Art & Creative Director - Brand Strategist

RENEE SQUIRES

Greater Minneapolis – St. Paul

612-***-**** www.reneesquirescreative.com

*************@*****.*** www.linkedin.com/in/renee-squires-creative ART / CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Designing to Inspire

Accomplished visionary strategist and thought leader with extensive experience in graphic design and innovative, engaging creative solutions. Passionate for the craft and exemplifying creative excellence. Develop and elevate brand identities, implement campaigns, and resolve visual obstacles across diverse media channels in alignment with brand values and business objectives. Excel in dynamic, high-stress environments, skillfully managing and prioritizing numerous projects from conception to completion, consistently meeting deadlines and surpassing client expectations. Influential communicator and team collaborator energized by devotion for memorable designs. Areas of expertise include:

Graphic Design / Art Direction Brand Development Team Leadership Project Management Campaigns Video Photography Strategic Planning Digital Marketing Presentations ENTREPRENEURIAL EXPERIENCE

BLOOM CREATIVE, Greater Minneapolis – St. Paul, MN Current Founded long-standing freelance business to produce print design inclusive of branding, logo creation, advertising, banners, video, trade show art, and other corporate collateral. Develop content for industries that included legal, behavioral health, religious, technology, and education. Contribute to volunteer design work for non-profit organizations.

EXPERIENCE

STRATASYS, Eden Prairie, MN 2022 – Sept 2024

Creative Leader

Drove global creative strategy for Industrial Business Unit. Co-led development of branding in collaboration with Brand Director. Managed and inspired team of 4 cross-functional creatives. Created, developed, and executed creative ventures with multi-departmental teams to understand and support needs for new product introductions, campaigns, trade shows, events, and webinars.

§ Concepted, designed, and executed impactful creative campaigns, including 1st social campaign – 26K impressions, 511 clicks, 1.4K+ engagements; 2nd email campaign – 2K+ clicks, 4% click-through rate.

§ Monitored average of 100 employee projects and assigned tasks within tight deadlines, achieving 96% on- time delivery.

§ Evaluated team performance by communicating feedback and setting personal goals, boosting employee confidence, providing clear direction on communicating across teams, and accelerating project completion.

§ Led creation of PowerPoint presentations, sharing ideas and concepts with clients, agencies, and internal stakeholders.

RENEE SQUIRES www.linkedin.com/in/renee-squires-creative PAGE 2 OF 2 ATEK COMPANIES, Eden Prairie, MN 2014 – 2022

Creative & Marketing Director

Conceptualized, designed, and executed print, web, video, and digital marketing collateral from concept to completion to promote corporate image and brand awareness. Ideated, strategized, and developed corporate branding, rollout, and standards for 3 brands under mother company, as well as 2 sister companies. Held creative accountability for organization’s visual and written global presence.

§ Collaborated closely with sales, product marketing, and leadership teams, gaining understanding and executing on project goals.

§ Established brand standards, consistently evaluating and adapting to maintain on-point messaging with current industry language / trends, as well as with company ambition.

§ Managed marketing specialist and project list of 30+ concurrent projects.

§ Created employee, recruitment, and culture branding with HR, including wellness program, increasing efficiency of recruitment and retention.

§ Shot, edited, and produced hundreds of instructional, advertisement, promotional, and educational videos for YouTube, broadcast TV, digital adverts, and social media.

§ Developed marketing campaigns (PR, website, advertisements, video, social posts); such as Coppershield Anti-microbial product during Covid pandemic, targeting potentially impacted customers and increasing sales 356% over prior year.

§ Managed relations with 9 vendors, including SEO / SEM strategy, PR agency, web developers, printers, and copywriters.

GRACO, Rogers, MN 2013

Graphic Designer

Designed marketing assets such as brochures, sell sheets, and advertisements in alignment with established corporate guidelines. Conceptualized and created end-cap displays for Big Box retail stores.

§ Elevated brand designs, achieving a modern and competitive presence. ADDITIONAL RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

DIGI INTERNATIONAL, Minnetonka, MN, Senior Graphic Designer Art directed, created, and delivered a broad range of marketing materials for in-house global marketing team that functioned as an advertising agency. Evaluated and defined marketing processes and optimized project management tools – saved $3.3K / year via negotiated pricing, improved on-time delivery, and increased workflow 45%.

AWARD

Winner, Silver Award, Central Minnesota Printing Professionals EDUCATION

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Visual Communications and Graphic Design, Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Minneapolis, MN Liberal Arts Studies, Normandale Community College, Bloomington, MN Web Design – HTML, Hennepin Technical College, Bloomington, MN TECHNICAL EXPERTISE

Adobe Creative Suite Final Cut Pro Microsoft Office Google Collaboration Tools Project Management / Review Tools: Workfront, Monday.com Web Tools: Craft Web (CMS); XHTML / CSS Experience; Oktopost

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