In-HOWse

Andy Epstein

Andy Epstein started his career as a freelance designer and illustrator with clients as varied as Bacardi, Canon, Bantam Books and Merck. Jumping into the world of in-house in 1992, Epstein created and grew in-house design teams for Commonwealth Toy and Gund. He also restructured and expanded the hundred-person creative team at Bristol-Myers-Squibb and consulted at Johnson & Johnson. He currently works at Designer Greetings, leading an in-house design team that develops the company’s Point Of Sales materials and products.

Epstein has written and spoken extensively on in-house issues, and was the co-founder of InSource, an association dedicated to providing support to in-house designers and design team managers. As head of  AIGA In-house Design, he is continuing his efforts to empower in-house teams and raise their stature in the design and business communities. Epstein is currently writing a book on in-house design, to be published by F&W Publications in the spring of 2010.

Emily Cohen

Emily has consulted with design firms and in-house corporate creative departments for over twenty years. During this time, she has provided confidential, best-practice insights and advice on staff, client, and process-management strategies, conducting client surveys and writing winning proposals, creative briefs, RFPs , and contracts. She helps creative teams improve operational effectiveness and helps companies build efficient teams and processes.

She currently serves on the board of advisors of InSource and on the AIGA In-House task force. Emily has also served as Secretary for the AIGA/NY Board of Directors and has taught classes and conducted seminars for many leading design schools and organizations. Emily is a frequently-requested speaker on business-related issues for the creative industry and has spoken at the AIGA, HOW, MYOB and InHOWse Conferences, as well as at numerous AIGA chapters. Learn more at www.emilycohen.com and www.cohenmillerconsulting.com.

Jennifer Miller

Jennifer Miller has been a consultant and creative professional for over 20 years, with a diverse background as a designer, creative director and interactive design team leader.

During the last six years, as a consultant focused on in-house creative teams, she has helped clients such as Target, Staples, CVS, LLBean, Texas Instruments and TJX to expand their creative teams’ capacity by optimizing their processes, better use of technology, and planning and alignment of resources.

Previously, Jen was an e-business consultant with Anderson and a Creative Director for several large retailers including, Victoria’s Secret, Frito Lay and Pepsi.

In early 2009 Jen joined forces with Emily Cohen to leverage the best practice insights that they have each gained across both in-house creative teams and agency/design firms.

She is currently a founding member of the Texas Round-table for In-house Business Effectiveness – a regional forum of managers who share best practices and ideas on managing in-house creative organizations.

Donna Farrugia

Donna Farrugia is executive director of The Creative Group, a specialized staffing service placing creative, advertising, marketing and web professionals with a variety of firms. More information, including online job-hunting services, candidate portfolios and The Creative Group’s award-winning career magazine, can be found atwww.creativegroup.com

Ilise Benun

Ilise Benun is the founder of Marketing Mentor, co-producer of the Creative Freelancer Conference and lead author at the Marketing Mix Blog and the Creative Freelancer Blog (www.creativefreelancerblog.com), The ideas for the InHOWse Interpersonal series come from her book, Stop Pushing Me Around: A Workplace Guide for the Timid, Shy and Less Assertive. Find more about all of this on www.marketing-mentor.com

Ed Roberts

Ed's career began as an assistant art director at American Scientist magazine, designing information graphics for some of the world's leading scientists. In 2000, he began working as an art director in the high-tech business-to-business advertising industry. Some of his clients included CREE, Scott Safety and Tyco.

After working in the advertising and government sectors developing identity systems, promotional advertising, environmental graphics, websites, packaging and publication design, Ed became an in-house design manager in 2009, leading a brilliant team of creative talent. Together they market an organization that manages billions of dollars in electric generation assets.

He believes successful projects have the following characteristics: solid strategy, good concept, practical use of technology and high-quality production values. Ed firmly believes his mission as an in-house design manager is to support, educate and motivate his team to create beyond their perceived talents.

Jeni Herberger

A nationally-recognized speaker and corporate trainer, Jeni leverages over 20 years of experience within the design industry to provide clients with practical strategies on ‘doing business better.’ Drawing from her own experiences as a creative professional, business owner and her years consulting, she works with company leaders to identify key issues and conducts on-site training sessions offering action plans that are grounded in strategy and focused on getting results. For more information visit http://www.jeniherberger.com