Brad Burke
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Los Angeles, CA, United States
Toptal member since November 14, 2017
Brad is a digital creative director and product designer with 16+ years of professional experience building brands and digital platforms. He has worked at some of the industry's most highly awarded advertising agencies, including R/GA, AKQA, Razorfish, and Saatchi & Saatchi. Brad has designed delightfully intuitive products and experiences for major clients like Nike, Toyota, and Vizio. He also set the overall creative strategy and visual design direction for the redesign of Acura.com.
Portfolio
Work Experience
Founder | Director of Design
Idol
- Founded and led the design at Idol in 2016, an independent brand-and-product design studio.
- Worked with clients of all sizes, from early-stage startups to major consumer brands.
- Built products, elevated brands, and accelerated growth through branding, product design, content creation, brand guidelines, and investor decks.
- Communicated with clients in person and via Skype to present the work.
- Worked fast and was entrusted with projects that needed to be under the radar.
- Created brands from scratch or refined existing brands.
- Developed creative concepts for responsive websites and mobile apps/digital products.
- Defined the overall user experience and design wireframes for digital platforms and mobile apps.
- Created branded content for various social channels.
- Devised rich, detailed user interfaces for responsive sites and mobile apps. Built low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes for interactive site experiences and mobile apps.
Creative Director
Citadel
- Established and managed a unified brand system that utilized every channel and consumer touch point to affirm the company's position as a leader in the financial services industry.
- Developed creative concepts for responsive websites and brand collateral.
- Defined the overall user experience and designed wireframes for digital platforms and responsive experiences.
- Created branded content for various social channels.
- Designed rich, detailed user interfaces for responsive sites.
- Defined and designed detailed brand guidelines.
- Developed pitch decks and sales decks.
Advisor—Creative and Design
Thesis Couture
- Helped to establish the initial brand look and feel of Thesis: a fashion-focused startup that was dubbed the "Tesla" of high heels; utilizing new technologies, Thesis aims to design and manufacture beautiful high heels that are actually comfortable for women.
- Defined a creative strategy to help the startup accomplish its goal of disrupting the high heel industry.
Interactive Creative Director
Razorfish
- Reenvisioned Acura's digital business by creating and managing their high-fidelity digital experiences across the entire Acura account; with the creative team, we redesigned the digital brand system for Acura and launched their new platform.
- Developed creative concepts for responsive websites and mobile apps, and digital products.
- Defined the overall user experience and designed wireframes for digital platforms and mobile apps.
- Created branded content for various social channels.
- Designed rich, detailed user interfaces for responsive sites and mobile apps.
- Created low-fidelity and high-fidelity prototypes for interactive site experiences and mobile apps.
- Defined and designed detailed brand guidelines. Developed pitch decks and strategy decks. Managed the team and presented work to clients.
Head of Product Design
Music Impacts
- Led, managed, and worked hands-on concerning all aspects of the creative process and owned the complete design of the app.
- Collaborated directly with the CEO and head of technology to design all the components of the product including UX, UI, branding, and additional growth collateral.
- Worked in my spare time, while working a different full-time job.
Interactive Creative Director
David&Goliath
- Led the creative direction, managed creative teams, and pushed the caliber of work both conceptually and aesthetically across multiple accounts within the agency roster.
- Directed a wide gamut of projects, including TV campaigns, brand system design, and digital initiatives.
- Worked on the branding for the following clients: The Art Institutes, New York-New York Las Vegas, Kia, CA Lottery, Vizio, Beats by Dr. Dre, Jack in the Box, Brooklyn Gin, and Paso Robles.
Associate Creative Director
Saatchi & Saatchi LA
- Designed, managed, and directed multiple creative projects, both digital and traditional, while pushing the overall aesthetic of the Toyota brand.
- Led relaunch of Toyota owner's digital platform. Set the overall visual aesthetic and managed the design team to bring the experience to life; worked hand-in-hand with the user experience, technology, and production departments to ensure success.
- Acted as a key member of the creative team that conceptualized and launched the Camry Effect, a 360º campaign created to launch the 2012 Toyota Camry; while simultaneously leading this massive site overhaul.
- Created a multi-layered, choose your digital adventure experience for the Camry Effect.
- Led the creative direction and played a vital role in the execution and deliverables for two Super Bowl commercials, eight short documentaries, a Shazam-sponsored contest component, and social and digital display extensions.
Senior Designer
AKQA
- Led the design on the US and global Nike account, where I applied my skill set across digital products and brand campaigns.
- Tasked primarily in directing the design and motion to bring cutting-edge digital experiences to life to launch flagship products.
- Developed and refined brands for the following clients: Nike Sportswear (global), SPARQ (Nike's training platform before the FuelBand launched), Nike Women, Nike Training, Nike Mobile, Autodesk, and McDonald's.
Visual Designer
R/GA
- Led the design for the Nike account (the US and global) by working across eCommerce, digital products, and brand campaigns.
- Tasked primarily with designing and animating rich, intuitive experiences for the leading athletic apparel brand.
- Added to numerous new business pitches to help conceptualize and explore visual executions.
- Refined, developed, and defined the brand experiences for the Nike Store, NIKEiD, Nike Women, Nike+, Hewlett-Packard, and General Electric.
Education
Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Graphic Design
Western Michigan University - Kalamazoo, MI, USA
Skills
Tools
Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Sketch, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Flash, InVision, Adobe Creative Suite, Sketch 4, Adobe Lightroom, Flash, Figma, Adobe CC, Adobe After Effects
Platforms
iOS, MacOS, Android
Industry Expertise
Automotive, Banking & Finance, Electronics, Apparel & Accessories, Healthcare
Other
Digital Creative Direction, App Design, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Branding, iOS App Design, Digital Product Design, Logo Design, Brand Guidelines, Identity, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Creative Direction, Identity Design, Web Design, Art Direction, Mobile App Design, Design, Native Mobile Apps, Photography, Image Manipulation, Pitch, PDF, Prototyping, UI Design, UX Design, Creative Strategy, Design Systems, Platform Design, Digital Marketing Design, Parallax Design, Leadership, Team Management, Research, Design Direction, Apps, Social Networks, Mentorship, Design Leadership, Digital Design, Fintech, Digital Branding, Smart TV, Home Electronics, Motion Design, Animated Prototypes, Brand Design, Brand Development, Virtual Reality (VR), 360-degree Media, Internet of Things (IoT), Smart Homes, Color Theory, Voice UI Design, Sportswear, Digital Marketing, Healthcare Management Systems, Concepting, UI Toolkits
Experience
Tools
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