip
Everycancounts Can Film Festival
Elsevier Anatomy Game
Work History:
October 2010 – August 2012
Head of Digital Strategy, Studio North, Manchester
Tasked with:
• Lead and inspire creative teams, drawing together Art Directors, Web Designers, Copywriters, Content Strategists, and Technicals to produce beautiful and intuitive interactive design experiences from concept to execution. Solutions must be both innovative yet usable and within budget all the while being aligned with client objectives
• Champion the digital culture and online social media to both clients and staff
• Provide strong conceptual, creative direction and leadership for client presentations, new client acquisition, and new business pitches to sell ideas and work alike
• Maintain high standards for execution and attention to detail in all aspects of our work
• Work collaboratively with Account Managers to set timelines, resourcing plans and deliverables
• Create presentation decks quickly and effectively that strategically communicate and/or sell creative concepts to existing and new clients
For: BROTHER UK, ACDC, AMEC.COM, BCL LEGAL, HALTON AND FYLDE BOROUGH COUNCIL, EVERYCANCOUNTS, ROUTES DEVELOPMENT GROUP, SYSTEM ONE TRAVELCARDS, SAGE
March 2008 – September 2010
Creative Director, KMP, Stockport
Tasked with:
• Understanding customer needs, as well as business and functional requirements and managing those against client expectations.
• Collaborating with creative and technical teams to validate design assumptions
• Conceptualise and prototype innovative, highly usable applications
• Complete responsibility for how users will interact with websites and mobile applications, such as Mobile Web, iPhone, Blackberry and Android.
• Collaborating with visual designers and Marketing teams to ensure that visual designs meet the objectives of the user experience and fit with both the overall brand and UX vision
• Evangelising user-centered design to create best in class user experiences
• Developed expert-level knowledge of competitive and complementary products and bringing new ideas to the team
• Gauged the usability of existing products and services recommending suggestions to advance them
• Developed Social Media Strategies, Platforms and Campaigns that delivered significant return on investment.
For: ASDA, ADIDAS, BARCLAYCARD, BRITISH GAS, IMI, LITTLEWOODS, MAKRO, MANCHESTER AIRPORT, MICROSOFT, MARKS&SPENCER MONEY, OPEN UNIVERSITY, TUI, THOMPSON, VIRGIN VIE, WEGEWOOOD, YELL.COM, MILLIGAN RETAIL
Awards:
• Marketing Society Northern Awards “Best Low Budget Campaign” – Won TrekAmerica
TravelMole Awards “Best use of Social Media” – Won TrekAmerica Live
• Marketing Society Northern Awards “Best Social Media Campaign” – Shortlisted Manchester Airport and TUI
• SomeComms Awards “Best use of Facebook” – Shortlisted Manchester Airport
• SomeComms Awards “Best use of Twitter” – Highly Commended Manchester Airport
• SomeComms Awards “Best Innovation” – Highly Commended Manchester Airport Tweeting departure board
• Worlds Best Airport on Twitter – Manchester Airport (http://menmedia.co.uk/manchestereveningnews/news/transport/s/1313647_manchester_airport_named_the_worlds_best_on_twitter)
2003 – Dec 2007
Creative Director, Mando Group Limited, Liverpool
Tasked with
• Developed integrated strategic communications for both on and offline.
• Responsible for the management of team growth, project resource planning, delivery innovation, and project and team profit/loss responsibilities.
• Created design strategy/vision, identify UI requirements, define project approach and scoping and author the user experience strategy
• Accountable for the user interaction models, workflows, information architecture, schematics, prototypes and interface guidelines
• Worked hand in hand with web designers and developers to deliver the final product
• Leading and Winning New Business Pitches
For: SCHOOLS FOOD TRUST, HEART OF MERSEY, HEALTH AND SAFETY EXECUTIVE, LIVERPOOL 08, 08BUSINESSCONNECT, MERCIA PARTNERSHIP, CAPCOM, SQUARE-ENIX, RARE FASHION, MMU, NHS, NHSU, ENTERPRISE NATION, THRISLINGTON CUBICLES, TRADE 1ST, ENTERPRISE NATION, ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC, THE MERSEY PARTNERSHIP, MERSEYTRAVEL
Awards:
IPA Best of Global Health Award (Digital) July 2007
Big Chip Digital Award (Mercia World) Commended
Public Servant of the Year Awards 2006 Heart of Mersey: 4000 reasons campaign
2 x Heist Awards (MMU)
Bravo Award: Branding (FACT)
Big Chip Digital Award (MMU)
Lemas (Legal) Award for best brand
1999 – 2003
Head of Brand Strategy and Creative Development, Park Group plc, Liverpool
Responsible for: The strategic vision, planning and execution for the groups flagship brands. Charged with developing communications that would re-establish Park brand as market leader within five years and raise awareness/grow the High Street Gift Voucher brand in the B2B incentive market and build upon the successful retail arm through off and online marcoms.
Results:
• Park became Number 1 in its market sector in less than 3 years
• High Street Vouchers became #2 just behind M&S
• Developed innovative online customer acquisition strategies eg: Park Bingo in 2002
• Developed successful online CRM systems that enabled customers to self serve there accounts saving the company significant amounts of money eg: call centre and admin
1993 – 1999
Times Mirror International, Design Manager, London, Philadelphia, New York and
St. Louis
Responsible for: The management of the European student brand, design, research and development across various media such as: Textbooks, CD-Rom, POS, Advertising and Web. Charged with developing and executing strategic domestic and international paper-based and digital marcoms. Acted as consultant to mentor US branch offices in St. Louis, Philadelphia and New York
Results:
• Won over 40 Educational awards, 22 global
Developed an online remote proofing system in Perl to save both time (internal post to the states) and money as a result
First company to pioneer eLearning
Education:
1998 CIM
1986 – 1990 Bolton Institute of Higher Education
Higher National Diploma in Design: Advertising, MERIT 1990
National Diploma in Design PASS 1988
A level: Art History B 1987
1981 – 1986 Little Lever High School 1981 -1986
7 0 levels: Maths, B, English, B, English Lit, A, Human Biology, A, Art, A,
Computer Studies, B, Geography B
References:
Available on request.
Things Etc. 