I’m a seasoned Creative Director and branding expert with over two decades of experience at the intersection of design, technology, and storytelling. My passion lies in fintech—where innovation meets impact—and I specialize in building bold, human-centered brand experiences and digital products that drive business growth, user loyalty, and real-world value.
Currently, I lead creative strategy at Alviere, a cutting-edge fintech company enabling businesses to seamlessly embed financial services into their offerings. I oversee brand identity, product design, and the creative direction for all marketing initiatives—translating complex technology into clear, compelling narratives that resonate.
Previously, I redefined the brand and product experience for Mezu, a privacy-first P2P payment app, and have led creative work for top agencies including Huge, R/GA, and 360i. Across my career, I’ve driven award-winning campaigns, elevated design systems, and mentored teams to deliver work that’s as smart as it is beautiful.
I thrive in environments where design thinking meets strategic vision—always with an eye toward what’s next.
Alviere
Head of Brand & Creative
New York City
01 | 2021 - present
Alviere is a leading embedded finance platform, empowering businesses to offer financial services—such as banking, payments, card issuance, and currency exchange—through a seamless, single-integration solution.
As VP, Head of Brand & Creative, I own the end-to-end brand and creative vision for the company. My role spans across brand strategy, product design, and marketing—ensuring every touchpoint reflects our innovation and value.
Brand Leadership: Reimagined and developed Alviere’s brand identity from the ground up, positioning the company as a trusted, modern leader in embedded finance.
Creative Strategy: Lead the creative direction for all marketing efforts—local and national—translating business goals into compelling campaigns, narratives, and visuals.
Product Design Oversight: Manage and mentor the product design team, aligning UX/UI strategy with business objectives and user needs to deliver seamless, impactful digital experiences.
I sit at the intersection of storytelling, design thinking, and fintech innovation—driving creative that informs, inspires, and performs.
Mezu Inc.
Creative Director
New York City
04 | 2019 - 06 | 2020
Mezu was a next-generation P2P payment app designed to offer cashless, privacy-first transactions—empowering users to send and receive money without compromising their personal information.
Brought on board to lead a strategic and creative overhaul, I was responsible for elevating the brand, redesigning the product, and shaping the company’s visual and messaging direction to match its forward-thinking mission.
Brand Transformation: Reimagined Mezu’s brand identity to feel more modern, relevant, and differentiated in a competitive fintech landscape.
Marketing Creative Leadership: Directed all creative efforts across marketing channels—leading strategic and visual direction for both local and national campaigns.
Product Design Overhaul: Led a full redesign of the mobile app from the ground up, enhancing UX/UI and launching new features to improve usability and user engagement.
Cross-functional Collaboration: Worked closely with engineering, product, and executive teams to align brand and design strategy with core business goals.
This role solidified my passion for blending thoughtful design with technology to create meaningful, user-first financial products.
Publicis NA
VP, Creative Director
New York City
01 | 2016 - 06 | 2018
As VP, Creative Director at Publicis, I led the creative vision for Citi, one of the agency’s largest and most high-profile accounts. My role spanned concept development, campaign execution, and digital experience design—ensuring all work was strategically aligned, visually compelling, and brand-consistent.
Creative Leadership: Directed integrated, cross-channel campaigns—ranging from website platforms and mobile apps to digital video, social media, CRM, and brand events.
Strategic Oversight: Reviewed all digital and marketing work to ensure alignment with Citi’s brand voice, strategic objectives, and creative standards.
Team Development: Mentored and guided a multidisciplinary creative team, fostering collaboration, growth, and innovation.
Social Innovation: Played a key role in expanding Citi’s presence across social platforms, increasing both volume and impact of campaign work.
Production Expertise: Led multiple high-level photo and film shoots, overseeing everything from pre-production to final delivery.
This role deepened my experience in financial services marketing and further strengthened my ability to build and lead teams that deliver thoughtful, results-driven creative at scale.
360i
Creative Director
New York City
01 | 2013 - 01 | 2016
At 360i, I led the creative direction for Toyota, overseeing a wide range of large-scale digital initiatives that combined storytelling with emerging technology. My focus was on delivering innovative, brand-aligned experiences across platforms—helping to evolve Toyota’s digital presence and deepen customer engagement.
Campaign & Experience Design: Directed integrated campaigns and digital experiences including UX/UI product design, event activations, kiosks, and immersive technologies like VR and motion sensing.
Creative Strategy & Quality Control: Ensured all work met high creative standards and brand guidelines, while staying strategically on brief.
Client Partnership: Served as primary creative lead and client-facing partner—presenting concepts, managing expectations, and building trust at every touchpoint.
Team Leadership: Mentored a multidisciplinary creative team and collaborated closely with leads across tech, UX, strategy, and account services.
Business Growth: Played a pivotal role in expanding Toyota’s digital scope with 360i—tripling the volume of website work during my tenure.
Production Oversight: Led numerous photo and video shoots, from concept through execution.
This role solidified my ability to lead complex, multi-platform work that blends innovation, craft, and performance for major global brands.
HUGE Inc.
Senior Art Director / Associate Creative Director
Brooklyn, New York
10 | 2008 - 01 | 2013
At Huge, I led creative direction on a wide range of large-scale digital initiatives for some of the world's most recognizable brands. My role spanned design leadership, team building, client engagement, and the development of advertising as a growing discipline within the agency.
Creative Leadership: Directed multidisciplinary teams—including design, copy, UX, motion graphics, and video/CGI—to deliver high-impact digital experiences and campaigns.
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partnered closely with Strategy and Client Services to align creative work with business goals and user needs.
Agency Growth: Played a key role in establishing advertising as a core capability at Huge, helping to expand offerings in copywriting, motion, and integrated strategy.
Client Engagement: Managed relationships and presented work directly to senior stakeholders across a variety of industries.
New Business Success: Led several successful pitches, often collaborating with other IPG agencies to secure major new accounts.
Production Oversight: Directed numerous video and photo shoots from concept to completion.
Client highlights: Pepsi, Nintendo, Maybelline, Comcast, MasterCard, Ericsson, History Channel, Verisign, Quaker Oats, Hasbro.
R/GA
Senior Art Director
New York City
10 | 2005 - 10 | 2008
At R/GA, I served as Art Director on a range of innovative digital products and campaigns for the Nokia Nseries account—helping to shape the brand’s digital presence during a pivotal era for mobile technology.
Creative Direction: Led visual design and art direction for campaign assets and digital experiences, including websites and product storytelling.
Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Worked closely with UX, copywriting, and strategy teams to develop pitch-winning concepts and cohesive design systems.
Team Leadership: Managed and mentored junior designers, fostering creative growth and design excellence across project teams.
Production Direction: Oversaw the creation of high-quality video and CGI/3D content to support campaign narratives and product showcases.
This role deepened my expertise in blending visual storytelling with emerging technology and laid the foundation for my creative leadership in the fintech and brand innovation spaces.
Douglas Lemon Design
Freelance Art Director/Designer
New York City
June 2001 through October 2008
Responsible for concept, design, flash animations and HTML programming of online initiatives for clients:
Comedy Central, Tommy Hilfiger, Merrill Lynch, W Hotels, Maybelline New York, Smith & Nephew, eSylvan,
Virgin Mobile, Coldwell Banker, Comcast and JazzReach.org.
Agencies: Organic, Inc., Zentropy Partners, Merrill Lynch, Tribal DDB & Domani Studios
University of Wisconsin-Stout
Menomonie, Wisconsin
Bachelor of Fine Arts with a concentration in Graphic Design
Fachhochschule Hildesheim/Holzminden
Hildesheim, Germany
Exchange program in Graphic Design.
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, Arizona
General coursework
Experience with Adobe Creative Suite, Keynote and Mac OS.
2019 Gold W3 Awards – Mezu App – Mobile Apps/Sites-Finance
2012 Interaction Design Award – Pepsi Refresh Project – Best in Connecting Category
2011 OMMA Award – Pepsi Refresh Project – Best Integrated Online Campaign
2010 Bronze Cyber Lion – Pepsi Refresh Project – Best Digitally Driven Integrated Campaign
2010 Art Directors Club – Pepsi Refresh Project – Merit Award
2006 New York Festivals – Bronze World Medal, Use of Rich Media – Nokia Nseries N80 Story
2006 Nokia Nseries – Gold, Consumer Information – Website
2006 Web Awards – Nokia Nseries, Design & Technology Standard of Excellence
2001 Published works in Annual Multimedia Yearbook, Werner Lippert.
1998 Web Awards: Received "Standard of Excellence". "The WebAwards provides web professionals recognition and validation for their outstanding work."
1998 The New York Festivals: Received Finalist Certificate for Web Site Design
"I worked with Doug at Huge on a year of campaigns for Verisign and Pepsi and on several successful pitches. He's an outstanding collaborator with subtle yet unmistakeable leadership chops, and he's sneaky-good at concepting smart ideas. On every project Doug masterminded the design process: guiding designers and illustrators to deliver refined work and making sure that every piece reinforced the story. On pitches, while others may get distracted or go off on tangents, Doug's low-key midwestern style kept everyone focused. He always brings a great work ethic, attention to detail and a classic deadpan wit. He's a great creative lead on shoots as well"
Mike Spiegel
Creative Director
"Doug is not only a talented designer, but an amazing collaborator. He is always willing to go the extra mile to ensure the team is supported and the client is thrilled. He is focused, diligent, and on point.
He also has a keen ability to distill lofty client requests/objectives into beautiful, clean, elegant solutions. He was my go-to designer for many years -- leading some of the most high profile and complex marketing initiatives for Huge.
I would work with him again in a NY minute"
Kate Watts
Managing Director at Huge
"Doug is a tremendous creative asset and it was a pleasure working with him. Doug’s skills span across creative concepting, team leadership and client management: a rare blend.
Doug oversaw some of our largest and most important accounts while at Huge. He brought a level on thinking that pushed the boundaries of the assignment, and an insurance of quality over complex, long, and difficult circumstances.
I proudly recommend him for a creative position, and ensure any employer would be happy to have him."
Joe Stewart
Founding Partner at Work & Company