Résumé

Arlan Smith

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

About

Seasoned Creative Director with hands-on expertise delivering award-winning brand and marketing creative solutions across tech, media, entertainment, and SaaS, while collaborating effectively with stakeholders to achieve business goals..

  • Creative technologist and Generative AI expert, producing integrated solutions for digital and traditional marketing, focused on rapid growth and SaaS strategies.

  • Player/coach with a track record of building and managing diverse, high-performing creative teams.

  • Skilled in scaling operations while delivering optimized, high-impact results.

  • 360-degree creative professional with hands-on experience across digital, social, print, experiential, OOH, video, motion graphics, and UI/UX.

  • Generative AI influencer focused on practical applications of image and video generation platforms.

  • Currently freelancing, offering strategic guidance, hands-on creative execution, and thought leadership to clients across industries, including Fortune 500 firms like Google, Meta, Boeing, and Albertsons.

Clients

Google, Meta, Calm, Crunchyroll, McKinsey & Associates, Albertsons, MLB Network, Boeing, HBO, WarnerBros/Discovery, American Express, SAP, CBS, Bausch + Lomb, Gilead Pharmaceuticals, Abbott Pharmaceuticals, Bristol Meyers Squibb

Experience

Creative Director - Freelance - San Francisco, CA
Brand / Marketing / Design / Video / Gen AI
2022 - Current

  • Specialties are brand, marketing, creative strategy, and execution.

  • Engaged in extended assignments for an array of clients across the media, entertainment, tech, gaming, and B2B verticals.

  • Highly experienced Generative AI consultant and influencer with a Social Media following of 20k+ followers across Instagram and LinkedIn.

MPL US - Remote
Head of Creative, Brand & Marketing
2021-2022

  • Led creative operations and output for the U.S. Business Unit of Asia’s largest casual eSports platform

  • Leveraged performance data and insights to create a fully-optimized acquisition and retention funnel.

  • Improved overall performance of creative assets by 25%.

  • Managed a fully-remote international creative and production team.

BOLD, Inc. - San Francisco, CA
Creative Director, Acquisition Marketing
2019-2021

  • Led customer acquisition creative strategies for a top provider of SaaS-based job-seeking products.

  • Leveraged all available channels, inclusive of SEO, SEM, performance, social, and traditional media.

Crunchyroll - San Francisco, CA
Creative Director / Director of Creative Services
2015-2019

  • Led creative output of all design, brand, and, marketing initiatives at the leading global subscription Japanese Anime streaming platform.

  • Provided total creative support during a period in which the company’s products grew over 200%, from 600k paid subscribers and 15 million installed users to 2 million paid subs and 30 million installed users.

  • Managed the growth of an integrated 15 person creative team.

  • Worked with stakeholders to ensure design and brand consistency across all products and business lines.

Skills

Creative - Brand Development, Marketing Creative, Generative AI, UI/UX, Graphic Design, Motion Graphics, Video
Marketing - Customer Acquisition and Retention, Growth Marketing, SEO/SEM, Campaigns, Events & Experiential
Management - Creative Leadership, Operational Scaling, Staffing, Operations, Project Management, Budgeting, Analytics

Education

The School of the Art Institute of Chicago
BFA - Major - Time Arts
(Film, Video, Sound, CG)