Resume - Gareth Walters

General info

PhoneNumber object (5988) mobile

Creative Direction / Design / Project Management
San Francisco

An experienced Creative Director with a successful history of building and re-energizing brands, Gareth's extensive portfolio consists of internationally recognized work. He is expert in leading design teams to success, implementing operational processes and systems, cross-functional team building and budgeting.
With experience in Europe, Asia and the US, Gareth brings a wealth of knowledge, insight and inspiration, along with a keen understanding of consumer, business, and corporate needs. From branding, packaging, and web, to events and B2B, Gareth is a valuable addition to any management team.

Experience

Oakland, CA

Apr 2010 - Present

Creative Lead

Pandora Internet Radio

– Team principal, translating complex business and product messages into simple concepts for persuasive sales and marketing materials.
– Brand custodian for sales partnerships.
– Pitch and speaker presentations (Mac/PC, iPad), video sizzle reels, web sites, print collateral, event creative (live music, client shows and conferences), email newsletters/invites.

Accomplishments
– Total redesign of all internal and client-facing communication tools.
– Introduction of online ad gallery
– Creation of brand guidelines and assets for Reseller Partners.
– Successful pitches (including web and mobile interface concepts) for major brands, including Toyota, Intel, Reebok, and Coke.
– Event production, concept and design for sales conferences

San Francisco

Jul 2009 - Apr 2010

Creative Director

Freelance Creative Direction, Project Management, and Design

Client include Mongoose Cycles, Visa, and Health Informatics Society of Australia (HISA).

San Francisco, CA

Apr 2004 - Jul 2009

Creative Director

Tajima Creative, Inc

– Creative lead on the design and development of print and digital media.
– Strategy and analysis; consumer, customer and employee research, to uncover company DNA, and support the brand-building process.
– Leading role in new business acquisition, adding new clients such as Visa, and Avenir/Raleigh America.
– Management of client relationships with respect to creative strategies and deliverables.

Accomplishments
– Brand redesign and packaging initiative for Avenir/Raleigh America lead to a 1,000% increase in sales in just three years.
– Successfully developed print and Web collateral tools to help Visa work with worldwide partners and clients, for their inaugural sponsorship of the FIFA World Cup.
– Lead the company to its first award wins.
– Introduction of process, workflow, and traffic management systems for print and digital media, including implementation of creative briefs, online project management systems and creation of scalable processes, and accompanying project ‘bible’.

Clients
Apple, BUILD, Carbonflow, Commonwealth Club, ESPN, McDonald’s, Nike, Institute for OneWorld Health, Raleigh America (Avenir and Diamondback), Sears, Shinnyo-en Foundation, Tibco, Visa (2010 FIFA World Cup and Winter Olympic Games), Visa Signature, Walmart, WaMu, Women Beyond Borders.

Santa Cruz, CA

Jun 2000 - Apr 2004

Director of Creative Services

Bell Sports, Inc.

– Creative direction, management, budgeting and planning for all visual aspects of Bell Sports brands and licenses.
– Design of packaging, trade advertising, catalogs, collateral, product graphics, consumer promotions, point-of-sale, trade show and digital media.
– Industrial Design: Concept and direction for mass market and licensed accessories.
– Digital Photography Unit: Product photography for all brands in all channels.
– Other: Marketing planning and strategy (coauthor of the Annual Product Planning Calendar, defining marketing, creative and product development activity).

Accomplishments
– Initiated a two-year brand rebuilding project to tie in with the company’s 50th anniversary, including reintroducing the company to its heritage, a DVD documentary, print, premium and PR projects. The result had a strong ROI, with an increase in brand recognition, and a repositioning in the minds of consumers.
– Formulated a three-year packaging redesign plan for 650 SKUs and managed quality and consistency with over 30 vendors worldwide.
– Created consistency of logo usage (eliminating 19 variations), created a style guide and managed compliance.
– Pioneered several PoP projects to help the consumer shop complicated, technical, safety-related categories.
– Management and training of creative team, implementation of operational systems, and traffic management systems, style guides, packaging material definitions, vendor release documents, and operations manual.
– Built strong working relationships and communication processes with marketing groups, as well as off-site Operations, Sales, and Asian Development Office; international and US vendors and agencies.

Hong Kong, China

May 1995 - May 2000

Art Director

Neil Pryde International Ltd.

– Creative and management lead for designers, writers, and Web/multi-media team in a busy in-house agency.
– Concept and design on all advertising, catalogues, packaging, product graphics and collateral, for the Neil Pryde and Flow Snowboard brands, as well as creating and managing Web sites and multi-media projects.
– Planned and directed logistically complex location shoots (in Maui, US mainland and Hong Kong) and product photography, as well as purchasing and quality control of print.
– Ensured all budgets and deadlines were met, and standards defined and maintained.

Accomplishments
– Built the department from scratch, managing all advertising, packaging and collateral production.
– Successfully launched the Flow snowboarding brand and Neil Pryde Equipment bag line.
– Increased market share and consumer awareness for both brands (Flow is now the company’s principal source of revenue).
– Achieved international design recognition for the department within three years.
– Implemented processes and job tracking systems to control increasing workload.

London, England

Aug 1993 - Apr 1995

Art Director

Daily Mail Ski and Snowboard Magazine

– Leadership role on market-leading consumer magazine.
– Design and layout; commissioning, planning and art direction of photo shoots (Alpine location, fashion, ski instruction, studio still life); commissioning and briefing of illustrators.
– Budget control and management of editorial and art staff.

Accomplishments
– Significantly increased quality of design, layout and photography.
– Second year redesign contributed to a 25% increase in circulation.
– Wrote popular features and regular product review column.

London, England

Aug 1991 - Aug 1993

Art Director

TMP Communications

– Responsible for all visual aspects of the company’s output, including high quality market-leading consumer and contract magazines, also reprographics purchasing and related budgets. Involved in client meetings, pitching for new contract publishing business, as well as management of designers and freelance staff.

Accomplishments
– Launched Sports Quarterly, the UK’s first successful men’s sports and lifestyle magazine.

London, England; Munich, Germany.

Jan 1990 - Aug 1991

Art Director

Insight Guides

– Design direction and operational start-up of the Insight Pocket Guides series.

Accomplishments
– Introduced new technology, improving design and halving production costs in the first year.
– Series went on to great popular success and worldwide sales.

Awards and Recognition

2009

American Graphic Design Awards
American Graphic Design Packaging Awards

2008

Creativity Magazine Gold Award

2006

American Graphic Design Awards (2)
Neenah Paper ‘Text & Cover’ Award.

2005

American Graphic Design Awards (3)

2002

Graphis Advertising Annual

2000

Graphis Design Annual (catalog design)

1999

Communication Arts Design Annual (packaging)

1998

Hong Kong Designers’ Association Awards (catalog design, 2 awards)

What They're Saying About Me

Selected Quotes

Gareth was the Creative Director assigned a video piece for our company’s marketing event. In short, it was the most creative and dynamic corporate video I have ever seen as a marketer. The entire crowd of a few hundred were on their feet cheering, and reacting better than I could have ever imagined. Gareth is extremely collaborative, open to alternative ideas and a really fun and approachable guy to work alongside”.
Luis Felipe Obando, Senior Director, Marketing and Customer Training, The PMI Group, Inc.
Relationship: Client

“I hired Gareth to completely revamp the Avenir brand of bicycle accessories, and develop a new logo, style guide, and packaging system giving the brand a consistent look. The most dramatic result of his work is the increase in Avenir sales in the multi-sport channel from $800K to $8M in four years! I attribute it all to Gareth and Tajima giving our sales team a great brand presentation to sell”.
Dan Nall, Senior Product Manager, Raleigh America, Inc.
Relationship: Client

“As a 20+ year account manager, I have met very few Creative Directors who can set aside their motives for the good of the client. Gareth is a rare, positive exception. Gareth’s goal—always—is to deliver superior creative, aligned with the clients’ strategies”.
Laura Wall Klieves. Marketing Manager, Carbonflow, Inc.
Relationship: Colleague at Tajima Creative, client at Carbonflow, Inc.

“Gareth leads by example. His design ability drove the aesthetic of the company for many years. His vast experience gives him a unique perspective, and he draws on this experience to create design solutions that stand out from the crowd”.
Casey Potter, Creative Director, Easton-Bell Sports
Relationship: Direct report at Bell Sports, Inc.

Software skills

Adobe InDesign
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Apple Final Cut
Apple GarageBand
Apple iMovie
Apple Keynote
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft PowerPoint

Working knowledge of:
After Effects, Flash, Dreamweaver, HTML, PHP, Ajax, Cold Fusion, etc.

Free Time

Music (composing and recording), photography and video – grandfather, father and brother were, or are, all professional photographer, I finally succumbed. Possessed of a deep and irrational love of horror and fantasy films, currently researching a book on the roots of that culture in the history of fine art.