Dan Anderson

Dan Anderson
Senior Art Director // Creative Director

I’ve worked on big budget campaigns, shooting around the world – but I’m as proud of some of the smaller jobs, where I’ve added real value.

For example, I used a punchy mobile start-up’s tiny budget to bring a street shoot to life in Shoreditch, the shots forming the backbone of a bold social campaign. I persuaded a tech giant to move from their usual approach to social content to some real storytelling. Just as a test. It delivered BIG results. And I convinced a conservative toothpaste client to run with a social campaign of mesmerising reverse stop-motion videos – like ice cream ‘unmelting’ and rank coffee coming back to life.

I like to bring a fresh perspective with effective communication, paired with good storytelling to answer briefs. And I always look for interesting angles to bring insights to life.

Over two decades I’ve honed my skills. Social, film, press and posters, DM and more.

I’m always learning; I can dabble in Premiere Pro enough to pull animatics and rough edits together. I love new tech, from NFTs and the metaverse to the rapid developments in AI which will no doubt change our careers. On a less mind-blowing level, I’ve enjoyed gaining more experience recently in overseeing creative in CG and animation workflows. I virtually never say no to a challenge, even if that means learning on the job and working my socks off to get the job done.

And I’m nice to have around.

Skills

• Hybrid Creative (Art Director that can write) focussing on insight, simplicity and storytelling

• Happy stepping in as a fair leader, a team player or a self starter, handling everything from concept to completion

• Social, TV, press, posters, DM, experiential, the lot

• Hand-drawn layouts & storyboards to brief designers or sell work in to client

• Mac layouts, adcepts , mock-ups & storyboards

• Proficient in Photoshop, InDesign & Illustrator

• Proficient in Keynote & Google Slides creating solid presentations for client check-ins or pitches
  (if you want Powerpoint, no problem, I’ll work in Keynote and export to Powerpoint for you)

• Plenty of shooting experience across the world; Stills and motion, street shoots and studios from Pinewoood to The Packshot Factory

• Experience and understanding of workflow with CG & animation

• Learning Premiere Pro (Can do basic edits and animatics)

• Understanding all I can about AI, it’s inevitable scaling and how we can find its place without destroying creativity.

I’m happy working at home in my own studio just north of London but I can travel to you, wherever your office is. Or a mix of both.

I love coming up with ideas and I love shooting. While it’s great to come in at the start of a project and see it through, I’m pragmatic enough to know that can be a luxury. I can jump in at any stage of a job and add value.

Outside Work

Married.
Three kids.
One ex-racing greyhound.
NFL (NY Giants).
BTCC (motor racing).
Faile (NY artists known for their paste-ups).
The Enlightenment Gallery at the British Museum.
Cars.
Serious DIY (I built my own studio from scratch).
Learning about emerging tech (crypto to NFTs, AI, metaverse)
Vinyl.
Illustration.
Running, sometimes whilst being electrocuted (Two Tough Mudders under my belt and ‘normal’ running up to half marathons).