NI Creative: story
Business area: Newspapers & media
Brief: Studio management
In late 2007, I was promoted to Studio Manager of Times Media Creative, a team that was formed through the amalgamation of various pockets of design resource spread throughout the News International company.
This was an important new phase of my career and although I had previously managed designers and copywriters, this new role tasked me with overseeing a team of ten and implementing new systems and ways of working that would bring about gains in efficiency, which would in turn allow the quality of creative work to improve.
Our first year was a resounding success. Over 10,000 pieces of artwork were produced and new lines of business came into the team from other parts of the business, such as The Sun. The quality of work improved as systems I developed and introduced addressed areas such as briefing, reporting, client management, work allocation, technology and scheduling.
Importantly, our creative resource was also managed in a more efficient manner. Much work was done on improving integration with digital resource and eventually, this work strand was also brought into the team as it became a truly company-wide creative service known as NI Creative.
A broad range of creative work was covered by the team for all parts of the business which includes Marketing & Sales, Commercial, Corporate, Internal and Editorial:
In-paper ads/co-brands
iPad ads/co-brands
Digital ads/co-brands
Brand ads
Brand campaigns
Integrated campaigns
Supplements
Internal campaigns and comms
Retail and pos materials
Radio
Video
HTML emails
Websites
Direct mail
Event materials
Interior design
New business pitches
Presentations
Advertorials
