Q: Do you enjoy working with a team?
A: Yes, both immediate team members, and cross-departmentally. I feel that a large impact of my work is helping others do their best through process and communication improvements, not just what I do myself.
Better to have the whole machine working 2x better than one piece working 10x better.
Q: How do you handle disagreements or conflicts within a creative team?
A: It's always case by case, but the most generally useful tool tends to be company-wide strategy and objectives. It's not about who's right or who's wrong, instead checking every decision back to the higher-level goals and strategy allows for more objective conversations around disagreements.
A piece of design or a photo might be beautiful on its own, but may not convey the specific information or feelings that were strategically decided upon for the campaign. Rather than calling it a bad design or bad photo, I prefer to analyze how well it conveys our intended message, and give points of improvement from there.
Q: How do you stay updated on industry trends and best practices in the creative field?
A: A combination of dozens of industry newsletters, a strong creative network, and being an observant consumer. Every trip to the grocery store, every ad I see, every bit of packaging I get my hands on is field research. It's a curse, but it's so useful that I wouldn't turn it off if I could.
Q: How do you encourage and support the professional development of your team members?
A: The fluency meetings I mentioned earlier are a big help. I've had past employees thank me for those as they've progressed in their careers. I also like to bring a level of career coaching to my 1on1 meetings with my team. We go over their short and long-term goals and I help them refine their vision for their career path.
Often times people just need clarity on what options they have and how their skillset aligns. Some graphic designers dream of being a Creative Director, others dream of still being a Graphic Designer, but for Apple or Nike. There are different tracks for different people.
Q: How do you prioritize tasks and manage time effectively in a fast-paced creative environment?
A: Usually identifying the driver behind each requested deadline, then referencing the overall company goals and strategy to give some kind of pseudo-numerical value to the priority of each task. Good communication throughout as always. If a project needs to be deprioritized due to company priorities, then its crucial to communicate that to the requester and help them understand. If that de-prioritization is losing the company enough money, then it may be time to outsource or expand the team.
Q: How do you typically approach setting the creative direction for a project?
A: Generally it begins with figuring out the root "point" of any project. Who are we talking to, and what are we trying to achieve? From there we can map out what thoughts, impressions, and feelings we're trying to convey to our audience, and strategize the best mediums and creative tactics to do so. The creative direction I give is always heavily rooted in communication goals.
Q: Can you describe your process for managing multiple projects simultaneously?
A: Honestly, a good project management software is the most important thing here. That, and well-ironed processes and SOP documentation. Aside from that, having a good cadence of time-budgeting and prioritization meetings tends to keep it under control, and always knowing when to call an emergency prioritization meeting if there's a big shift that needs to be managed.
Q: Can you provide examples of how you've successfully incorporated feedback from clients or stakeholders into a creative project?
A: When I led the 2022 rebrand for Lander, it was a very heavily communicative process. I'd never worked in the outdoor industry before, so I knew I needed to draw information and "industry sense" from those who had been in the field longer than I. I was frequently meeting with key people throughout the company to better understand their views, their pain-points, and their hopes for the new brand.
I've invested a lot of time into being able to have creative conversations with non-creatives. It's a vital part of the job, and really helps getting out of the 'creative echochamber'.
Q: Can you share any innovative approaches or techniques you've implemented to enhance the creative process?
A: It really depends on the company, but I've gotten good at diagnosing and curating processes for different organizations.
It usually takes meeting with people from adjacent teams and departments, and a few good, long meetings over a whiteboard. I wish there were a magic simple trick, but in the end it usually just comes down to being a good listener who can keep track of the needs of many different parties.
Often times processes are created to benefit just one department, or understanding the context of one problem. But being able to trace the entire flow of operations and identify inefficiencies or room to re-order, enhance, or streamline things is a delicate art.
Q: How do you foster collaboration and creativity within your team?
A: A lot of it comes down to building good constructive team culture. I like holding "fluency" trainings to help everyone understand each other's work better. In the past, this has helped massively for me and my teams. These trainings help Designers understand the basics of how a Copywriter writes, a Photographer shoots, a Video Editor edits, etc.
Understanding each other role on the team helps everyone stay in touch with original direction better, and keeps the creative machine running more smoothly. It also makes it easier to promote up from within the team, as its easier to tell who can handle a wider scope of responsibility across the different disciplines of the creative department.
Q: How do you ensure that the creative work aligns with the overall goals and objectives of the organization or client?
A: When creative direction is my responsibility I always invest time at the beginning of the process to meet with stakeholders and understand the real root of our objectives. From there, being extremely clear and communicative to my team so that everyone understands not only what they're doing, but why they're doing it as well.
Q: How do you measure the success of a creative project or campaign?
A: Ideally, with as much data/analytics as possible, balanced with a good amount of context. If we don't have numbers to work with, it's all about how well our work was able to communicate the intended message, info, and feelings.
Q: Can you discuss a time when you had to make a difficult decision as a creative leader? How did you approach it?
A: I once led a packaging project for a new product launch. We created a beautiful design, but the intended medium ended up being over budget. We struggled for a time trying to adapt the design to an in-budget medium, but in the end I had to make the difficult call to abandon that design entirely, and create a new design that was directly made for its medium.
This same issue has happened to me since, but I now know how to recognize it sooner and pivot more nimbly.
Q: What do you think sets you apart as a candidate?
A: I believe I lie in a sweet spot for this role. I'm seasoned, having lead many teams and dozens of employees, but not so seasoned that I'm stuck in my ways. I've done great work at high levels, but I know my best work is still ahead of me. I'm adaptable, and get along well with people at every level of an organization. I put strategy & people first, and ego, semantics, and personal agendas aside.
In the end I know the dotted line between branding and revenue, and I can work with anyone to better leverage my work to help the bottom line.
I also have a fairly unusual multidisciplinary background. I'm not just a designer who ranked up to oversee an entire creative team. I've personally sat in most roles of a creative team as a Designer, Photographer, Videographer, Editor, Copywriter, Project Manager and 3D Artist.
This allows me to really mentor and advocate for anyone on the team. I don't pick favorites and I see the value in everyone's role.
Q: Do you enjoy working with a team?
A: Yes, both immediate team members, and cross-departmentally. I feel that a large impact of my work is helping others do their best through process and communication improvements, not just what I do myself.
Better to have the whole machine working 2x better than one piece working 10x better.
Q: How do you handle disagreements or conflicts within a creative team?
A: It's always case by case, but the most generally useful tool tends to be company-wide strategy and objectives. It's not about who's right or who's wrong, instead checking every decision back to the higher-level goals and strategy allows for more objective conversations around disagreements.
A piece of design or a photo might be beautiful on its own, but may not convey the specific information or feelings that were strategically decided upon for the campaign. Rather than calling it a bad design or bad photo, I prefer to analyze how well it conveys our intended message, and give points of improvement from there.
Q: How do you typically approach setting the creative direction for a project?
A: Generally it begins with figuring out the root "point" of any project. Who are we talking to, and what are we trying to achieve? From there we can map out what thoughts, impressions, and feelings we're trying to convey to our audience, and strategize the best mediums and creative tactics to do so. The creative direction I give is always heavily rooted in communication goals.
Can you describe your process for managing multiple projects simultaneously?
A: Honestly, a good project management software is the most important thing here. That, and well-ironed processes and SOP documentation. Aside from that, having a good cadence of time-budgeting and prioritization meetings tends to keep it under control, and always knowing when to call an emergency prioritization meeting if there's a big shift that needs to be managed.
Q: How do you foster collaboration and creativity within your team?
A: A lot of it comes down to building good constructive team culture. I like holding "fluency" trainings to help everyone understand each other's work better. In the past, this has helped massively for me and my teams. These trainings help Designers understand the basics of how a Copywriter writes, a Photographer shoots, a Video Editor edits, etc.
Understanding each other role on the team helps everyone stay in touch with original direction better, and keeps the creative machine running more smoothly. It also makes it easier to promote up from within the team, as its easier to tell who can handle a wider scope of responsibility across the different disciplines of the creative department.
Q: How do you stay updated on industry trends and best practices in the creative field?
A: A combination of dozens of industry newsletters, a strong creative network, and being an observant consumer. Every trip to the grocery store, every ad I see, every bit of packaging I get my hands on is field research. It's a curse, but it's so useful that I wouldn't turn it off if I could.
Q: How do you encourage and support the professional development of your team members?
A: The fluency meetings I mentioned earlier are a big help. I've had past employees thank me for those as they've progressed in their careers. I also like to bring a level of career coaching to my 1on1 meetings with my team. We go over their short and long-term goals and I help them refine their vision for their career path.
Often times people just need clarity on what options they have and how their skillset aligns. Some graphic designers dream of being a Creative Director, others dream of still being a Graphic Designer, but for Apple or Nike. There are different tracks for different people.
Q: How do you prioritize tasks and manage time effectively in a fast-paced creative environment?
A: Usually identifying the driver behind each requested deadline, then referencing the overall company goals and strategy to give some kind of pseudo-numerical value to the priority of each task. Good communication throughout as always. If a project needs to be deprioritized due to company priorities, then its crucial to communicate that to the requester and help them understand. If that de-prioritization is losing the company enough money, then it may be time to outsource or expand the team.
Q: How do you typically approach setting the creative direction for a project?
A: Generally it begins with figuring out the root "point" of any project. Who are we talking to, and what are we trying to achieve? From there we can map out what thoughts, impressions, and feelings we're trying to convey to our audience, and strategize the best mediums and creative tactics to do so. The creative direction I give is always heavily rooted in communication goals.
Q: How do you ensure that the creative work aligns with the overall goals and objectives of the organization or client?
A: When creative direction is my responsibility I always invest time at the beginning of the process to meet with stakeholders and understand the real root of our objectives. From there, being extremely clear and communicative to my team so that everyone understands not only what they're doing, but why they're doing it as well.
Q: Can you share any innovative approaches or techniques you've implemented to enhance the creative process?
A: It really depends on the company, but I've gotten good at diagnosing and curating processes for different organizations.
It usually takes meeting with people from adjacent teams and departments, and a few good, long meetings over a whiteboard. I wish there were a magic simple trick, but in the end it usually just comes down to being a good listener who can keep track of the needs of many different parties.
Often times processes are created to benefit just one department, or understanding the context of one problem. But being able to trace the entire flow of operations and identify inefficiencies or room to re-order, enhance, or streamline things is a delicate art.
Q: Can you provide examples of how you've successfully incorporated feedback from clients or stakeholders into a creative project?
A: When I led the 2022 rebrand for Lander, it was a very heavily communicative process. I'd never worked in the outdoor industry before, so I knew I needed to draw information and "industry sense" from those who had been in the field longer than I. I was frequently meeting with key people throughout the company to better understand their views, their pain-points, and their hopes for the new brand.
I've invested a lot of time into being able to have creative conversations with non-creatives. It's a vital part of the job, and really helps getting out of the 'creative echochamber'.
Q: How do you measure the success of a creative project or campaign?
A: Ideally, with as much data/analytics as possible, balanced with a good amount of context. If we don't have numbers to work with, it's all about how well our work was able to communicate the intended message, info, and feelings.
Q: What do you think sets you apart as a candidate?
A: I believe I lie in a sweet spot for this role. I'm seasoned, having lead many teams and dozens of employees, but not so seasoned that I'm stuck in my ways. I've done great work at high levels, but I know my best work is still ahead of me. I'm adaptable, and get along well with people at every level of an organization. I put strategy & people first, and ego, semantics, and personal agendas aside.
In the end I know the dotted line between branding and revenue, and I can work with anyone to better leverage my work to help the bottom line.
I also have a fairly unusual multidisciplinary background. I'm not just a designer who ranked up to oversee an entire creative team. I've personally sat in most roles of a creative team as a Designer, Photographer, Videographer, Editor, Copywriter, Project Manager and 3D Artist.
This allows me to really mentor and advocate for anyone on the team. I don't pick favorites and I see the value in everyone's role.
Hey there recruiters and HR people! This section's for you. I've included some of the most common questions I've received from headhunters, hopefully making your job a little easier.
Of course, feel free to reach out for any further detail or additional questions.
Hey there recruiters and HR people! This section's for you. I've included some of the most common questions I've received from headhunters, hopefully making your job a little easier.
Of course, feel free to reach out for any further detail or additional questions.