Mike Smith
Directing the creative since 2009
It has been my lifelong mission to be more interesting than my name.
Having spearheaded refreshing, expansive rebrands for global companies such as Skin Laundry, and cultivating iconic character designs at Paul Frank Industries, I am uniquely skilled in elevating brand stories. My hands-on approach, combined with expertise across various creative suites and a knack for effective, in-house creative strategy, has fuelled successes such as driving Skin Laundry’s growth from 15 to 48 clinics and $10m to $60m revenue. I am excited about the potential of applying my collaborative spirit and variety of experience in fashion, consumer products and wellness to a new adventure.
My employment story.
2018 - 2023 Creative Director Skin Laundry
Produced and rolled out new branding across all brand touchpoints: clinic art, products, photography, digital and printed collateral.
Brought creative in-house, saving the company thousands of dollars in creative agency expenses.
Single-handedly provided creative leadership through the company’s rapid growth: from 15 to 48 clinic locations, $10m to $60m in revenue and 100 to 300+ employees
2016 - 2018 Creative Consultant Saban Brands
After Saban Bands acquired Paul Frank Industries, they hired Paul Frank (the company’s original founder) to lead creative development and I was hired as a consultant to collaborate on expanding the brand beyond a primary focus on the iconic Julius the Monkey character and introducing a cast of over 150 licensable characters.
Developed new brand positioning and guidelines.
Collaborated and developed seasonal style guides.
Designed licensee unique art capsules.
Conceptualized and executed social media content.
2009 - 2015 Creative Director, Paul Frank Industries
Paul Frank Industries is a lifestyle products company that started in a garage and has grown to have a portfolio of widely recognized character designs as well as stores in the US, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Bangkok and Hong Kong. Paul Frank’s famous Julius the Monkey character has been emblazoned on unique clothing and accessories since the mid-1990s. I led a creative team of four graphic designers through a number of exciting business developments as well as a transition from a vertical to a licensee-based business model.
Provided creative content and direction for branding, product design, expansion, co-branding, photo shoots and all marketing initiatives.
Managed a team of in-house and freelance designers.
Maintained brand consistency, voice and core values through the Saban Brands purchase Paul Frank Industries (2010).
Developed new branding guides and lead the development of seasonal style guides for a variety of CPG licensees to adhere to a variety of retail tiers and hierarchies.
Art directed the re-imagining of the Paul Frank characters into shrunk- down preschool versions that led to a Julius Jr. television series-on Nick Jr. (2013)
Lead Julius Jr. creative development of licensee brand guidelines, seasonal style guide, product development and marketing for all touchpoints.
Strengths
Expert in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Logic Pro X
Love developing imaginative photoshoot scenarios, packaging systems, brand expression, graphic design, typography, wordplay and sound design
Skilled in Adobe Premiere Pro, Shopify, Webflow and more
Education
1997- 1999 California State University
Long Beach
Film and Electronic Media
1992- 1996 Cypress College
Associate in Arts