Roger Hardnock

ac4jcj@r.postjobfree.com 847-***-****

Creative Director

Professional Summary

Creative leader with demonstrated success in the areas of branding, advertising, marketing, product development, graphic design, photography and more.

Proven and effective leader of creative teams of 30 or more, including: graphic designers, photographers, copywriters, art directors, engineers, program and traffic managers.

Successful at managing highly creative and/or technically complex programs in high-volume, fast-paced, deadline-driven environments, from concept to completion.

Superior organizational and project management skills.

Innovative designer and idea generator with strong business acumen.

Work Experience

Cambridge Press. Creative Director 2015 - 2018

Develop all branding and promotional materials for print and digital media.

Provide graphic design and layout services as well as copywriting and editing services.

Wrote and Published “Love of the Game.” Fiction.

The Bradford Exchange / Hammacher Schlemmer - Niles, IL 2002 – 2015

Creative Director

Successfully managed high-volume, fast-paced internal creative services team of more than 30 designers, copywriters, art directors, managers, photographers, photo editors and traffic manager.

Provided creative leadership in the development of promotional materials for a wide range of branded and non-licensed product forms and corporate initiatives, including: print ads, graphics, event and social media, signage, catalogs, corporate communications, style-guides and more.

Effectively managed department workload from concept brief through to project completion.

Coordinated with digital sales, social media and website groups to ensure consistent brand and marketing messages across all platforms.

Managed relationships with outside creative agencies, graphic designers and photo studios.

Established and monitored all creative budgets and sign offs.

Dramatically improved efficiency of department (up to 30%) by designing and developing a new tracking system and through other process innovations,

Through creative testing, improved results on target programs by as much as 20%.

By establishing internal photo studio, reduced outside photography costs by $250,000 annually.

Sr. Design Manger (2002 – 2004)

-Researched and presented new and innovative product line concepts for New Business Development unit.

-Designed and developed a variety of product forms from concept to final production, including: engineered and tooled products, soft goods, paper, resin, metal, glass, plastics and more.

-Worked with established vendors in the U.S., Asia and Europe.

-Traveled to international trade shows to source new manufacturing partners, research new production techniques and maintain competitive and industry awareness.

-Maintained strong relationships with key licensing partners.

-Managed the development of licensed product graphics, collateral materials and packaging.

Acorn Product Development - Fremont, CA 2000 - 2001

Design Manager

-Managed a team of designers for this Silicon Valley product development firm. Clients included: Apple Computers, Dell, DirecTV and numerous high-tech startups.

-Responsible for client relationships and management of project deadlines, budgets and deliverables.

-Collaborated with clients and internal/external teams on design best practices and schedules.

-Managed all corporate marketing and advertising activities, including graphic design, product photography and website maintenance.

The Franklin Mint - Franklin Center, PA 1993 - 2000

Design Director

-Responsible for all aspects of product design, engineering and development for the Franklin Mint Precision Models licensed die-cast division.

-Through creative focus, attention to detail and passion for industry, grew sales by over 300% within 5 years, while also reducing development and tooling expenses by over $1 million annually.

-Managed internal team of product managers, designers, engineers and photographers. Dotted line responsibility for project engineers and managers in Hong Kong office and factories in China.

-Responsible for developing and maintaining positive, successful relationships with key licensors, museums and sponsoring organizations around the world.

-Oversaw two photography/engineering teams that traveled worldwide for photo-shoots.

-Managed vendor invoices and developmental budgets in excess of $7 million annually.

-Responsible for maintaining branding and style-guide requirements for product licensors.

-Managed local and international vendors and suppliers, artists and designers.

-Member of internal board overseeing corporate publicity and events.

-Made presentations to internal and external sales teams, industry groups and leadership.

Education

M.B.A. Business Administration and Marketing

Lake Forest Graduate School of Management - Lake Forest, IL

B.A. Industrial Design

College For Creative Studies - Detroit, MI

Computer Skills

Adobe Creative Suite: Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat.

Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook.

Filemaker Pro database user and developer (UI/UX). Logic. Programming.

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