about me
I am a Creative Director who is passionate about creating great work through positive collaborative environments. I have learned that teamwork, trust and hard work is the key to success. By building strong relationships and loving what I do, I have consistently delivered outstanding work.
background
Clients Include
Early Career
Started my career in publishing as a magazine editor and web designer, where the deadline was king and ruled absolutely by the month-to-month delivery of complete and pixel-perfect, DTP'ed and print-ready assets.
College
My experience in design mixed with my competitive spirit led me to AAA School of Advertising looking to refine and perfect my craft. During my second year and in collaboration with the head lecturer, I founded AAA's student-led advertising and social agency which quickly won back the college's work from an external agency. I graduated the college with a distinction and a specialisation in Art Direction and Brand Communication.
My Start in advertising
Straight out of AAA I was hired as a junior Art Director by J.Walter Thompson, South Africa's oldest advertising agency and a member of the WPP group. Notably landing two Cannes Lions finalist campaigns in my first year working in the industry.
Post my success at JWT, I was approached to join The Jupiter Drawing Room, one of South Africa's most prestigious and awarded advertising agencies that specially focused on craft. There, I was made part of a select pitch team for the agency, winning Burger King with our relaunch campaign "Whopper Envy."
Freelancing
After Leaving Jupiter Drawing Room, I became a freelance art director and formed several successful perma-lance relationships with some of the country's leading advertising agencies. During this time I worked within both the WWP and Publicis groups with the following agencies: Ogilvy, FCB, OFYT, MullenLowe, Foxp2, VWV, C Suite Africa, Publicis Machine.
- My success as a freelancer relied on my ability to integrate into any environment, work seamlessly with a wide range of personalities and deliver work that was effective and on brief in a timely manner.
Advertising - branding Speciality
After gaining rich and varied experience as a freelancer, I transitioned back into a permanent role at Saatchi & Saatchi, where my branding experience led me to being the lead art director in a newly formed department, focused on branding and strategic development. In this role I had my first official experience managing junior creatives in both career and skills development.
Creative Director and team leadership
After working with a large proportion of the country's best agencies, my wife and I decided it was time to leave South Africa and expand our experience internationally, so we moved to London. I started working at the Amigo Partnership and soon became Creative Director, leading a diverse team from copywriting, design, UX to web development and managing external partnerships in various projects from pitch to completion. Notably with my Basware campaign Touchless Invoice Processing, being recognised at the Drum awards 2023.
Complete Career history
Read CVskills
Experienced in translating client objectives into compelling and innovative campaigns, elevating concepts and leading a multi skilled team towards a unified vision that aligns with business objective and is achievable in the scope of the project. .
Skilled in building and managing creative teams, fostering a positive work environment, and mentoring team members to achieve exceptional results.
Over a decade of experience orchestrating compelling campaigns through the strategic use of design and communication elements to enhance the impact and impression of a brand.
Proficient at translating concepts into visually engaging and unique assets by using best practices of layout, typography and visual hierarchy.
Skilled in crafting user-centric and visually intuitive interfaces through a seamless integration of user experience principles, information architecture, and aesthetically pleasing design elements.
Expert experience with tried and tested processes to generate innovative and strategically aligned concepts that drive effective and unique problem-solving to enhance project outcomes.
Exceptional ability to articulate complex ideas with clarity and persuasion, coupled with a talent for creating visually compelling presentations, fostering seamless collaboration, and effectively conveying creative concepts to diverse stakeholders.
Proven capacity to formulate and implement forward-thinking strategies, integrating market insights and creative expertise to drive brand success and achieve overarching business objectives.
Adept at financial planning and management, consistently delivering projects on time and within budget constraints, while maximizing resource efficiency and ensuring optimal return on investment.
proficient in fostering positive relationships with diverse stakeholders through effective communication, strategic collaboration, and a keen understanding of individual perspectives, ensuring successful project outcomes and client satisfaction.
Proven expertise in meticulous project scheduling and timeline optimization, ensuring efficient workflow, meeting deadlines, and facilitating seamless coordination among team members for the timely delivery of high-quality creative projects.
Skilled in organizing and maintaining a comprehensive repository of creative assets, implementing efficient workflows for version control, and ensuring seamless accessibility, contributing to streamlined collaboration and effective project execution.
Technical Skills
Proficient in the Adobe Creative Suite, leveraging expertise in applications such as Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign to deliver visually stunning and cohesive design solutions across diverse creative projects.
Proficient in Figma, utilizing its collaborative interface design capabilities to streamline and enhance the user experience in the development of visually appealing and functional digital products.
Experienced in implementing AI for creative assets, integrating innovative technologies to enhance design processes, optimize content creation workflows, and deliver work in a faster more accurate way.
Experienced in providing creative direction for both internal and external teams, with a talent for developing brand standards and guidelines, ensuring consistency and coherence across all creative assets, and mentoring team members to achieve exceptional results. Proficient in managing budgets, timelines, and resources to deliver high-quality work on time and within budget.
Familiar with best practices in designing and integrating with a wider web and product development process.
Proficiently utilizing applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint to facilitate efficient documentation, data analysis, and dynamic presentation creation for effective communication.
Proficient in video production, combining technical skills and creative vision to conceptualize, shoot, and edit visually compelling content that effectively communicates brand messages and engages diverse audiences.
Versatile proficiency in photography, capturing and editing visually impactful images to enhance brand aesthetics and effectively convey narratives across various platforms.
Meticulous command of typography, applying a keen understanding of font styles, spacing, and layout to create visually harmonious and communicatively effective designs across diverse print and digital media.
Expertise in print production, managing end-to-end processes from pre-press to final output, ensuring the seamless execution of high-quality print materials that align with brand standards and project objectives.
Strategic implementation of digital marketing, leveraging a comprehensive understanding of online channels and analytics to develop and execute data-driven campaigns that enhance brand visibility, engage target audiences, and drive measurable results.
Basic understanding of coding, CSS, and HTML, enabling effective collaboration with development teams and facilitating seamless integration of design concepts into digital platforms for optimal user experiences.
Photography
for close to two decades I have been an avid photographer. It has become a skill that I cherish as the perfect accompaniment to supplement my work as a Creative Director.
testimonials
He is reliable and brings a strong work ethic. He understands briefs, works independently and always delivers. Beyond that, he cares about craft, so the quality of his work is consistently outstanding."
We had fun working on big and small campaigns. He is confident in client meetings and presents himself and the work very well. The thing I enjoyed most about Michael was his critical thinking. He has strong opinions and insights and I considered him capable beyond his years."
