Creative Director
"The Creative Director (CD) understands how to conceive, structure and develop creative and branding strategies and is highly capable and experienced in managing and leading the delivery of compelling, engaging interactive creative and branding experiences. The CD is also responsible for managing the product & performance, people, process, and platform of the ...MORE
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AIGA MetroNorth, in partnership with Shintaro Akatsu School of Design (SASD), is hosting an evening event on design management. But what exactly is design management? If you look at the panelists, the event description and MetroNorth’s mission, you might be inclined to assume design management is the strategic application of design thinking practices to branding ...MORE
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I often hear in-house team leaders proudly assert that their goal for their department is to become a true agency model organization (if they’re not already asserting they are one). In many respects this is an appropriate pursuit but with some critical caveats. Below are issues it would be helpful to consider when searching for ...MORE
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Since this is Valentine’s Day week and love is in the air, I asked some of my peers what they love about being a corporate creative. I Love Being an In-House Designer Because... I have access to so many resources all under one roof. I believe colleagues truly respect the value I bring to the ...MORE
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How many of you have your elevator pitch ready? No? Shame on you! Over the years, the elevator pitch has become increasingly important as an key component of the in-house designer’s toolbox, especially considering all the areas within a corporate environment that employees intersect—coffee rooms, cafeteria, hallways and, of course, elevators. Essentially it’s a sales ...MORE
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There are numerous scenarios where in-house creatives find themselves having to manage difficult and even reasonable clients. If this is occurring in your team on a frequent basis you need to end the practice or train up your creatives in client management techniques ASAP. Otherwise admit that you are knowingly tolerating a major dysfunction in ...MORE
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Posted in All Posts, Career, Donna Farrugia, In-House Design Articles, In-house Ethics, In-house Incites, In-house Interpersonal, In-house Issues, In-house Observations, TCG 411 on Jan 10th, 2013
By Donna Farrugia, Executive Director of The Creative Group Have your coworkers been less helpful or willing to offer input on your designs? Are some starting to take credit for your ideas? If you’ve noticed a change in the air, you’re not alone. In a recent survey by our company, nearly half of the more ...MORE
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At the most recent InHOWse Managers Conference the attendees were asked during the panel discussion session whether they supported creating a certification program for in-house designers. A few in the audience half-heartedly raised their hands, most couldn’t be bothered. Personally, I was disappointed and frustrated with the response and I attribute the lack of enthusiasm ...MORE
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Posted in Andy Epstein, In-house Incites on Sep 26th, 2012
One of the biggest challenges impacting the effectiveness and credibility of the in-house design community is the lack of expert managers in leadership roles. The root cause of this problem is the unwillingness or inability of in-house leaders to evolve from functional and subject matter experts to expert leaders coupled with the lack of professional ...MORE
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Posted in Andy Epstein, In-house Incites on Oct 13th, 2011
In a recent opinion piece, noted columnist and author, Thomas Friedman discusses the freelance phenomenon. Not being in the design industry, we should all forgive Tom his naiveté when he considers freelancing as a relatively new trend. Many of us freelanced at some point in our careers well before the new millennium ushered in the ...MORE
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