My Résumé

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I’m a thoroughly modern Senior Art Director with over 13 years’ agency experience, providing integrated campaign concepts and creative development for clients across the globe. My weapons of choice are pen and paper, and I can rustle up a Mac visual in no time at all. I’m available solo, and as a Senior Integrated Team for concept development and client pitches.

what i do

  • Press, digital, direct, email, blogs, integrated campaigns and pitches, above and below the line.
  • Concepts and ideas, visuals, layouts, formats, crafting.
  • Old-school scamps, visualising, storyboarding, paper prototyping.
  • Photo shoots, castings, working with photographers, illustrators, models and stylists.
  • A hands-on creative, problem solver, software-savvy, cross platform. Maker of fine cups of tea.

The sky over Peckham

who I’ve worked with

Senior Art Director (Freelance) — London — October 2009 to present

  • Idea generation and visualisation for creative agencies across London.
  • Also available as a Senior Integrated Team for concept development and client pitches.

Agencies — Maher Bird Associates, McCann Enterprise, Spinnaker, Woolley Pau (Gyro), BlackBridge, big:group, Foxtrot Hotel, Capitalize, Communicator, NWP.
Clients — Mercedes-Benz, National Trust, The Huffington Post, Sky, Embraer Executive Jets (Brazil), The AA, LOVEFiLM, Rosetta Stone, Everest, Novotel, Comté, The Folio Society, Carmignac (France), Metro, Tabasco, Brita, MiPP Organic Baby Food, MasterCard, Royal Bank of Scotland, Smith & Nephew, Racing for Change, BAT (UK and Global), Takeda.

Senior Art Director (Freelance), Spinnaker — London — October 2011 to present

  • Senior Art Director working in a team on ATL and integrated concepts for the London Bridge agency.
  • Campaign development for Tabasco and MiPP Organic Baby Food.

Clients — Metro, Tabasco, Brita, MiPP Organic Baby Food.

Senior Art Director (Freelance), Maher Bird Associates — London — June 2011 to present

  • Senior Art Director for the Covent Garden integrated comms agency.
  • Digital and press for the launch of the Huffington Post UK site.
  • Adcepts and DM campaign ideas for Mercedes-Benz, luxury DM brochure work for Embraer.
  • National Trust campaign concept exploration. Extensive pitch work for a number of clients.

Clients — Mercedes-Benz, National Trust, The Huffington Post, Embraer Executive Jets, The AA, LOVEFiLM, Everest, Novotel, Comté, The Folio Society.

Senior Art Director (Freelance), Woolley Pau (Gyro) — London — April 2011 to May 2011

  • Healthcare concepts for the Covent Garden integrated boutique agency.

Clients — Smith & Nephew.

Senior Art Director (Freelance), Foxtrot Hotel  — London — March 2010 to present

  • Senior Art Director for the Clerkenwell boutique design agency.
  • Rapid concept visualisation and development with clients. Storyboarding, video, photo shoots and interaction concepts.

Clients —  BAT (UK and Global), Takeda.

Art Director & Senior Creative, dunnhumby (formerly Cinnamon) — London — November 2002 to July 2009

  • Art Director specialising in insight-driven campaign concepts and development.
  • DM email campaigns for Tesco and Shell. Creative Lead for major collaborative projects.

Clients —  Tesco (Clubcard and Tesco.com), Shell (Europe), P&G (Pampers, Olay, Always, Ariel, Mach3, Nice ‘n Easy), Unilever (Persil, Flora, Comfort, Vaseline, Bertolli, Lipton, Surf), Nestlé (Nescafé, Purina), P&O Cruises, Casino (France), Delhaize (Belgium), Danone, Hyundai, GlaxoSmithKline (Corsodyl, Flixonase), Barclaycard, BP (Netherlands), Harper Collins, Airmiles, O2 and Müller.

Graphic Designer (Freelance) — Sydney and London — May 2001 to November 2002

  • Web and print designer for clients in Sydney and London.

Clients — Westpac, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Australian Defence Force and Nortel.

Head of Production, Sapient Australia — Sydney — August 1999 to April 2001

  • A wide-ranging creative role encompassing everything from pitches to marketing, copy and design, workshops to prototyping.
  • I cut my agency teeth at Sapient, meeting Clement Mok in the SF studios and working for my first blue-chip clients.

Clients — Virgin, United Airlines (United.com), BHP Billiton, Ansett.com.au, Oculi.com.au, The FarmShed.com, Fencepost.com, Westpac, Woolworths (Australia) and FujiXerox.

industry awards

Achievements include a Bronze DMA Award for extensive work on the innovative Hyundai Terracan mail pack in 2003, a Gold DMA Award for my contribution to the Müller Lovechild cross-media campaign in 2003, and a Precision Marketing Award in 2005 for my art direction of the ongoing Tesco Organic programme from 2004 to 2007.

some kind words

“I first met Martin at MBA when he came into freelance. As ever we were frantically busy, but he was the epitome of calm and professionalism. He quickly grasped whatever brief we threw at him, came up with a solution and executed it beautifully. He’s an artist you see. No really, he studied at the Royal College of Art so his scamps really are something else and he has an incredible eye for detail. He’s also good fun and an absolute pleasure to have around. I liked him so much that when I left MBA I immediately asked him to freelance with me.”

Sarah Pilkington — Freelance Copywriter, The Cat’s Meow (formerly Head of Copy, Maher Bird Associates)

“Martin has a designer’s eye and an art director’s brain so every layout and every detail is a pleasure to behold. Importantly though Martin prioritises communication and understands the need to sublimate his other talents in support of getting the message across. Beyond all that though, I found his integrity and work ethic quite remarkable — really special in fact.”

George Boyter — formerly Creative Director, Volume (formerly Creative Director, dunnhumby Cinnamon)

“You will be hard pressed to find someone who works harder than Martin. But more than hard work he comes up with better ways of working, better ways to solve a problem and all the while is a pleasure to work with. So, work with him now because if he ever comes to the United States he already has a job.”

Bob Skubic — Creative Director, Hydrant SF (formerly Creative Director, Sapient Australia)

“Martin is a fabulous art director and designer with a great attention to detail, he has a great eye and is a really good photographer. His work always looks beautiful and is carefully crafted — which I think is important. I could not recommend Martin more highly.”

Lynne Casey — Creative Director, Casey Creative

where I studied

M.A. (R.C.A.) Ceramics & Glass — Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London — 1992 to 1994

B.A. (Hons.) Ceramics — West Surrey College of Art & Design, Farnham, Surrey — 1989 to 1992

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