Seasoned Executive Creative Director with over 20 years experience building great brands and leading teams. Artist, Father, Thinker, Skater, Weirdo. Currently living in Seville, Spain.

Curriculum Vitae

Jesse Jones McMillin
Creative Direction
Art Direction
Graphic Design
jessejonz@gmail.com

Employment History

Freelance Executive Creative Director
SEP 2019 – Present

VP Creative Director
Lyft
San Francisco, AUG 2014 – SEP 2019

Responsibilities included: Building and leading an in-house creative agency tasked with developing and overseeing all creative communications and design content across the organization. The scope of these projects includes all external customer facing communication touch points including marketing, advertising, partnerships, digital experi- ence, content, experiential activations and any other programs or activities related to the overall Lyft brand. Am the lead for setting the overall creative vision and strategy for the brand, and as a part of executing against this vision, am also responsible for managing all external creative resources, agencies and vendors responsible for producing brand work. In order to deliver on creating the brand vision, must maintain a high level of excellence across a wide range of various design related fields from graphic design and branding to advertising, video, film, web design, mobile applications, fashion and industrial and product design. This includes a strong familiarity with all core design appli- cations, traditional typographic and art techniques and any other related material or production knowledge neces- sary to execute across all the various projects at the highest level. Am part of the senior executive leadership team and am involved in many of the major decisions for company, helping to merchandise initiatives both company wide and to the Board. Am also one of the leads with Press showcasing major brand moments to the media.

Creative Director
Virgin America
San Francisco, NOV 2007 – AUG 2014

Responsibilities included: shaping the vision of all creative, design and innovation led projects within the company as well as maintaining the overall brand aesthetic. Charged with delivering innovative creative solutions, directing the creative and planning process of all design projects, and participating with other members of the larger Virgin America team to maintain all corporate relationships and implement strategic deliverables. The scope of these projects includes all customer facing communication touch points from marketing and advertising and events and partnerships to web presence, airport station and headquarters branding and messaging, In-flight experience (Red system, aircraft interior, in-plane branding /collateral and teammate uniforms) and any other programs or activities related to the overall Virgin America brand. As a part of executing against this vision, am responsible for managing all internal and external design resources including internal designers as well as external design agencies and vendors responsible for producing brand work.

Senior Graphic Designer
Nike, European Headquartes,
Amsterdam, JAN 2005 – NOV 2007

Responsibilities included: helping to set seasonal graphic direction as well as overseeing and mentoring freelance and junior designers. Worked closely with business directors, design directors and merchandising to structure the line. Creation of graphic embellishment for multiple product ranges within the women’s lifestyle category from conceptualization, trend researching, color direction and presentation through to design, onsite development and execution.

Art Director
Kirshenbaum Bond & Partners West
San Francisco, OCT 2000 – JUL 2005

Responsibilities included: conceptualization and art direction for print, television, outdoor, guerrilla, interactive and other media. clients: ubisoft (video games), barnes & noble, vegas.com, party city, aoc & envision monitors, carvel ice cream, cisco systems, blimpie, ihop, netscape, volunteermatch.com, bbc america, kelloggs, ricochet, peoplesoft, netscape, greenstreet films, and others.

Education

Academy of Art College
San Francisco, Autumn 1994

San Francisco Art Institute
San Francisco, Spring 1994

Arapahoe / Aurora Vocational School of Commercial Art
2 year degree, Greenwood Village, CO, 1992 – 1993

Skills

illustrator CS4 – 20+yrs, photoshop CS4 – 20+yrs, indesign CS4 – 15yrs, adobe after effects – 7yrs, keynote – 7yrs. Basic understanding of html and design limitations for the web. Ability to oversea the creative direction of all major branding and marketing initiatives, leading branding campaign from conception through to execution across multiple media (television, outdoor, print advertisment, online & website, ect.). Experience managing the artistic vision involved with television production, photography shoots, illustration development, product fabrication, major launch event planning and management of work of multiple outside vendors. Thorough understanding of apparel industry from current catwalk trends to the latest in graphic embellishment, wash/finish techniques, graphic fabric construction (jaquard knit/heatpress), trim and labeling development ect. Experienced working with factories on site to develop and execute creative vision. Complete knowledge of traditional paste-up and film preparation techniques, and strong background in design, typography, illustration, painting, printmaking and various other design and art principles. Excellent presentation and communication skills, as well as being a great team player and a bright leader.