aaron
steele
brown
creative director & team leader
san francisco, ca




Aaron
Steele
Brown
creative
director
+ organizational
leader

2024
2013–2022
professional summary
a bit about me and my next steps
As a seasoned creative leader with expertise in design, marketing, and technology, I seek a Senior Creative Director role to leverage my strategic thinking, brand development, digital marketing, and process innovation skills. I have grown and mentored teams from 3 to 32 across five departments, with employee morale consistently scoring in the top 7% of departments, achieving significant efficiency gains. My leadership in process innovation increased project throughput by 50% and saved costs.
I've just finished a sabbatical focused on personal development and creative projects, enhancing my skills in real-time generative frameworks, interactive media, and 3D modeling with tools like TouchDesigner, Houdini, Blender, Python, Pandas, and GLSL. Extensive travel enriched my photography portfolio and creative vision. Now, I am eager to return to a Senior Creative Director role, leveraging my interests in generative media and AI to lead innovative campaigns.
SKILLS
leadership
team building
leadership
team building
strategic thinking
strategic thinking
mentorship
mentorship
creative
art direction
creative
art direction
brand development
brand development
creative vision
creative vision
innovation
process innovation
innovation
process innovation
generative design
generative design
experimental media
experimental media
innovation
process innovation
innovation
process innovation
generative design
generative design
experimental media
experimental media
innovation
process innovation
innovation
process innovation
generative design
generative design
experimental media
experimental media
Selected works
2013–22
professional
experience
2022–23
yohana
head of creative
> details
Leadership—Built a team of 10+ creatives, fostering collaboration and reporting to the CMO. Implemented new creative process, increasing throughput by 35% via clear RACIs, brief triaging, and a tiered resourcing model.Brand Development—Led a global brand evolution, updating Yohana’s aesthetics and messaging with a new strategy focused on wellness, family connection, and personal thriving. The new platform was adaptable to both US and Japanese markets.Marketing Campaigns—Developed a campaign strategy for Yohana’s seasonal product catalog, leading to a 13% increase in customer satisfaction and onboarding of over 15 new vendor partnerships. Process Innovation—Partnered with the Growth team to onboard and leverage external technology platforms and agencies for rapid landing page and ad iteration, achieving over 50% new client growth through digital marketing expertise, technical proficiency, and strategic thinking.
2022–23
yohana
head of creative
> details
Leadership—Built a team of 10+ creatives, fostering collaboration and reporting to the CMO. Implemented new creative process, increasing throughput by 35% via clear RACIs, brief triaging, and a tiered resourcing model.Brand Development—Led a global brand evolution, updating Yohana’s aesthetics and messaging with a new strategy focused on wellness, family connection, and personal thriving. The new platform was adaptable to both US and Japanese markets.Marketing Campaigns—Developed a campaign strategy for Yohana’s seasonal product catalog, leading to a 13% increase in customer satisfaction and onboarding of over 15 new vendor partnerships. Process Innovation—Partnered with the Growth team to onboard and leverage external technology platforms and agencies for rapid landing page and ad iteration, achieving over 50% new client growth through digital marketing expertise, technical proficiency, and strategic thinking.
2021–22
stitch fix
senior director,
> details
visual communications
Career Highlights (2013-2022) // Leadership: Grew team size from 3 to 32 across 5 creative departments. Maintained top 7% employee morale and intent to stay metrics, according to bi-annual HR surveys. // Brand Development: Directed creation of over 35 brand identities, expanding Stitch Fix from a single line of business with 10K customers to four LOBs with 4.2 million customers and a $4.3 billion market valuation. Developed identity systems, visual and messaging guidelines, photographic principles, motion systems, and packaging design. // Marketing Campaigns: Led creative strategy for 12 integrated campaigns across four lines of business. Drove client acquisition (>10% YOY) and retention (>70% YOY) through innovative use of TV, OTT, DTC video, OOH, social media, and influencer partnerships. // Process Innovation: Implemented standards and templates, achieving over 50% faster generation for marketing assets, and 35% cost savings in editorial photography. Introduced a unified Figma design system shared across Creative and Product design, enhancing personalized content delivery. Role Highlights // Leadership: Led and mentored a team of 32 creatives across brand design, video, photo, editorial retouching, and digital merchandising. // Brand Development: Directed identity package and go-to-market campaigns for “Freestyle,” boosting customer awareness and purchase behavior. Achieved a new user adoption rate of over 20% in the first 6 months. // Process Innovation: Integrated editorial photography from 30+ partner brands, expanding imagery by 15%. Defined processes for triaging external photography, ensuring brand coherence and adherence to design frameworks. Improved internal photo production timelines by 10%. // Project Management: Led the first major packaging redesign since the company’s inception, unifying 3 packaging systems and saving over $1M per year. The new packaging was 13% more sustainable.
2021–22
stitch fix
senior director,
> details
visual communications
Career Highlights (2013-2022) // Leadership: Grew team size from 3 to 32 across 5 creative departments. Maintained top 7% employee morale and intent to stay metrics, according to bi-annual HR surveys. // Brand Development: Directed creation of over 35 brand identities, expanding Stitch Fix from a single line of business with 10K customers to four LOBs with 4.2 million customers and a $4.3 billion market valuation. Developed identity systems, visual and messaging guidelines, photographic principles, motion systems, and packaging design. // Marketing Campaigns: Led creative strategy for 12 integrated campaigns across four lines of business. Drove client acquisition (>10% YOY) and retention (>70% YOY) through innovative use of TV, OTT, DTC video, OOH, social media, and influencer partnerships. // Process Innovation: Implemented standards and templates, achieving over 50% faster generation for marketing assets, and 35% cost savings in editorial photography. Introduced a unified Figma design system shared across Creative and Product design, enhancing personalized content delivery. Role Highlights // Leadership: Led and mentored a team of 32 creatives across brand design, video, photo, editorial retouching, and digital merchandising. // Brand Development: Directed identity package and go-to-market campaigns for “Freestyle,” boosting customer awareness and purchase behavior. Achieved a new user adoption rate of over 20% in the first 6 months. // Process Innovation: Integrated editorial photography from 30+ partner brands, expanding imagery by 15%. Defined processes for triaging external photography, ensuring brand coherence and adherence to design frameworks. Improved internal photo production timelines by 10%. // Project Management: Led the first major packaging redesign since the company’s inception, unifying 3 packaging systems and saving over $1M per year. The new packaging was 13% more sustainable.
2019–21
director,
> details
brand systems & photography
// Brand Development: Directed major rebranding effort to unify three sibling brands into a single master brand. Facilitated an 8-week creative sprint with in-house and external teams, producing three unique brand platforms. Secured executive buy-in for final direction and developed a holistic brand system in collaboration with Merchandising, Product, Operations, Marketing, and Corporate Strategy. // Process Innovation: Co-led Digital Asset Management (DAM) system integration. Required overhauling planning and execution of content strategy and photoshoots, and the curation and deployment of photography in marketing assets. Efforts increased the utilization of editorial photography by over 200% and reduced per shot costs by 35%. // Process Innovation: Led transition from Adobe to Figma as primary creative tool, leading to a 40% uptick in project throughput , and more consistent brand expression across Marketing and Product . // Marketing Campaigns: Oversaw creative execution and implementation of Stitch Fix’s first major brand campaign, “We See You,” in partnership with VP of Brand and The Many/Mistress ad agency. Deliverables included an Oscar’s TV spot, large-scale OOH deployments, OTT and digital DTC videos, and assets for growth, CRM, and social. The campaign resulted in a 5% increase in unaided awareness, a 10% increase in aided awareness, and over 20K new clients.
2019–21
director,
> details
brand systems & photography
// Brand Development: Directed major rebranding effort to unify three sibling brands into a single master brand. Facilitated an 8-week creative sprint with in-house and external teams, producing three unique brand platforms. Secured executive buy-in for final direction and developed a holistic brand system in collaboration with Merchandising, Product, Operations, Marketing, and Corporate Strategy. // Process Innovation: Co-led Digital Asset Management (DAM) system integration. Required overhauling planning and execution of content strategy and photoshoots, and the curation and deployment of photography in marketing assets. Efforts increased the utilization of editorial photography by over 200% and reduced per shot costs by 35%. // Process Innovation: Led transition from Adobe to Figma as primary creative tool, leading to a 40% uptick in project throughput , and more consistent brand expression across Marketing and Product . // Marketing Campaigns: Oversaw creative execution and implementation of Stitch Fix’s first major brand campaign, “We See You,” in partnership with VP of Brand and The Many/Mistress ad agency. Deliverables included an Oscar’s TV spot, large-scale OOH deployments, OTT and digital DTC videos, and assets for growth, CRM, and social. The campaign resulted in a 5% increase in unaided awareness, a 10% increase in aided awareness, and over 20K new clients.
2017–19
director
> details
design & photography
// Marketing Campaigns: Directed Stitch Fix’s IPO video installation across 25 digital billboards in Times Square, enhancing PR campaign for NASDAQ appearance. // Brand Development: Created the brand identity for Stitch Fix Kids, and the attendant launch campaign, leading to 25K+ signups in the first two months. // Process Innovation: Moved still life photography from editorial team to product team via training and documentation, increasing shoot cadence from 5 to 20 days a month, leading to a 23% increase in shot count and improving overall efficiency. // Leadership: Introduced quarterly creative sprints to address marketing needs and trends, and to extend brand guidelines. Sprints increased team morale by over 10% in quarterly surveys.
2017–19
director
> details
design & photography
// Marketing Campaigns: Directed Stitch Fix’s IPO video installation across 25 digital billboards in Times Square, enhancing PR campaign for NASDAQ appearance. // Brand Development: Created the brand identity for Stitch Fix Kids, and the attendant launch campaign, leading to 25K+ signups in the first two months. // Process Innovation: Moved still life photography from editorial team to product team via training and documentation, increasing shoot cadence from 5 to 20 days a month, leading to a 23% increase in shot count and improving overall efficiency. // Leadership: Introduced quarterly creative sprints to address marketing needs and trends, and to extend brand guidelines. Sprints increased team morale by over 10% in quarterly surveys.
2015–17
director,
> details
design
// Brand Development: Directed the development of Stitch Fix Men’s brand identity, achieving a 15% signup rate in the first two months. // Marketing Campaigns: Directed 12 quarterly editorial campaigns highlighting seasonal merchandising trends.
2015–17
director,
> details
design
// Brand Development: Directed the development of Stitch Fix Men’s brand identity, achieving a 15% signup rate in the first two months. // Marketing Campaigns: Directed 12 quarterly editorial campaigns highlighting seasonal merchandising trends.
2013–15
principal product designer
> details
// Process Innovation: Bootstrapped the initial creative process for creative and UX design, and editorial photography. // Managed design of Stitch Fix’s first mobile app, and first major homepage redesign, boosting client understanding by 18% and signups by 23%.
2013–15
principal product designer
> details
// Process Innovation: Bootstrapped the initial creative process for creative and UX design, and editorial photography. // Managed design of Stitch Fix’s first mobile app, and first major homepage redesign, boosting client understanding by 18% and signups by 23%.
2012–13
carbon five
user experience designer
> details
// UX Design: Lead user experience designer, and occasional Front End Developer, for four startup initiatives, enhancing user interfaces and contributing to successful product launches. // Software Development: Developed an innovative data visualization web app for NY Times, enabling visual exploration of the article archive. Built with JavaScript, D3, and MySQL.
2012–13
carbon five
user experience designer
> details
// UX Design: Lead user experience designer, and occasional Front End Developer, for four startup initiatives, enhancing user interfaces and contributing to successful product launches. // Software Development: Developed an innovative data visualization web app for NY Times, enabling visual exploration of the article archive. Built with JavaScript, D3, and MySQL.
2011–12
lorenc & yoo design
environmental designer
> details
// Authored conceptual marketing narratives for multiple sales pitches in response to RFPs, showcasing strategic thinking and creative vision. Demonstrated strong presentation skills and effectively managed client relations to secure new business opportunities. // Designed construction barricade super graphics, hanging lanterns, and sidewalk patterns for large-scale, mixed-use property developments in China, demonstrating art direction, graphic design, and trend awareness. Successfully managed the project from concept to completion, ensuring cohesive and impactful visual presentations // Designed Art Nouveau-inspired street-lamps and restaurant identity signage for Winstar World Casino, showcasing art direction, brand development, graphic design, and innovation.
2011–12
lorenc & yoo design
environmental designer
> details
// Authored conceptual marketing narratives for multiple sales pitches in response to RFPs, showcasing strategic thinking and creative vision. Demonstrated strong presentation skills and effectively managed client relations to secure new business opportunities. // Designed construction barricade super graphics, hanging lanterns, and sidewalk patterns for large-scale, mixed-use property developments in China, demonstrating art direction, graphic design, and trend awareness. Successfully managed the project from concept to completion, ensuring cohesive and impactful visual presentations // Designed Art Nouveau-inspired street-lamps and restaurant identity signage for Winstar World Casino, showcasing art direction, brand development, graphic design, and innovation.
2000–09
various
senior software engineer
> details
// Software Development: Delivered robust software solutions as a (senior) software engineer and consultant for multiple companies including Scient, Finaplex, and Carbon Five, using Ruby on Rails, .NET, J2EE, and JavaScript. // Project Management: Led Agile projects employing test-driven development (TDD), and Design Thinking (Stanford D-School) methodologies, resulting in a 20% increase in project delivery speed and improved product quality.
2000–09
various
senior software engineer
> details
// Software Development: Delivered robust software solutions as a (senior) software engineer and consultant for multiple companies including Scient, Finaplex, and Carbon Five, using Ruby on Rails, .NET, J2EE, and JavaScript. // Project Management: Led Agile projects employing test-driven development (TDD), and Design Thinking (Stanford D-School) methodologies, resulting in a 20% increase in project delivery speed and improved product quality.
EDUCATION
2009–12
Savannah College of Art & Design
M.F.A, Visual Communications m.a., printmaking
2009–12
Savannah College of Art & Design
M.F.A, Visual Communications m.a., printmaking
2003–04
University of Chicago
MA, humanities & critical theory
2003–04
University of Chicago
MA, humanities & critical theory
1995-99
Georgia Institute of Technology
bs, computer science
1995-99
Georgia Institute of Technology
bs, computer science
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