A concept-driven, hybrid-skilled, smart-thinking Creative Director
Martin Cleave | Creative
A concept-driven, hybrid-skilled, smart-thinking Creative Director
about
I'm a hybrid Creative Director with over 25 years of global experience in the industry. I'm highly conceptual, with a keen eye for craft and design. I develop ideas and concepts, create visuals, write copy, and build messaging frameworks and storyboard narratives. I lead teams and studios but roll up my sleeves and get hands-on when the project needs it. I bring a potent mix of old-school skills and up-to-the-minute thinking to everything I do.
I've helped my clients build successful campaigns and experiences for their customers and their people. I have worked on an enormous variety of briefs, from digital to print, DM to B2B, experiential to social. I’ve developed global product launch campaigns as well as precision targeted sampling mailings, and most things in between. I collaborate with writers, planners, illustrators, animators, motion designers and photographers, and lead creative-teams, designers, and studios. All in the pursuit of getting the right messages to the right people.
Knowledge
Skills
Creative direction, art direction, concepts, copywriting, pitches, campaigns, messaging, strategy, narratives, scamps, visuals, designs, shoots, typography, motion design, scriptwriting, storyboards, team and project management
Sectors
Healthcare and pharmaceutical, technology, financial services, automotive, FMCG, energy, retail, entertainment and drinks, education and training, travel and tourism, telecoms, learning and development, non-profit
Channels
Digital, direct, press, outdoor, brand, video, animation, ident, in-store, social, challenger, experiential, activation, event, email, landing-page, b2c, b2b, intranet, internal and external campaigns and comms, client-side
Technical
Adobe InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop, Affinity Photo and Designer, Procreate, Adobe Lightroom, Acrobat Pro and Premiere Pro, HTML, CSS, WordPress, Microsoft Office 365
the creative work
Here, you'll find a small selection of creative work from the vast number of projects I've been involved with over the last twenty-five years. From simple designs to extensive global product launches, across diverse sectors ranging from automotive to education, finance to learning & development, drinks to healthcare. Something you won't find here, of course, is examples of the large amount of confidential and internal-facing creative work I have done, and continue to do, for my clients.
- All
- Art direction
- Brand
- Concept
- Copy
- Creative direction
- Digital
- Direct
- Launch
- Outdoor
- Personal
- Video
SEE:DO / App prototype
Concept, Creative direction, Digital, Personal
Cineworld / Summer Slate
Art direction, Brand, Digital, Launch, Video
Eaton Vance / What if?
Art direction, Brand, Concept, Copy, Digital, Launch
Narratives / Crisis messaging
Art direction, Copy, Creative direction, Digital
National Trust / 2012 Campaign
Art direction, Concept, Digital, Direct, Outdoor
Logitech / FabricSkin
Concept, Creative direction, Digital, Launch
Philadelphia / Angels 2016
Art direction, Video
Tesco / Organic
Art direction, Concept, Copy, Direct
Logitech / Z50 Launch
Concept, Copy, Creative direction, Digital, Launch, Video
Huffington Post / UK Launch
Art direction, Digital, Launch, Outdoor
Hyundai / Terracan
Art direction, Direct, Launch
BrocklebankPenn / Brand
Brand, Creative direction, Digital
Nescafé / Gold Blend
Art direction, Concept, Direct
Tech21 Impactology / Site
Brand, Creative direction, Digital
Shell / V-Power at Le Mans
Art direction, Concept, Copy, Digital, Direct, Outdoor
EMC² / The Focal Point
Brand, Copy, Creative direction, Digital, Launch
SOme Key Clients
SOME Kind words
A great creative professional. Martin has successfully led a number of creative projects for us over the years. I've always found Martin to be an incisive thinker with a capacity to just gets his head around the complex and deliver beautifully simple and elegant creative solutions. Working with Martin is always an enjoyable collaborative experience.
Andrew Chaplin
Planning Director @ MOI (B2B Marketing, Technology sector)
Working with Martin is a delight. A clear thinker with an eye for cut-through creative, he is a safe pair of hands for any task. He questions briefs and delves deeper to get a feel for a brand, and tackles every job – large or small – will the same resolve.
As an art director, he utilises strong design skills to execute his concepts to a high level, while hitting deadlines and budgets with ease. On a personal level, he is consistently cheery and an excellent lunch companion.
Diana Rosie
Author and Copywriter @ Freelance
Martin is a brilliant Creative Director and I thoroughly enjoyed working with him.He just gets it – which is the biggest relief for a Client Services person. Always calm and in control and nails the creative route time and time again, barely looking ruffled as the client repeatedly changes the brief on him.He’s a great mentor to the more junior members of the creative and client services teams and a very interesting person to chat too – well travelled, well read and with a great sense of humour, something that is a definite requirement in todays creative agencies.
Joanna Hannam
Business Director @ Freelance
I can't recommend Martin highly enough. He's a talented senior Art Director with a keen eye for design. Able to work as part of a team or independently, his flexibility makes him perfectly adaptable for any agency set up. He's client facing and more than capable of leading a team.He's also an 'ideas man' - his skills enabling him to track projects through from concept stage to final art work delivery. I would work with him again in a heartbeat. Snap him up now before someone else does.
Andrew Watkinson
Creative Director @ ArnoldKLP & Cake
I first met Martin at MBA when he came into freelance. As ever we were frantically busy, but he was the epitome of calm and professionalism. He quickly grasped whatever brief we threw at him, came up with a solution and executed it beautifully. He's an artist you see. No really, he studied at the Royal College of Art so his scamps really are something else and he has an incredible eye for detail.He's also good fun and an absolute pleasure to have around. I liked him so much that when I left MBA I immediately asked him to freelance with me.
Sarah Pilkington
Owner @ Stow House and Copywriter @ Freelance
Martin has a designer's eye and an art director's brain so every layout and every detail is a pleasure to behold. Importantly though Martin prioritises communication and understands the need to sublimate his other talents in support of getting the message across. Beyond all that though, I found his integrity and work ethic quite remarkable — really special in fact.
George Boyter
Artist (formerly Creative Director @ Dunnhumby Cinnamon)