Exploring the impact of AI in character illustration

In the rapidly evolving world of generative AI, knowing where to start and more importantly, when to stop, is a constant challenge for creative teams.

It’s about finding the sweet spot where speed meets craft to ensure the creative work remains memorable, consistent, and truly ownable.

Author: Tom Sydenham, Design Director

Finding the right generation tool 

One of our tech clients wanted to explore AI in a loose, experimental way and they wanted to do it with us to ensure best possible practice. 

As I was experimenting with AI tools, I quickly learned that while AI is brilliant for filling the dreaded blank page, the path to a memorable, consistent, and ownable end product requires a deliberate, bespoke approach. 

With each AI model offering something slightly different and their capabilities changing almost daily, I first explored which tools would best suit our project. I then played to the strength of different models by splitting out tasks and passing generations between them.

A bespoke approach

AI was great for hitting the ground running but it quickly became very clear how important it was for me to apply my experience by editing down the results and taking them into traditional tools that offer more control. So I designed and used an integrated workflow:

Hand drawn storyboards

After AI helped with first stage ideation, I decided to create the storyboard by hand. This felt like the natural solution in terms of time and to ensure there’s memorable characterisation and wit.
This also meant that I was maintaining control over the end result. I then fed the illustrations to an image generator, supported by a prompt, to see how it was interpreted.

AI generated basic outline

Once the storyboard was ready, I asked AI to generate an outline based on the hand drawn sketches and a couple of prompts. This worked really well to bring the hand drawn sketches to life, weaving in our client’s brand colours.

 

Hand finished illustrations

I completed the illustrations manually and this way I retained full control over the final output, ensuring consistency and ownability. Making sure the end result is human made.

Essentially using AI comes back to a fundamental point: you need to apply the same critical eye here as you would to anything else. When working with more junior members of the team or a new external partner, you’d review the work and apply your own principles and experience based on the brief. This isn’t any different. If options are being presented that don’t work, you can edit, inform or move in a totally different direction.

If you’d like tips on how to Navigate the human and AI partnership, tune into the panel I spoke on during our Bring Your Own Bold event with Mette Davis (AI coach at Spark AI) and Buck Choate (VP Corporate Marketing at Pendo).

Our Work

Senior Client Manager

Location: Hybrid (Bristol-based office)
Type: Full-time
Reports to: Client Director
Start Date: ASAP
Salary: £40K – £45.5K

About us

At Shaped By, we believe there’s an unbreakable connection between creativity and tangible business results. We exist to help B2B-focused businesses uncover their authentic truth and become the boldest versions of themselves. As an agency, we put our people first – fostering a culture of respect, flexibility, and collaboration – while focusing on product before profit to ensure every creative output meets the highest standard.

Our vision is simple yet ambitious:

“To be the global champions for creative thinking and design excellence in the B2B world.” We’re a tight-knit team that loves to push creative boundaries in a niche but sizeable core target market: high-growth technology brands that are shaping the future of business. We do this while also championing the well-being of our people through friendly working hours, robust benefits, and genuine opportunities for professional growth.

Role overview

As Senior Client Manager, you are a “front stage” lead focused on relationship depth and uncovering new growth opportunities. You support the client director in executing the relationship strategy and are “always on” for the client, providing proactive communication that ensures they feel valued and prioritised. Your mission is to deepen client stickiness Shaped By while ensuring the strategic intent of every project is met.

Key responsibilities
Relationship and strategic support
  • Alongside, the Account Manager who is the primary point of delivery contact, serve as a primary point of client growth contact on specific projects, ensuring consistent and proactive communication.
  • Build strong relationships with day-to-day clients, addressing concerns effectively to ensure satisfaction.
  • Ensure client strategy, briefs, and “moments of delight” are executed to high standards.
  • Act as a secondary point of contact for senior clients, supporting the Client Director/ Client Services Director in strategic discussions.
Revenue and growth identification
  • Identify organic upselling and cross-selling opportunities by monitoring client activity and industry trends.
  • Contribute strategic insights to client planning sessions, high-value pitches and help develop tailored client plans/proposals.
  • Assist in identifying new opportunities for extension across the client’s wider organisation.
Team collaboration
  • Work closely with the “keeping promises” track to ensure they have the strategic context required for project execution.
  • Monitor account performance and track revenue to ensure financial targets are met.
  • Provide feedback to the delivery and creative teams to ensure creative solutions meet the client’s business goals.
Leadership and administrative support
  • Help develop frameworks that facilitate knowledge sharing and cross-pollination within accounts.
  • Participate in internal meetings to offer insights and assist in solving complex relationship problems.
Skills and experience
  • Proven experience in account management within a creative or agency environment.
  • Excellent communication skills, with the ability to manage client expectations and lead meetings.
  • Strong organisational and time-management skills with meticulous attention to detail.
  • Proactive problem-solver with a focus on building deep, long-lasting relationships.
What’s in it for you:
  • 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays and Christmas shutdown.
  • Competitive salary with annual reviews.
  • Company sick pay up to 5 days per year, otherwise statutory sick pay.
  • Life assurance at 4x salary.
  • Health cash plan (taxable benefit).
  • Professional development budget of £500 per annum.
  • Participation in the company reward scheme, subject to annual profitability targets.
  • Tech scheme and cycle to work scheme (salary sacrifice).
The finer details:
  • This is hybrid role only – operating 2 days flexible working and 3 days studio time at Paintworks Bristol
  • Working hours Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.30pm, with one hour available for lunch each day. 37 ½ hours per week
Diversity, inclusion & belonging

At Shaped By, everyone is welcome and has the opportunity to get on. Fostering a diverse and inclusive culture is at the core of how we do business. It’s embedded in our core principles: People first and product before profit.

As part of these principles, we’re committed to supporting inclusion and diversity. Everyone is welcome and supported in their development at all stages in their journey with us.

If you’d like to be the next Shapeling, we’d love to hear from you. Send your CV to joinus@shaped-by.com with a short note indicating which of the two tracks makes you tick and help us get to know you.

Client Director

Location: Hybrid (Bristol-based office)
Type: Full-time
Reports to: Client Services Director
Start Date: ASAP
Salary: £55K – £61K

About us

At Shaped By, we believe there’s an unbreakable connection between creativity and tangible business results. We exist to help B2B-focused businesses uncover their authentic truth and become the boldest versions of themselves. As an agency, we put our people first – fostering a culture of respect, flexibility, and collaboration – while focusing on product before profit to ensure every creative output meets the highest standard.

Our vision is simple yet ambitious:

“To be the global champions for creative thinking and design excellence in the B2B world.” We’re a tight-knit team that loves to push creative boundaries in a niche but sizeable core target market: high-growth technology brands that are shaping the future of business. We do this while also championing the well-being of our people through friendly working hours, robust benefits, and genuine opportunities for professional growth.

Role overview

The Client Director is a senior “promise maker” responsible for the strategic health and revenue growth of a specific account portfolio. You focus on uncovering new growth and acting as a strategic visionary who identifies the “why” behind client needs. You are the primary point of contact for senior clients, developing deep relationships, ensuring our partnerships are built for the long term and that every solution aligns with their commercial objectives.

Key responsibilities
Strategic relationship management
  • Oversee and manage key client relationships at a senior level, ensuring overall success and satisfaction.
  • Act as the primary point of contact for senior clients, representing the agency in strategic discussions.
  • Monitor client satisfaction and proactively address concerns to exceed expectations.
  • Foster long-term relationships and advocate for the agency’s value proposition.
Revenue and growth
  • Take ownership of client budgets and achieve revenue growth targets across all key accounts.
  • Identify and execute upselling and cross-selling opportunities within client portfolios.
  • Develop and implement client plans that drive revenue growth and deepen client dependence.
New business and pitches
  • Contribute to the development of new business pitch materials and proposals that showcase agency impact.
  • Identify organic growth opportunities within existing accounts to expand service penetration.
  • Along with the Strategy Director, present findings and recommendations to the client.
Leadership and mentorship
  • Line-manage Senior Client Managers, ensuring effective communication and high standards.
  • Provide guidance and mentorship to foster career growth and professional development.
  • Support and secure the internal resources needed for client success while maintaining consideration for the delivery track.
Skills and experience
  • Proven leadership experience in client services within a creative agency environment.
  • Strong strategic thinking with the ability to develop long-term relationships and drive business growth.
  • Excellent communication skills, with the ability to present to senior stakeholders.
  • Strong financial acumen, including experience in budgeting, forecasting, and revenue tracking.
What’s in it for you:
  • 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays and Christmas shutdown.
  • Competitive salary with annual reviews.
  • Company sick pay up to 5 days per year, otherwise statutory sick pay.
  • Life assurance at 4x salary.
  • Health cash plan (taxable benefit).
  • Professional development budget of £500 per annum.
  • Participation in the company reward scheme, subject to annual profitability targets.
  • Tech scheme and cycle to work scheme (salary sacrifice).
The finer details:
  • This is hybrid role only – operating 2 days flexible working and 3 days studio time at Paintworks Bristol
  • Working hours Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.30pm, with one hour available for lunch each day. 37 ½ hours per week
Diversity, inclusion & belonging

At Shaped By, everyone is welcome and has the opportunity to get on. Fostering a diverse and inclusive culture is at the core of how we do business. It’s embedded in our core principles: People first and product before profit.

As part of these principles, we’re committed to supporting inclusion and diversity. Everyone is welcome and supported in their development at all stages in their journey with us.

If you’d like to be the next Shapeling, we’d love to hear from you. Send your CV to joinus@shaped-by.com with a short note indicating which of the two tracks makes you tick and help us get to know you.

Account Manager

Location: Hybrid (Bristol-based office)
Type: Full-time
Reports to: Senior Account Manager
Start Date: ASAP
Salary: £32K – £36K

About us

At Shaped By, we believe there’s an unbreakable connection between creativity and tangible business results. We exist to help B2B-focused businesses uncover their authentic truth and become the boldest versions of themselves. As an agency, we put our people first – fostering a culture of respect, flexibility, and collaboration – while focusing on product before profit to ensure every creative output meets the highest standard.

Our vision is simple yet ambitious:

“To be the global champions for creative thinking and design excellence in the B2B world.” We’re a tight-knit team that loves to push creative boundaries in a niche but sizeable core target market: high-growth technology brands that are shaping the future of business. We do this while also championing the well-being of our people through friendly working hours, robust benefits, and genuine opportunities for professional growth.

Role overview

As an Account Manager, you are the engine of our delivery track and a vital link between the client and the studio. Your role is to keep our promises by managing day-to-day project tasks to ensure they are delivered on time, on brief, and on budget. You also serve as a key mentor for account executives, helping them build the foundational skills needed to keep complex projects on track.

Key responsibilities
Execution and day-to-day delivery
  • Manage day-to-day project tasks, ensuring that timelines are adhered to and deliverables are met.
  • Act as the primary point of contact for day-to-day project requirements and technical logistics.
  • Monitor and report on project progress to ensure transparency across the studio and client team.
  • Resolve and/or escalate as required any day-to-day issues or obstacles that arise during project delivery.
Internal coordination and briefing
  • Brief internal creative and delivery teams, ensuring clear understanding of requirements and project scope.
  • Coordinate internal workflows to ensure smooth execution and delivery of all assets.
  • Support the “making promises” track by providing updates and feedback on client projects.
Revenue and financial administration
  • Track project revenue and ensure invoicing is completed on time to maintain cash flow.
  • Assist in the preparation of estimates, ensuring all costs are accounted for and aligned with expectations.
  • Identify potential upsell and cross-sell opportunities for the client team by monitoring activity.
Mentorship
  • Mentor account executives to help ensure that they have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of project management.
  • Provide guidance and training on client communications and management from a delivery perspective as they learn agency systems and ropes.
Skills and experience
  • Previous experience in an account management or project coordinator role within an agency or similar environment.
  • Excellent organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple projects at once.
  • Strong communication skills and the ability to work independently or as part of a team.
  • Meticulous attention to detail and proactive problem-solving skills.
What’s in it for you:
  • 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays and Christmas shutdown.
  • Competitive salary with annual reviews.
  • Company sick pay up to 5 days per year, otherwise statutory sick pay.
  • Life assurance at 4x salary.
  • Health cash plan (taxable benefit).
  • Professional development budget of £500 per annum.
  • Participation in the company reward scheme, subject to annual profitability targets.
  • Tech scheme and cycle to work scheme (salary sacrifice).
The finer details:
  • This is hybrid role only – operating 2 days flexible working and 3 days studio time at Paintworks Bristol
  • Working hours Monday to Friday 9.00am to 5.30pm, with one hour available for lunch each day. 37 ½ hours per week
Diversity, inclusion & belonging

At Shaped By, everyone is welcome and has the opportunity to get on. Fostering a diverse and inclusive culture is at the core of how we do business. It’s embedded in our core principles: People first and product before profit.

As part of these principles, we’re committed to supporting inclusion and diversity. Everyone is welcome and supported in their development at all stages in their journey with us.

If you’d like to be the next Shapeling, we’d love to hear from you. Send your CV to joinus@shaped-by.com with a short note indicating which of the two tracks makes you tick and help us get to know you.

Senior Account Manager

Location: Hybrid (Bristol-based office)
Type: Full-time
Reports to: Account Director
Start Date: ASAP
Salary: £40K – £45.5K

About us

At Shaped By, we believe there’s an unbreakable connection between creativity and tangible business results. We exist to help B2B-focused businesses uncover their authentic truth and become the boldest versions of themselves. As an agency, we put our people first – fostering a culture of respect, flexibility, and collaboration – while focusing on product before profit to ensure every creative output meets the highest standard.

Our vision is simple yet ambitious:

“To be the global champions for creative thinking and design excellence in the B2B world.” We’re a tight-knit team that loves to push creative boundaries in a niche but sizeable core target market: high-growth technology brands that are shaping the future of business. We do this while also championing the well-being of our people through friendly working hours, robust benefits, and genuine opportunities for professional growth.

Role overview

The Senior Account Manager is a vital link between the client and the studio, focused on keeping complex projects on track. You are a key “promise keeper” who ensures that strategic projects are delivered on time, on budget, and to our high-quality standards. You manage the “healthy tension” between client expectations and studio resources, ensuring that excellence is never compromised.

Key responsibilities

Project delivery and quality control
  • Oversee the execution of client projects, ensuring timelines, budgets, and quality standards are met.
  • Monitor project progress and report on delivery status, flagging potential risks early.
  • Coordinate internal workflows and teams to ensure smooth project execution.
  • Ensure that day-to-day project delivery meets the strategic goals defined in the brief.

Margin protection and financial tracking
  • Support margin protection by monitoring project profitability and identifying opportunities to improve delivery.
  • Track project revenue and ensure that financial targets and budgets are strictly adhered to.
  • Assist the Client Director / Client Services Director in preparing project estimates and financial forecasting.

Team collaboration and support
  • Mentor and support Account Managers and Executives, helping them master the ropes of delivery.
  • Collaborate with creative teams to develop solutions that meet client requirements effectively.
  • Provide consistent and proactive communication to clients regarding technical delivery and project logistics.

Administrative excellence
  • Maintain accurate project data within agency systems (CRM, Streamtime).
  • Contribute to internal meetings by offering insights and assisting in delivery-related problem-solving.

Skills and experience
  • Significant experience in project management or delivery within a creative agency environment.
  • Meticulous attention to detail and strong time-management skills.
  • Experience in financial management, including budgeting and revenue tracking.
  • Proactive, problem-solving approach to delivery obstacles.
What’s in it for you:
  • 25 days holiday, plus bank holidays and Christmas shutdown.
  • Competitive salary with annual reviews.
  • Company sick pay up to 5 days per year, otherwise statutory sick pay.
  • Life assurance at 4x salary.
  • Health cash plan (taxable benefit).
  • Professional development budget of £500 per annum.
  • Participation in the company reward scheme, subject to annual profitability targets.
  • Tech scheme and cycle to work scheme (salary sacrifice).
If you’d like to be the next Shapeling, we’d love to hear from you. Send your CV to joinus@shaped-by.com with a short note indicating which of the two tracks makes you tick and help us get to know you.

Alex Waite,
Strategy Director
Shaped By

Alex Waite is Strategy Lead at creative agency Shaped By, where he helps B2B brands find and express their bold. Working at the intersection of strategy and creativity, he partners with clients to uncover what makes them distinctive, and turn that into ideas that move people and business alike.

He believes brand strategy only earns its value when it works in the messy world of business, translating big thinking into decisions, actions, and creative work that sticks.Outside the studio, is family time, and you’ll find him exploring, eating, or laughing somewhere far from a screen.

Gary Survis,
Operating Partner,
Insight Partners

Gary Survis is an Operating Partner at Insight Partners, where he leads AI Transformation across their portfolio to drive impact and revenue growth. He founded Insight’s Marketing Center of Excellence, advising the firm’s 500+ companies on branding, category creation, and scaling. A recognized voice at the intersection of AI and marketing, Gary writes on how generative AI is reshaping strategy, execution, and measurement. He spent 14 years teaching at the Wharton School on sustainability as a business strategy and has led ventures in solar and business services. He also served on the board of agtech platform CeresAI, and was previously CMO at data integrity leader Precisely. Gary currently serves on the boards of 6sense and Exactera, two leading AI-driven platforms in revenue and tax compliance.

Ari Yablok,
VP Brand,
Island

bio to come

Mette Davis,
AI Coach,
Spark AI

Mette is an accomplished independent consultant, trainer, and facilitator focused on driving positive change for businesses and creative teams. Her extensive career demonstrates a clear progression from agency client leadership to strategic consultancy.

Mette spent years in major agencies, running significant accounts and leading a multi million dollar client portfolio as a Director at Publicis Sapient. She leveraged this experience to launch her own consultancy, With Mette, advising agencies on business strategy, leadership, training, and client development.

Mette’s current focus is at the intersection of creativity and technology as an AI Coach at Spark AI. She designs and delivers bespoke training for creative agencies and marketers, believing that the true difference with AI lies in empowering people to use it to propel brilliant, strategic, and boundary-pushing creative work.

Everett Katigbak,
Founder, Works By Everett

Everett Katigbak is a filmmaker and creative director championing what he calls “Analog Intelligence”; the art of thinking with your hands to retain a human touch. He’s led creative teams at Facebook, Pinterest, Stripe, and Anthropic, and now runs Work By Everett, helping brands tell authentic, human-centered stories. As Brand Creative Director at Anthropic, he shaped brand voice and design; at Stripe Press, he produced their We Are As Gods documentary and a series of narrative podcasts. He co-founded Facebook’s Analog Research Laboratory and defined Pinterest’s early creative voice.

Now, through collaborations with artists, brands and via his documentary work (including the forthcoming “American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez” for PBS’s American Masters), Everett champions a future that belongs to creators who embrace beautiful imperfection, human storytelling, and mastering the fundamentals before chasing any shiny new tool.

Visit Everett’s website at : byeverett.com

Li-Anne Dias,
Executive Creative Director, Brex

Li-Anne Dias is a design leader who has shaped world-class brands and led high-impact design teams.

Currently she leads brand and enterprise growth design at Handshake, a software firm that enables schools, companies, and students come together to help students and recent grads make career moves. Her previous achievements include building Reddit’s first brand identity and design systems as the company’s first brand designer, and scaling Grammarly’s brand design team as the company grew revenue growth from $43M to over $250M.

Tom Ovens,
Creative Director,
Shaped By

An ambassador of embracing the art of simplicity, Tom enjoys ripping things apart to delve deeper and explore meaningful ways to create authentic and impactful visual communications.

He loves leading the talented Shaped By design team to push boundaries, build recognition and make a difference for our clients. He is passionate about collaborating with his team, partners and clients to land on creative solutions that help fulfil personal, team and business objectives.

Lydia Baillergeau,
Creative Director, B2B, Adobe

Bio to come…

Will Roach,
Designer,
Shaped By

Will Roach is a multidisciplinary designer and animator at creative agency Shaped By and a Member of the International Society of Typographic Designers. Working across both motion and design teams to help deliver bold and beautiful creative solutions to modern-day design problems.

With a love of creativity that breaks the mould and pushes boundaries beyond the norm, he believes great design always comes from intriguing, witty ideas crafted with care and attention.

Outside the studio, you’ll find him cooking up a feast for friends on the BBQ, jumping in a field at a festival or hiking with his dog. Unless it’s raining, then he’ll be at the pub.

Wei Kee,
Client Services Director,
Shaped By

As Client Services Director at Shaped By, Wei Kee leads the team to deliver on the promises they make, working closely with clients to kick personal, team, and business goals.
A true advocate of good design and innovative creative solutions, she works hard to ensure a strong, unified dynamic between internal/external creative, and wider teams.

Wei subscribes to an empathetic and human-centric approach to developing deep relationships with clients near and far, always ensuring that the process to achieving business success is collaborative and enjoyable.

Outside of work, she loves to cook, eat and feed.

Tom Sydenham,
Designer,
Shaped By

After stints in editorial design and freelance illustration, Tom shifted his focus to branding. He works to capture a company’s culture, spirit and authenticity. His practice has taken him across Europe, collaborating with studios on event identities, art fairs, and projects spanning music and performance.

Outside the studio, Tom stays connected to the local creative community. He’s launched a magazine stocked in galleries and bookshops, curated exhibitions, spoken at universities, and written design briefs for colleges.

Simon Tandy,
Design Director,
Shaped By

Si (or ‘Tandy’ as he’s better known) is a Design Director at creative agency Shaped By. His role lies within the creative team, where he collaborates with an exceptional pool of talent to deliver outstanding design that not only realises a brand’s vision but aims to capture their future aspirations.

A type nerd at heart (aren’t all designers?!), Tandy’s mission is to combine fresh design practices with unique storytelling to ultimately inspire and bring memorable design into our daily lives.

In his spare time, you’re most likely to see him running circles around Bristol’s harbourside or, to balance this out, sat in his local curry house ‘chewing the fat’ with the locals.

Scott Smith,
Head of Global Creative,
Intercom

Scott Smith leads the Global Creative Studio at Intercom and Fin.ai, where he’s helped shape big initiatives like Intercom’s 2024 rebrand and the launch of Fin, the company’s AI agent. A business-minded creative with nearly 20 years of experience across agencies, media, and tech, he’s built brands and creative teams at TaskRabbit, Affirm, and Intercom. Scott’s philosophy is that the best creative work is inseparable from company strategy. It should be disciplined, collaborative, and designed to drive both resonance and real business impact.

Richard Shotton,
Author and Speaker, Astroten

Richard Shotton is the founder of Astroten, a consultancy that helps brands like Google, BrewDog and Santander apply behavioural science to marketing. He’s the author of The Choice Factory, a bestseller translated into 16 languages, and The Illusion of Choice. Richard is an honorary fellow of the IPA, an associate at Cambridge’s Møller Institute, and co-host of the Behavioural Science for Brands podcast.

Phil Lewis,
Consultant & Speaker,
Phil Lewis Associates

Phil Lewis is a coach, consultant and keynote speaker whose work solves eight-and nine-figure business problems and transforms performance in organisations worldwide. His client list includes the BBC, Lloyds, Sony Music, Google, Nationwide and KPMG. He has also worked extensively with PE and VC-backed high-growth businesses across the UK, Europe and the US. His work has won multiple awards for business transformation, cultural innovation and consulting excellence (BCAs 2023, 2021, 2020). Phil has also been recognised as one of the UK’s leading innovation consultants by the Management Consultancies Association.

Parissa Motamedi,
Motion Designer,
Shaped By

Parissa Motamedi is a Senior Motion Designer at creative agency Shaped By, coming to the role via a wide range of experience across broadcast television, social media and agency creative. Working within the motion team she helps shape animated content that feels authentic to the brand’s vision and elevates brand storytelling. Parissa’s main ambitions are to convince everyone to adopt audio driven motion workflows(she even made a video about it!), and as passionate advocate for the 12 principles of animation, she wants to combine more traditional animation thinking with innovative styles and techniques.

Nick Farrar,
Founder, Shaped By

Nick is the founder of Shaped By and has spent the last 20+ years in working with B2B brands. He has an in-depth understanding of what makes brands work, live and breathe and knows exactly how to maximise ROI for clients. He is a passionate advocate for the use of creativity in strategic business thinking, and is well-versed in helping others tell their own story through design in a way that engages their audience.

Matt Maynard,VP, Global Brand, Advertising, & Comms, Asana

Matt Maynard is VP of Global Brand, Advertising, and Communications at Asana, where he leads brand strategy, advertising, content, social, customer marketing, and PR. He specializes in evidence-based marketing and building systems that connect brand strategy to measurable outcomes. Matt has led brand functions at Asana, American Airlines, and McKesson, and serves on the Advisory Board for the University of Texas at Austin’s Master of Science in Marketing program.

Maria McLaughlin,
Senior Director of Brand & Creative, Abnormal AI

Maria McLaughlin is an award winning Creative Director and Brand Strategist. She currently works at Abnormal, the second fastest growing cybersecurity company on the planet. Abnormal has grown 100% YoY for the past three years since Maria joined. Maria runs a team of highly inventive creative-generalists. Under her guidance Maria’s creative teams have won MarCom Creative Awards and Cannes Lions.

Kira Klaas,
VP Corporate Marketing, Later

Kira Klaas is a brand strategy expert with deep experience leading global marketing teams and leveraging brand as a strategic growth lever. She is currently VP, Corporate Marketing at Later, and previously led brand and campaigns orgs at Notion and Brex through hyperscale. Her newsletter, On Brand (kiraklaas.substack.com), is the leading resource for startup and growth-stage brand operators and leaders seeking brand-market fit and making resource and investment decisions.

Justin Ballantine,
Associate Creative Director, Shaped By

Feels. Right now, that’s Justin’s favourite word. But he loves them all. (Yes, even you ‘Unique’ :wink:) Because Justin is O-B-S-E-S-S-E-D about putting the right words together in the right voice and tone for the right times.

As Associate Creative Director at Shaped By, he leads our brand voice and human-centred messaging work. Using language and tone to emotionally connect and move people to action. The right action. Because nothing happens until somebody feels something.

Beyond his unconditional love of language, he’s a sucker for Vietnamese coffee, family holidays, Peloton climb rides and sneaker drops.

David Wall,
Creative Director, Tines

David Wall is creative director at Tines, coming to the role via experience in agency and independent studio practice. He has led and collaborated on award-winning design work for a wide range of organisations across technology, hospitality, culture, and publishing. David’s professional experience extends to education, writing, and public speaking, and he maintains an active presence in the Irish design community. He holds the position of President of the Institute of Designers in Ireland (IDI), as well as having co-founded the 100 Archive, a platform celebrating Ireland’s rich design heritage.

Dave Breckon, Creative Lead, Carta

Dave Breckon is a seasoned creative designer and team lead, known for blending artistic vision with strategic thinking to build impactful brand experiences. With a diverse background that spans freelance gigs, creative direction and a decade spent in a boutique agency in Madrid, Dave has delivered compelling work across industries as varied as the music scene and corporate finance — seamlessly navigating both B2C and B2B landscapes. Currently based in the UK, Dave leads the brand and creative team at US fintech Carta.

Buck Choate,
VP Corporate Marketing, Pendo

Buck Choate is an award-winning brand strategist, creative, and marketing leader. He crafts strategies, stories, and ideas to captivate buyers and command categories. His obsession centers on bringing purpose to brands to make “the work” that works.

Buck is now VP Marketing at Pendo and has spent his 15+ year career working with iconic global brands like Microsoft, Intel, Fender, Walmart, Ubisoft, PepsiCo, and 7-Eleven.

Audrey Na,
VP of Design, Brand & Product, Radar

As VP of Design at Radar, Audrey Na oversees Brand and Product Design for the all-in-one geolocation platform headquartered in NYC. With over 20 years of experience, she previously led creative teams at agencies serving major clients like T-Mobile and Alaska Airlines, and designed and executed a global brand refresh at AWS. At Radar, she led a strategic brand refresh and focuses on building thoughtful design teams while blurring boundaries between Brand and Product design to create meaningful customer journeys.

Alexandra Fletcher,
Brand Analyst, Elastic

Alexandra Fletcher is a brand analyst with extensive experience across digital marketing, communications, and analytics in both B2C and B2B companies. With a background in journalism, she brings a storyteller’s curiosity to data. At Elastic, she helped launch and now leads the brand tracking program, integrating research and data-driven insight to surface the stories that guide brand growth.

Alex Walters,
Creative Director, Papaya Global

Alex is a writer and creative director with 15 years of experience shaping global brands. He’s created two Super Bowl ads for Papaya Global, built Azimo into a $200m fintech success, and developed award-winning products for the Financial Times. He specialises in giving brands a distinctive voice that connects with audiences on a human level.

Adam Morgan,
VP Brand, Twilio

Adam Morgan is VP of Brand at Twilio and a creative leader with 30 years of experience in brand strategy and storytelling. Named one of AdWeek’s “Creative 100,” he’s the author of Sorry Spock, Emotion Drives Business, and host of the podcast Real Creative Leadership. A sought-after keynote speaker, Adam brings practical insights on creative leadership, content creation, and the value of emotion in business.

Rachel Gogel
Independent Design Executive, Rachel Gogel LLC

Rachel is an independent design executive and educator whose approach is informed by experiences both in-house (Airbnb, New York Times, Meta) and agency side (Godfrey Dadich, Giant Spoon, Loyalkaspar). Since founding her own small consultancy in 2020, she has collaborated with global organizations in a fractional leadership capacity, steering strategic change at the intersection of brand, culture, and technology. Named one of Creative Boom’s “20 graphic designers inspiring us the most in 2025,” Rachel has influenced many energizing projects for her clients—from launching publications from scratch to scaling brand identity systems. A queer advocate championing marginalized voices, Rachel addresses industry inequities through her mentorship commitments, speaking engagements, published writing, and active involvement in purpose-driven initiatives.

Ryan Anderson
Head of Product Marketing
Zapier

Bio to come soon.

Tom Lewis
CFO
Xeinadin Group

Tom Lewis is a CFO who supports growth and transformation for ambitious Professional Services businesses, including listed groups, owner-managed shops and Private Equity. During his time in adland, he assisted agencies in capturing greater value through strategic Pricing, Selling and Negotiation techniques.

Omar Fahmi
Creative Director
Virgin Media O2 Business

Omar is responsible for building and managing the organisation’s in-house creative team, as well as designing and managing all external communications across all the three business units; Virgin Media, O2 and Virgin Media O2. Having worked across advertising, marketing, automotive, telecoms, prop-tech and education, Omar is able to approach briefs with a broad range of insight and experience, and believes good design should always communicate clearly, solve problems and have a strong/clean design aesthetic.

Nick Farrar
Founder
Shaped By

Nick is the founder of Shaped By and has spent the last 20+ years in working with B2B brands. He has an in-depth understanding of what makes brands work, live and breathe and knows exactly how to maximise ROI for clients.

He is a passionate advocate for the use of creativity in strategic business thinking, and is well-versed in helping others tell their own story through design in a way that engages their audience.

Mike O’Malley
CMO
Noname Security

Bio to follow.

Betsy Field
Executive Creative Director
Zendesk

As the Executive Creative Director at Zendesk, I lead a talented and diverse team of designers, writers, and artists to deliver a distinct brand experience.

For over 17 years, I have defined brand experiences for companies big and small, all of which have shaped my perspective on the ingredients of a successful brand. I draw from a diverse portfolio that spans health and wellness, direct-to-consumer brands, retail, web communications, AI, and SAAS.

Toni Gregory
Head of Content
GoCardless

Bio to come soon.

Cindy Duong
Brand Design Lead
Outshift by Cisco

Cindy Duong is the brand marketing lead at Outshift, Cisco’s incubation engine, and has built the last decade of her career focused in helping brands find nuance in telling human first narratives at brands such as Atlassian, Trello, and Meta.

Jessica Rosenberg
Creative Director
Jasper

Bio coming soon.

Dean Wootton
Director of Integrated Marketing
Pure Storage

Dean has 15+ years of experience in the Tech industry and is currently responsible for integrating Pure’s brand and thought leadership strategy across all channels and routes to market.

Gwen Lafage
VP Brand
Sinch

Global marketing leader, known for her passion in driving creative marketing approaches and shaping strong brands that fuel business impact. With a career spanning top ad agencies in London, Paris, Silicon Valley, and the Scandinavian tech spheres, she’s played pivotal roles in driving growth for B2C and B2B companies. In her current role as the VP of Brand at Sinch, a leading B2B tech powerhouse, Gwen builds global brand strategies, thought leadership, and impactful events. She is a passionate advocate for “BRAVE” brands – the ones that stand out, hold strong beliefs, drive demand and shape industries.

Tom Ovens
Creative Director
Shaped By

An ambassador of embracing the art of simplicity, Tom enjoys ripping things apart to delve deeper and explore meaningful ways to create authentic and impactful visual communications.

He loves leading the talented Shaped By design team to push boundaries, build recognition and make a difference for our clients. He is passionate about collaborating with his team, partners and clients to land on creative solutions that help fulfil personal, team and business objectives.

You’ll often hear Tom swooning over a new typeface he’s discovered, or discussing ‘Tittles’ (Google with care). In his free time he loves to disappear on his bike.

Wei Kee
Client Services Director
Shaped By

As Client Services Director at Shaped By, Wei Kee leads the team to deliver on the promises they make, working closely with clients to kick personal, team, and business goals.

A true advocate of good design and innovative creative solutions, she works hard to ensure a strong, unified dynamic between internal/external creative, and wider teams.

Wei subscribes to an empathetic and human-centric approach to developing deep relationships with clients near and far, always ensuring that the process to achieving business success is collaborative and enjoyable.

Outside of work, she loves to cook, eat and feed.

Maria McLaughlin
Senior Director, Global Brand + Creative
Abnormal Security

Maria McLaughlin is an award winning Creative Director and Brand Strategist. She currently works at Abnormal, the second fastest growing cybersecurity company on the planet. Abnormal has grown 100% YoY for the past three years since Maria joined.

Maria runs a team of highly inventive creative-generalists. Under her guidance Maria’s creative teams have won MarCom Creative Awards and Cannes Lions.

Ben Long
Creative Director
Rubrik

Make fun stuff for people to enjoy. That’s why we all got into this in the first place. And if you can do that while delivering strategic and purposeful creative that meets brand goals? Now you’re on to something.

That’s what Ben Long has been aiming at for the last six years at Rubrik, leading the global brand team as Creative Director. Ben loves nothing more than when a team comes together to pull off something that’s a little risky and a lot unexpected.

Ben lives in the Bay Area with his wife, two kids, and a giant dog that’s way too big for his house

Alan Roll
Head of Brand Creative
Airtable

As the Head of Brand Creative at Airtable, Alan leads the strategy and execution of engaging brand experiences that showcase the power and versatility of the product. He works with a talented, multi-disciplinary team of designers, writers, producers, filmmakers and marketers to deliver high-quality and high-performance creative solutions that align with the business vision and goals. Alan thrives on collaborating with cross-functional partners and stakeholders to uncover new opportunities and solve complex challenges.

Michael Jeter
Executive Creative Director
Stripe

Bio to come soon.

Eduardo Garcia Lopez
Principal Designer
HubSpot

Eduardo is a multidisciplinary designer with over 20 years of experience in Brand Development, Product Design, and Creative & Art Direction. As a principal designer for the creative team at HubSpot, he crafts impactful, goal-driven experiences through strategic approaches that prioritise scalability, consistency, and accessibility. With a focus on innovation, Eduardo integrates AI into his daily workflow, staying attuned to evolving design trends to deliver cutting-edge solutions.

Simon Tandy
Design Director 
Shaped By

Bio to come soon.

Melissa Rosenthal
Chief Creative Officer
ClickUp

Melissa is an award-winning marketing executive and the Chief Creative Officer at ClickUp, focused on making the world more productive through best-in-class SaaS marketing.

Previously Melissa was the CRO/Executive Vice President at Cheddar, a live video media company at the intersection of business news and culture. For her brand work, she was named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30, Business Insider’s 30 Most Creative People Under 30 and as one of Digiday’s “Changemakers.”

Prior to Cheddar, she led BuzzFeed’s Global Creative Team. Joining the staff in 2010, Rosenthal was a key contributor to the creation and early success of BuzzFeed’s branded content native advertising model.

Melissa Czapiga
Chief Marketing Officer
Red Canary

Melissa Czapiga is the Chief Marketing Officer at Red Canary. Previously, she was a VP of Corporate Marketing at Salesforce, joining through the acquisition of MuleSoft. At MuleSoft, she played a key role in scaling the business from pre-IPO to its successful acquisition by Salesforce.