CV & Experience
I tailor my CV for each role, but this page gives the fuller version of my experience across creative direction, brand strategy, design systems, campaign work, digital, content, packaging, print, signage and team leadership.
Current focus
After fourteen years leading creative through Noknok Studios, I am looking to bring agency-side judgement into a larger in-house brand, creative and experience function — contributing creative direction, brand leadership, team development, stakeholder relationships, practical studio systems and hands-on craft. I bring the judgement of someone who has owned the creative product, client relationships, delivery systems and commercial outcomes of a studio, not just the design.
What I bring
- Senior creative leadership across fourteen years as founder and Creative Director of Noknok Studios, guiding brand, campaign, digital, content, packaging and production work for clients across Australia and New Zealand.
- A clear creative point of view: able to define the idea, set direction, hold the standard and flex intelligently when stakeholder, audience or commercial needs demand it.
- Final quality-gate experience across designers, copywriters, developers, photographers, printers and production partners, with direct responsibility for craft, consistency and readiness to ship.
- Hands-on leadership of multidisciplinary creative work — briefing, directing, mentoring and reviewing designers and creative collaborators.
- Able to partner closely with creative operations and delivery leads — owning the creative product, standards and direction while keeping workflow, resourcing and delivery running smoothly.
- Strong senior-stakeholder communication, presenting to CEOs, directors, programme leads and marketing managers and translating feedback into direction a team can act on.
- Structured brief and request templates that collect the right information upfront, reduce back-and-forth, clarify approvals and keep high-volume creative work moving without brand drift.
- Relevant higher-education and complex-stakeholder experience through SAEF, translating a university-led Antarctic research programme for business, philanthropy, government and public audiences.
- Commercial creative judgement — Mountain Valley Honey through growth and sale, Wilderlands from emerging concept to recognised biodiversity-credit brand, and CLM at 60 to 100 monthly requests.
Experience
Co-Founder & Creative Director, Noknok Studios
Founded and co-led a creative studio operating as an outsourced in-house agency for clients across Australia and New Zealand. Owned creative direction, client relationships, brand systems, stakeholder presentations and final creative quality across brand, digital, web, packaging, print, signage and marketing delivery.
- Held long-term client and account relationships across more than 50 accounts over fourteen years, frequently acting as clients' outsourced creative and marketing department.
- Presented and defended creative thinking to CEOs, directors, programme leads and marketing managers, translating ideas for non-design stakeholders.
- Led creative direction, feedback and quality control across designers, copywriters, developers, photographers, printers and production partners, turning briefs into clear creative direction and reviewable work.
- Built and improved brand systems, guidelines, templates, request workflows, approval processes and creative review practices — better briefs, stronger work, faster approvals, fewer revisions and more consistent brand outcomes.
- Managed and mentored junior and senior designers, protecting brand standards under volume, pace and deadline pressure.
- Prioritised creative effort across 5 to 8 active brands at a time, balancing quality, deadlines, stakeholder needs and commercial constraints; previously supported 20 to 30 facilities through CLM's high-volume design system.
- Delivered commercially practical creative outcomes, including long-term brand stewardship for Mountain Valley Honey through a successful sale and continued retention by the new owners.
- Governed use of AI-assisted creative workflows, custom GPTs and practical automation to reduce production drag while keeping human judgement and brand standards central.
Selected projects
- Securing Antarctica's Environmental Future — Creative and content direction for a Monash University–led Antarctic research programme — translating complex science for business, philanthropy, government and public audiences, to WCAG accessibility standards.
- CLM — Creative direction and team leadership for a high-volume design operation across 20 to 30 facilities, sustaining roughly 60 to 100 requests a month through structured templates and approval workflows.
- Wilderlands — End-to-end brand creation for an emerging biodiversity-credit platform — naming, strategy, verbal and visual identity, value proposition and website.
- Mountain Valley Honey — Seven years of brand stewardship for a family-run honey business across packaging, website, content, social, email and campaign — held consistent through growth and a successful sale.
- Magicians Touring Theatre Show — Co-producer and creative director for a premium touring theatre production — brand, campaign, signage, print and performance photography; approximately 10,000 tickets sold.
How I lead
My creative leadership starts with the idea: what the work needs to say, who it needs to move, and what job it needs to do. I set direction clearly enough for designers and writers to build from it, then stay close through review, critique and final quality control without taking the work away from the team.
For fourteen years I have been the last set of eyes before work leaves the studio — holding a high standard for craft and brand consistency, and using feedback as a development tool: specific, practical and tied to the brief, the audience and the commercial outcome. The culture I build is ambitious, collaborative and accountable: clear standards, clear ownership and enough trust for capable people to do their best work.
Capabilities
Creative direction & brand
Creative vision and direction · brand strategy, positioning and naming · verbal and visual identity · brand narrative and guidelines · campaign concepts and multi-channel rollout · creative review and final quality control
Content, digital & UX
Website strategy and content design · information architecture and navigation · plain-language, user-first content · UI/UX direction · accessibility and inclusive design (WCAG) · analytics-led improvement
Systems, operations & governance
Design systems and templates · brand governance and standards · structured brief and request templates · request and approval workflows · creative operations at volume
Leadership & stakeholders
Leading, mentoring and developing designers and writers · directing multidisciplinary teams · presenting and defending creative to senior and non-design stakeholders · translating feedback into clear direction · commercial and delivery ownership (scope, timelines, quality)
Craft & production
Packaging and label design · signage, print and collateral · production-ready files · brand and product photography, shot and edited in-house
Tools
Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign and Lightroom · Figma · Keynote, Google Slides and PowerPoint · WordPress · Klaviyo and email platforms · AI-assisted creative workflows, custom GPTs and practical automation · brand and product photography, shot and edited in-house.
Relevant background
Fourteen years of applied senior creative leadership across studio ownership, brand systems, stakeholder management, team development, digital, campaign, content, packaging and production — an equivalent combination of relevant knowledge, training, management expertise and applied experience.
Eligibility
Australian citizen with full working rights. Current Victorian Working With Children Check.
Portfolio
Brand identity, campaign, digital, content, packaging, website and multi-channel creative work across commercial, environmental, cultural and research-led organisations.
References
References and testimonials from clients and collaborators available on request.