I am a Creative Director & Senior Brand Developer with 15+ years of experience building and scaling lifestyle brands across apparel, fragrance, coffee, supplements, and SaaS. I founded and directed 9 brands, producing 5,000+ production-ready assets including apparel mockups, packaging, video campaigns, and retail displays. I leverage brand strategy, design thinking, and storytelling to articulate the 'why' behind design decisions and to align teams and stakeholders. My portfolio demonstrates how to take brands from concept to market-ready products while accelerating workflows with AI by 30–40%. I am passionate about delivering bold, authentic identities that connect with audiences and drive growth. I lead end-to-end brand building: research, identity systems, graphic design, packaging, product development, mockups, video campaigns, and retail strategies. I’ve built and scaled 9 lifestyle brands, integrated e-commerce and retail strategies for high-volume sales, and used AI tools (ChatGPT, Copilot, MidJourney, Runway Gen-2, Adobe Firefly, Stable Diffusion) to speed production. I value cross-team alignment and clearly communicating design rationale to ensure cohesive creative strategy across disciplines.…

Martin Vaughn

I am a Creative Director & Senior Brand Developer with 15+ years of experience building and scaling lifestyle brands across apparel, fragrance, coffee, supplements, and SaaS. I founded and directed 9 brands, producing 5,000+ production-ready assets including apparel mockups, packaging, video campaigns, and retail displays. I leverage brand strategy, design thinking, and storytelling to articulate the 'why' behind design decisions and to align teams and stakeholders. My portfolio demonstrates how to take brands from concept to market-ready products while accelerating workflows with AI by 30–40%. I am passionate about delivering bold, authentic identities that connect with audiences and drive growth. I lead end-to-end brand building: research, identity systems, graphic design, packaging, product development, mockups, video campaigns, and retail strategies. I’ve built and scaled 9 lifestyle brands, integrated e-commerce and retail strategies for high-volume sales, and used AI tools (ChatGPT, Copilot, MidJourney, Runway Gen-2, Adobe Firefly, Stable Diffusion) to speed production. I value cross-team alignment and clearly communicating design rationale to ensure cohesive creative strategy across disciplines.…

Available to hire

I am a Creative Director & Senior Brand Developer with 15+ years of experience building and scaling lifestyle brands across apparel, fragrance, coffee, supplements, and SaaS. I founded and directed 9 brands, producing 5,000+ production-ready assets including apparel mockups, packaging, video campaigns, and retail displays. I leverage brand strategy, design thinking, and storytelling to articulate the ‘why’ behind design decisions and to align teams and stakeholders. My portfolio demonstrates how to take brands from concept to market-ready products while accelerating workflows with AI by 30–40%. I am passionate about delivering bold, authentic identities that connect with audiences and drive growth.

I lead end-to-end brand building: research, identity systems, graphic design, packaging, product development, mockups, video campaigns, and retail strategies. I’ve built and scaled 9 lifestyle brands, integrated e-commerce and retail strategies for high-volume sales, and used AI tools (ChatGPT, Copilot, MidJourney, Runway Gen-2, Adobe Firefly, Stable Diffusion) to speed production. I value cross-team alignment and clearly communicating design rationale to ensure cohesive creative strategy across disciplines.

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Language

English
Fluent

Work Experience

Frontend Developer (Freelance & Projects) at Independent Contracts
January 1, 2024 - Present
Built responsive websites and brand landing pages using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. Applied AI-assisted coding for rapid prototyping. Learning automation frameworks (N8n) and exploring AI Agents to integrate into creative workflows.
Family Caregiver (Full-Time)
January 1, 2024 - September 24, 2025
Provided care for father during kidney failure while concurrently scaling independent brand projects, producing thousands of designs across multiple brands.
Freelance Graphic Designer at Multiple Clients
January 1, 2020 - September 24, 2025
Delivered logos, brand identity systems, marketing campaigns, and packaging design. Specialized in apparel graphics and small business branding projects.
Screenprinting & Apparel Production Specialist at Independent Contracts
January 1, 2020 - September 24, 2025
Designed and prepared production-ready graphics and mockups for apparel (t-shirts, hoodies, hats, and specialty garments). Managed color separations, pre-press setup, and vendor workflows, reducing errors and boosting turnaround.
Founder & Creative Director / Senior Brand Developer at Independent Brands
January 1, 2020 - Present
Founded and scaled 9 lifestyle brands, directing end-to-end brand building across research, identity systems, graphic design, packaging, product development, mockups, video campaigns, and retail strategies. Produced 5,000+ assets across apparel, fragrance, supplements, coffee, SaaS, and retail. Leveraged AI tools to accelerate workflows by 30–40% and integrated e-commerce/retail strategies to support high-volume sales (300–500+ units/day). Ensured cross-team alignment by clearly communicating design rationale and creative strategy.

Education

Bootcamp – Back End, SQL & DevOps at NuCamp
January 1, 2025 - September 24, 2025

Qualifications

NuCamp Bootcamp – Back End, SQL & DevOps
January 1, 2025 - September 24, 2025
AI Prompt Engineering (ChatGPT, Copilot, AutoEval, RAG Bench)
January 11, 2030 - September 24, 2025
Creative Strategy (LinkedIn Learning)
January 11, 2030 - September 24, 2025
Marketing Analytics (Google, HubSpot)
January 11, 2030 - September 24, 2025
Motion & Video Design (Adobe After Effects, Premiere Pro, Runway AI)
January 11, 2030 - September 24, 2025

Industry Experience

Consumer Goods, Software & Internet, Media & Entertainment, Retail, Professional Services