Available to hire
Laura Hardesty is a brand creative director, photo art director, graphic designer, and brand strategist. Her extensive experience includes photoshoot art direction, brand and campaign cross channel development, design, presentations, process & team development, and in-house creative team leadership.
Looking at each project with a fresh approach, she strives to create powerful aesthetics that are both memorable and meaningful. Her success has been built through curiosity, enthusiasm and years of experience with many of the world’s best brands.
Skills
Experience Level
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
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Expert
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Language
Work Experience
Brand Creative Director at Altar'd State
February 19, 2021 - July 19, 2025• Leads creative concept and content development for comprehensive
ecommerce and digital marketing strategies for the five Altar’d State
brands, achieving double-digit revenue growth year-over-year and
conversion rate improvements
• Delivers digital comparable growth exceeding 53% in 2023 and 68% in 2024.
• Delivers dynamic brand and product content for the five Salesforce websites, prioritizing user experience enhancements and overall digital guest experience
• Consistently identified opportunities and implements best practices with a focus on content driving conversion and mobile focus, which represented 82% of traffic
• Delivers dynamic brand content to achieve cross-channel synergy across owned and paid channels
• Consistently achieving a $4 ROAS target within our $30M+ annual spend
Content development across all owned and paid channels’, email marketing, SMS, social media advertising (Meta, Google, TikTok), SEO, SEM, and direct mail
• Develops and implements brand identity guidelines across all five brands
• Manages campaign and ecommerce photography teams for all brands to deliver cohesive brand messaging and omni channel campaigns
• Developed brand strategy and brand launches to include store and site development for new brands: Tullabee and AS Revival
• Recruits and retains top talent. Empowers and motivate teams to achieve high performance
Creative Director at Express
November 16, 2018 - November 15, 2020• Evolved and strengthened the $28M Express brand presence
• Drove marketing campaigns across all channels including in-store marketing, CRM, loyalty, store communications, digital, app, email, store events, garment marketing and paid ads
• Brand direction for institutional programs: maintaining standards and ensuring consistency
• Led the in-house team of 12+ Creatives (Design, Concept and UI / UX)
Creative Director at Justice - Tween Brands Inc.
November 13, 2015 - November 3, 2018• Developed seasonal brand concepts and photography direction for cross -channel campaigns
• Oversaw end-to-end creative execution
• Directed 7+ location campaign shoots per year + multiple local ecommerce shoots
• Created and presented pitches for new marketing opportunities
• Executed seasonal campaign direction across all in-store marketing, garment marketing, direct mail and catalog design
• Executed end to end omni-channel campaign direction from concept to photography and video capture to graphic direction and editing to final release.
• Directed design teams across in-store marketing, garment marketing, catalog, visual and window displays
Senior Digital Art Director at The Limited
April 11, 2011 - November 3, 2015• Design and photo direction of bi-weekly site launches, independent digital initiatives, social media strategy and execution, brand photography, ecommerce photography, site and email marketing
• A key partner in the successful replatforming of the ecommerce site
• Collaborated with leadership to develop and execute key company initiatives beyond seasonal and weekly digital launches
Art Director at DSW Shoes Inc.
January 18, 2017 - March 31, 2011• Partnered with the CMO to establish the brand’s first in-house marketing and creative services team
• Developed the DSW brand identity
• Led concept, print, digital design, proprietary brand identity development and all internal organizational communications design
• Built and directed a creative team of 10+ to deliver dynamic cross-channel marketing and brand initiatives
• Directed all national ad campaigns and brand campaign photography
Education
BA Retail Advertising at Columbus College of Art & Design
August 3, 1993 - May 7, 1997Qualifications
Industry Experience
Retail
Skills
Experience Level
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
Expert
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