Darren McPherson

Creative Director

Miami, FL, USA
Miami + NYC based multidisciplinary Creative Director and Designer. Over the past 15 years I've worked in all parts of the creative industry inc. branding, advertising, marketing, editorial, PR, large-scale photo/video shoots, web/eComm, events, animation + even a permanent monument installed in Times Square.

Work Experience

Freelance

Creative Direction + Design

lients including The New York Times, GQ Magazine (Condé Nast), Glamour Magazine (Condé Nast), Arnold Furnace, Hyla Soft, and many others. I Art Direct and Design for up to 8 or so projects at a time, while leading a team of designers and developers as needed. Everything from logos, identity systems, publication/editorial, advertising, website and app design, development, installations, budgets, presentations, consulting + social media.
May 2007 - Present New York, New York, United States

Day One Agency

VP Creative Director

We’re a creative communications agency built for the next 10 years (and 24 hours).

We’ve taken the best parts of traditional PR, digital, and creative agencies and structured our team to shape, share, and fuel stories that connect and earn a place in culture. A lot of agencies talk about making content, but we believe stories are what actually break through, and we’ve built our entire creative process around them.
November 2018 - December 2022 New York, New York, United States

GQ

Senior Art Director

Custom advertorial/advertising/shoots, marketing, branding, web, events + signage.
September 2013 - April 2015 New York, New York, United States

New York Times

Art Director

On and off full time freelance throughout this time - mostly 2013. Art Director launching custom advertiser campaigns, apps, branding, micro sites + motion graphics.
January 2012 - January 2014 New York, New York, United States

Doyle Partners

Design + Creative

Concept + implementation of print, branding and installation projects for clients including Hearst, The City of New York, Stephen Colbert & Greenberg Van Doren Gallery.
January 2012 - May 2012 New York, New York, United States

Razorfish

Senior Designer

Working as part of a large creative team on design and future vision for a dot com, mobile web + smart phone apps. All for one of the leading insurance companies in the United States.
October 2011 - December 2011 Chicago, Illinois, United States

Firebelly Design

Designer

Working both collaboratively and solo on a large range of print and web based projects. Primarily focused on branding, web + print design, advertising. Involved in every step of the creative process: meetings, mood boards, project management, concepting, collaborating with external artists, photography, design, design direction (for interns, freelancers), prepress setup, client presentations + interaction.
June 2009 - October 2011 Illinois, United States

Camp Firebelly

Design Director

Camp Firebelly offers the next crop of socially-minded designers the chance to use their talent and creativity to make a difference, experiencing what professional life is like Firebelly-style. For 10 days, 10 campers live and work with us to craft a strategic design solution for a non-profit client, from initial research to final implementation.
June 2009 - July 2011 Illinois, United States

Ninth Letter Magazine

Designer

Ninth Letter is an award-winning literary and arts journal produced bi-annually as a collaboration between the Department of English and School of Art & Design. Responsible for custom typefaces, coherent printed supplements and directing photo shoots. This edition won a Graphis Gold Award, a Red Dot, and was featured in the Print Regional Design Annual.
January 2008 - May 2008 Champaign, Illinois, United States

Maxco Creative

Design Contractor

Design Intern Summer 2007, freelance Designer Summer 2008. Print proposals, implementation, web design, development, photo re-touching, and story boarding.
May 2007 - March 2009 Sydney, Australia

Education

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign

BFA in Graphic Design

Champaign, Illinois, United States

Languages

English (Native),

Awards

Tokyo Type Directors Club

Editorial/Book Design

2012

Type Directors Club

Two - Typographic Excellence in Communication Design

2012

Silver Quill

Publication Design

2012

Graphis

Gold Award

2010

Red Dot

Communication Design

2009

Applied Arts Magazine

Award + Annual

2009

Skills

Adobe Photoshop, Advertising, Advertorial, Animation, Art Direction, Branding, Campaigns, Creative, Creative Direction, Design, Design Direction, Editorial, Experiential, Graphic Design, Illustration, Installation, Logos, Motion Design, Packaging, Photo, PR, Typography, Video, Visual Identities, Web Design,