Who am I?

Creative Dialectician (Art/Design)
Creative Director / Brand Storyteller / Strategic Commandant

I am a dynamic and thought-provoking Creative Director with over 20 years of experience in design and advertising. My journey began in graphic design in my teen years, evolving into a career where I’ve led award-winning teams and crafted high-profile campaigns for renowned clients such as Nike, Microsoft, Disney, Mazda and Infiniti. My expertise lies in creative leadership and strategy development, ensuring brand messaging consistency across diverse platforms including video, digital, social, and print.

In short—I’m a tireless creative tinkerer passionate about pushing boundaries. My educational background, featuring a degree in psychology from the University of Virginia and a degree in graphic design and illustration from the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, equips me to understand and touch a broad spectrum of diverse audiences. This unique blend of skills has been instrumental in my ability to foster collaborative environments that inspire teams, promote innovative brainstorming, and deliver stellar creative that moves audiences.

My commitment to excellence is underscored by a track record of awards, including the Platinum in the Graphis Advertising Annual and appearances in periodicals such as Communication Arts and the 365 AIGA Year in Design. I am passionate about the power that design and language have in captivating audiences and am eager to continue striving for great work and leading others in the craft I love.

Cheers, 
BK

email/ bryankestell@gmail.com
mobile/  703.509.7038
LinkedIn/ www.linkedin.com/in/bkestell/

Curriculum Vitae

Experience

The Designory     05/2016 – present
Long Beach, CA
Associate Creative Director – Brand management and director of asset creation primarily for the automotive luxury brand INFINITI, including long and short form video for website and social, overall brand photography, CGI assets, digital (storytelling guides, brochures + social), and print (brochures, POP collateral). Team management/mentorship of 4-5 creatives, both art directors and writers.

Garage Team Mazda     05/2011 – 04/2016
Costa Mesa, CA
Senior Art Director – Directed design of print (brochures + direct mail) and digital (emails, landing pages, social) primarily for automotive brand Mazda. Art direction for photography on numerous brand photoshoots on various models of Mazda vehicles.

Lunchbox Studios     04/2010 – 06/2011
Los Angeles, CA
Interactive Art Director – Directed design of web, mobile, social media for wide range of brands primarily for landing pages on Walmart.com. Brands included Sam’s Club, Disney, Unilever (Degree), Fisher-Price, Universal Studios, Johnson & Johnson (Zyrtec), Hasbro (Transformers), Nickelodeon (SpongeBob Squarepants), and The Kimberly-Clark Corporation (Huggies and Cottonelle).

ONE/x Advertising     10/2009 – 04/2010
Los Angeles, CA
Art Director (print, digital, branding, social media)

As lead hands-on creative of this small agency, duties included the conception, art direction, and design of print and digital ad campaigns, brand identity development, art direction of photoshoots, and social media ad design.

Freelance Designer/Art Director     01/2009 – 09/2009
West Los Angeles, CA

Projects included brand/logo development, ad conception, and mobile phone ad design.            

Firestation Agency / Teleflora / Roll International     07/2008 – 12/2008
West Los Angeles, CA
Freelance Interactive Designer (digital)

Duties included various digital designs for interactive sites, landing pages, banner ads and emails. Clients included Teleflora, Cuties California Clementines, POM Wonderful, Fiji Water, and Paramount Farms (Wonderful Pistachios).

Konnect Design     06/2007 – 05/2008
Santa Monica, CA
Art Director (print, digital, branding, packaging)

As lead hands-on creative of this tiny design shop, duties included design and art direction on full websites (including an intranet portal for Paramount Pictures), brand identity development, collateral pieces, print ads, and packaging design. Occasionally led presentations to client marketing executives at Paramount Pictures.

University of Maryland     06/2006 – 05/2007
College Park, Maryland
Senior Designer / Art Director (print)

Duties included design and art direction of various marketing materials such as posters, invites, and catalogs for the university as a whole as well as individual school programs located therein. Worked directly with executive staff of various school programs to determine specific needs and made ongoing presentations to them as work progressed. Worked alongside staff photographer and his assistant to produce and organize university imagery. Assisted in art directing photoshoots and attended occasional presschecks.

Freelance Designer / Art Director / Illustrator     02/2006 – 05/2006
Washington DC metro area
Projects included various brochure designs and cover illustrations. Clients included the US State Department, Weiden + Kennedy (Tokyo), and The Jim Henson Company.

English Teacher + Tutor     02/2005 – 01/2006
Taipei, Taiwan

Grafik Marketing & Communications     06/2004 – 12/2004
Alexandria, Virginia
Graphic Designer (print, digital)

Was brought on for brand identity development and website design. Developed concepts for design directions and made presentations to agency executives and clients. Attended occasional photoshoots.

Douglas Joseph Partners    01/2004 – 05/2004
Los Angeles, California
Graphic Designer (print, branding)

Primary duties included annual report design, brand identity development, and ad conception.

Awards / Published

– Platinum Award, Graphis Advertising Annual (2019), INFINITI QX50 Insights: Pro-Pilot Assist Video
– Gold Award, Graphis Advertising Annual (2019), INFINITI QX50 Highlights Video
– Gold Award, Cindy Awards in the Consumer and Sales & Marketing categories (2018)
– Platinum Award, Graphis Advertising Annual (2018), INFINITI VC-T Engine Video
– Silver Award, Cindy Awards in the Consumer and Sales & Marketing categories (2017)

– Typeface: Classic Typography for Contemporary Design (2010)
– 365 AIGA Year in Design 26 (2005)
– Communication Arts Design Annual (2004)
– CMYK Magazine (Fall Issue / 2003, Summer Issue / 2004)

Volunteer Work           

UCLA Psychology Department     08/2008 – 05/2009
Los Angeles, CA
Research Assistant
Was one of the lead research assistants on a graduate level research project that measured anxiety construal levels amongst the general population. Primary duties included running participants through the study and then organizing and entering the data.

UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences     01/2009 – 05/2009
Los Angeles, CA
Research Assistant
Was the lead research assistant on an ongoing study to treat ADHD in children and adults ranging from 11 to 30 years old. Was the main point of contact for parents and patients as they came in for various medical tests and paperwork. Duties included organizing patient appointments, receiving them at the office, taking their biometric data and running them through the various study questionnaires, then finally organizing their paperwork into each of their respective binders. 

Education

Art Center College of Design     05/2003
Pasadena, California
Bachelor’s of Fine Arts with High Honors in Graphic Design with a minor in Advertising

University of Virginia     05/2000
Charlottesville, Virginia
Bachelor’s of Liberal Arts in Psychology with Honors with a minor in Fine Art

Software

Design expertise in Adobe Creative Cloud suite programs including Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, with working competency in Premiere and Figma. Proficient with Google Docs and Sheets, Microsoft Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.

Prominent Clients

Infiniti, ExxonMobil, Intel, Metlife, Mazda, Anytime Fitness, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Disney, Unilever (Degree), Fisher-Price, Universal Studios, Johnson & Johnson (Zyrtec), Hasbro (Transformers), Nickelodeon (SpongeBob Squarepants), The Kimberly-Clark Corporation (Huggies and Cottonelle), Cisco (Flip Cameras), Wrigley (Orbits Gum), Ritz-Carlton, JW Marriott, Honda, Roll Global (Teleflora, Cuties Clementines, POM Wonderful), Hyundai, Paramount Pictures, Svedka Vodka, Teva Footwear, US State Department, University of Maryland, Microsoft, Wieden + Kennedy (Tokyo), Nike Asia.