I love to create solutions that give brands a bigger purpose. I love new technologies and digging for buried truths. I love to create concepts that touch and involve people. No matter what it is. A film, an activation or a banner. And I love to do all of that together with a dedicated and courageous team.
Background
- Creative Direction
- Conceptual Campaign Development
- Visual Concept Development
- Film & Photo Production
- Product Launch
- Brand Identity & Rebranding
Work experience
January 2023 – Today \ Creative Director, Artist and Designer (Currently Freelance) \ NY, USA
Working with creative agencies and brands \ Brand building and concept development, as well as creative direction, art direction and design assignments \ Remote or on premise, digital or traditional, Metaverse or real life \ If needed as a team with a fantastic copywriter
- 2023/01 – 2023/03 – Ogilvy NY \ Worked directly with Menno Kluin, Carlos Perez, Thom Glover and the creative team on Samsung \ Creative direction, concept development and art direction
- 2023/06 – 2023/09 – AWAY NY \ Worked directly with the CMO Carla Dunham and the marketing team of Away in NY \ ECD & brand consulting role – creative direction, concept development, art direction and full production and launch of their 2023 integrated brand campaign
- 2023/09 – Today – Johannes Leonardo NY \ Working directly with Jan Jacobs, Thom Glover and the creative team on Kraft Velveeta, Kraft Mac&Cheese and Uber
June 2016 – Dec 2022 \ Fred & Farid, NY, USA \ Intl. Associate Creative Director and Head of Art
Worked directly with the founders Fred Raillard and Farid Mokart while wearing many hats, sometimes all at once \ Established Fred & Farid’s NY office together with the small core team \ Helped growing the creative department by introducing new talent \ Led mid-level, junior and intern creative teams \ Creative lead for Rémy Martin, LaCompagnie, Marriott, Google, Sea Shepherd and Air France \ Also worked on HP, LouisXIII, elit Vodka, Stella Artois and a lot of new business \ Played key roles in winning major new business accounts like Google \ Won a bunch of awards including Cannes Lions \ Startup character
Mar 2011 – Jan 2015 \ Jung von Matt Fleet, Hamburg, Germany \ Senior Art Director and Creative
Worked in a small and powerful unit for exceptional creative tasks within the agency group \ Concept, art direction and creative lead for Mercedes-Benz, General Electric, Home24 and Rivella, a Swiss beverage \ Also worked on the Zalando, Sixt, Doppelherz, Rockwool, Der Spiegel, Nikon, Nivea, Vodafone, Reporters without Borders and WWF accounts, as well as new business for Sennheiser and other brands \ Helped the agency to win several new accounts like General Electric, Rockwool and Rivella \ Led mid-level, junior and intern creative teams \ Won plenty of awards including Cannes Lions Gold
Jan 2008 – Feb 2011 \ Scholz & Friends, Berlin, Germany \ Art Director and Creative
Worked in ‘Family 4’ – the main unit of Scholz & Friends \ Concept, art direction and creative lead for Saturn (Europe’s biggest retailer for consumer electronics), Stihl and Werder \ Also worked on the Vodafone, Metro Group, FAZ, INSM, Manager Magazine, Vaude and Festina accounts, and new business \ Played a key role in reshaping the Saturn brand, which gained a lot of international attention within the industry \ Led junior and intern creative teams \ Won a bunch of awards including Clios
Clients
Education
JvM-Academy in cooperation with Good School, Hamburg, Germany
Hands-on-lectures in Digital Communication (strategies and technologies)
RIT – School of Design, College of Imaging Arts and Sciences Rochester, NY, USA
Study Exchange Scholarship for the most talented students – Interdisciplinary Design, Communications Design
Bauhaus Dessau – Anhalt University of Applied Sciences – Department of Design, Dessau, Germany
Studies in Interdisciplinary Design, Communications Design and Advertising \ Diploma in Interdisciplinary Design
Awards
The solutions that I found got recognized at every major award show including Clios, One Show, D&AD, Art Directors Club NY / Europe / Germany, New York Festivals, London International Awards, Luerzer’s Archive, Red Dot, Eurobest, Effies and several Cannes Lions including Gold. If it matters to you I can send a detailed list with all 100+ awards.
Press
I love when people start talking about the work. Luckily my work has created a buzz both nationally and internationally, and has received recognition throughout the media – having been featured in the New York Times, Forbes Magazine, The International Herald Tribune, The Guardian, La Parisienne, Huff Post, CNN, The Verge, The Drum, AdWeek, AdAge, Campaign, Gizmodo, BuzzFeed, AgencySpy, Creative Review, Design Taxi, Shots, Trend Hunter, Hypebeast, W Magazine, Voque, Mashable, Wired, Creativity Online, Little Black Book, FastCompany, Highsnobiety, The Inspiration Room, GQ, FHM, Bild, Stern, Handelsblatt, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Hamburger Abendblatt, Metal Hammer, transmediale.10, Design made in Germany, Page, Bloomberg Businessweek, Vanity Fair, NBC, Vox, ZDF, N-TV, VIVA and TypEmotion – Foundation for Art and Creative Technology Liverpool – ZKM Karlsruhe/MIT Press and more.

The New York Times

IMDb

AdAge

AdAge Creativity

Adweek

Wired

W Magazine

VOGUE

The Verge

Vanity Fair

Trend Hunter

Shoot Online

The Drum

Tech Crunch

Tech Advisor

Shots

Refinery 29

NBC

Muse by CLIO

Little Black Book

La Parisienne

The Inspiration Room

Hype Beast

Huffington Post

High Snobiety

GQ

9to5 Mac

Gizmodo

Fast Company

Esquire

engadget

Digital Spy

Design Taxi

Daily Mail

Creative Review

CB News

Campaign

Buzzfeed

Bild

ars Technica

Agency Spy

Adformatie

The China Post

(Ad)Hugger

Complex

Rolling Stone

Sunday Times

w&v

New Business

Design Made In Germany

Horizont

Latin Spots

La Capitale

Stash

Graffica

B&T

Le Book

Ad Quan

Forbes

Creative Bloq
Languages
English – fluent \ German – native language
Visa Status for the United States
Holder of a Green Card for extraordinary abilities (first-preference EB-1, category E16), no visa sponsor needed.