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The juggernaut of celebrity entertainment news: TMZ. As the Creative Director for 4 years, I was lucky enough to manage a team of graphic artists, newsroom projects, creative initiatives, and spearhead in-house design projects.  

ROLE
Creative Director
VISIT
PARENT COMPANY
Telepictures / Warner Bros.

About TMZ

From newsroom art prep to large scale ad sale campaigns, I played a key role in streamlining the creative department operations and productivity for their online presence.

...I enjoyed maintaining brand unification and development across all platforms...

Along with day-to-day operations as their CD, I conceptualized, designed, and executed over 100 ad pitches for potential advertising partnerships. In addition, I maintained brand unification and development across all platforms including web, TV, print, and OOH. With three TMZ.com re-designs, sister site website design, TMZ Sports, TMZ Tour, and TMZ Live brand initiatives, I was able to help shape one the most recognizable brands in the entertainment world.

Highlights

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Newsroom

Oversaw art and design production for fast-paced newsroom environment

Refreshes

Designed and helped execute three TMZ.com website refreshes

TMZ App

Designed the TMZ Mobile App

Sister Sites

Created initial and subsequent designs for sister site, Toofab and TMZ Sports

Best Practices

Ushered in new design, production techniques, and best practices

Ad Sales & Management

Assisted ad sales department in maximizing profit and potential clients

TMZ App

In order to deliver breaking content, along with more options for interactive elements than a mobile website could deliver, we redesigned and revolutionized the TMZ App to better serve up curated content, video, news, and advertising tailored to each user.

TMZ Tour

It was a perfect fit: take what people love about TMZ, and create a tour based around it. And with that novel idea, the TMZ Hollywood Tour launched in 2011 to rave reviews and guests. By extending the brand’s look-and-feel, the Creative Direction of the Tour helped solidify it as more than a tour… but a “show on wheels!”

TooFab

In addition to hard-hitting celebrity news, TMZ’s sister site was launched in the fall of 2010 to deliver more lifestyle and red carpet content to its visitors. Through two reiterations, TooFab has become a powerhouse in the glamorous side of Hollywood News. As their Creative Director, I was able to oversee the initial birth of the site branding and oversee its subsequent evolutions.

Integrated Campaigns

Working closely with the advertising team, I conceptualized, designed, and executed over 100 ad campaign designs for potential clients.  Because of these creative-heavy pitches, the ad sales team were able to secure notable buys from clients such as Lifetime, Discovery, TLC, The CW, ABC, and many more.

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Streamline With Purpose

To maximize the creative potential for a hectic newsroom and television show, structure was implemented for each team I managed. From small tasks such as training software shortcuts to more significant initiatives for advertising sales—each had to work harmoniously under pressure.

The Challenge
Production of over 30 daily elements needed within minutes for breaking news urgency, in addition to larger creative projects, and prioritizing them within the team.

The Plan
Developed a rolling schedule for designers: one team for daily tasks, and the other for larger projects. Implemented project management software for tracking large scale projects.

The Results
Increased daily workflow production by 40% and eased stress among team members. During “downtime,” daily designers assisted with the workload from other team members. The rolling schedule also lessened “burn-out” from repetitive tasks.

TMZ_Old-Logos TMZ_New-Logos

Standards & Consistency

A rapidly growing brand that touched multiple mediums including print, broadcast, and web, required a cohesive trademark that solidified brand recognition and equity.

The Challenge
Unify the TMZ brand with one singular logo-mark that could be implemented in static and motion, and allow for future brand expansions—without discarding already established brand equity.

The Plan
Meeting with stakeholders ranging from show EPs to the marketing department and PR, each requirement was noted and a singular style guide was crafted.

The Results
Increased brand recognition and trust by designing a strong singular mark. Brand expansions using the style guide were met with ease by following strict guidelines.