Process

Creative Direction

I have lead many design teams at various companies, I lead in an intuitive way that lets each designer work within their own style while accomplishing the goal for the project at hand. I strongly believe that creative direction is about getting the best work from each designer and at the same time developing their style and craft to the best of their ability. Examples above show award wining designs created by my design team at Angie's List. 

Mentoring

I believe that mentoring staff and fellow designers is important in my role as design leader, and I am always looking for ways to inspire and guide my teams. To promote inspiration and growth for designers at Angie's List, I organized a monthly guest lecture series for designers and creatives working at the List called Design Lab The Design Lab featured speakers from different backgrounds like Phillip Lynam (top right) from the Indianapolis Museum of Modern Art as well as members of my own team like Jake Lee (above left) that held a fun drawing jam, reminding everybody of the importance of drawing and sketching. 

Freelancers

I have been fortunate in my career to work with some of the best illustrators and photographers in the business. Red Nose Studio (top left) became a big part of our print brand at Angie's List and we used his illustrations for several years on the cover of the magazine. Part of my job at Weekly Reader and Angie's List was to oversee the  freelance budget and hire illustrators and photographers and work with our legal team on contracts and art rights.

Directing PhotoShoots

As Manger of the Marketing Creative Team at Angie's List, I was responsible for facilitating photoshoots  for print and digital  content and branded materials. I was responsible for picking locations, selecting models and styling sets as wells as directing talent and photographers the day of the shoot. I also created  look-books for each shoot and worked with the photo team manager on shot lists and schedules. 

Planning and Workflow 

Over the last ten years I was involved in weekly art and content planing, setting an annual content calendar, helped with implementing a new CMS for the department and guided my team through three major redesigns of the magazine. I was also involved in starting Angie's List Health Magazine, a product that featured a new vertical at Angie's List focused on health reviews. I also partnered with the B2B team to create Toolbox Magazine, a digital publication for our service providers. Over the years changing directives meant that I had to reimagine the workflow for my team accounting for smaller headcount and tighter budgets.