KARMEN LIZZUL

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK

Summary 

Art Director experienced in creating captivating visual narratives for top-tier brands. Strong leadership skills driving teams to deliver engaging design solutions within tight deadlines. Proficient in strategic planning, brand management, and cultivating client relationships for project success. Consistently delivers high-impact results through creative excellence.

Experience 

SENIOR DESIGNER, USER EXPERIENCE (Contract), 09/2023 - Current
CURRICULUM ASSOCIATES, LLC - Brooklyn, NY

  • Create engaging designs for educational program for kids K-2.

  • Provide guidance and supervision to external vendors such as illustrators, designers, and production teams.

  • Utilize stakeholder feedback to review artwork and final product, ensuring accuracy and high quality.

  • Ensure compliance with accessibility standards

  • Deliver engaging and informative Power Point presentations to stakeholders and leadership.

SENIOR ART DIRECTOR, 12/2019 - 10/2022
CALLISTO MEDIA - NEW YORK, NY

  • Delivered impactful data-driven publications in diverse genres such as kids' entertainment, education, lifestyle, and wellness through effective project management and creative leadership.

  • Informed product strategy through thorough evaluation of data and competitive benchmarks, resulting in high-quality customer feedback for all published materials.

  • Provided art direction support by sourcing images and offering guidance on photography and illustration to enhance design effectiveness, while leading a creative team consisting of a designer and art director.

  • Compiled final presentations and created detailed strategy decks for the C-suite

DIGITAL ART DIRECTOR, 08/2017 - 12/2019
SCHOLASTIC NATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS - NEW YORK, NY
Key Clients: Lego, Facebook, NIDA, NIGMS, Levi's, BLOOM! (Seed Your Future), Wells Fargo, Sony Pictures

  • Guided the development of engaging 360 educational materials by steering the brand strategy and design of digital, interactive, websites, email campaigns and video projects aimed at grades K-12.

  • Led visual projects that resulted in high engagement and 100% client contract renewals, contributing to department revenue.

  • Conceptualized key “Space Camp” program initiative for Lego & NASA, planned branding for website & classroom materials, and collaborated with an interactive team to create an engaging online game.

Social Media Manager / Designer, 09/2015 - 08/2017
KARMEN LIZZUL GRAPHIC DESIGN (FREELANCE) - NEW YORK, NY

  • Revamped the online presence of Albany Pine Bush website and several other small businesses, resulting in improved brand perception

  • Wrote and delivered email marketing campaigns

  • Strategized and implemented Facebook ads including tracking and reporting performance for national home improvement brand Five Star Painting

  • Optimized posts by utilizing relevant keywords in titles, descriptions and hashtags.

  • Implemented A and B testing techniques when necessary in order to optimize content based on user engagement metrics.

  • Conducted research into industry trends and competitor activities related to social media marketing.

Creative Consultant / Art Director (Contract) 07/2017- 09/2017
Weight Watchers NEW YORK, NY

  • Ideated and Designed new poster campaign for in-store

  • Designed editorial product working with multiple stakeholders

Creative Director 07/2005 - 09/2015
MEREDITH CORPORATION - NEW YORK, NY

  • Executed a rebrand for the failing “Family Circle Magazine” by partnering with editors and hiring a new creative team to strategize changes for attracting younger users and better advertising.

  • Managed a team of 7-10 and brainstormed project strategy with the publisher, marketing team and chief editor to ensure appeal for new target audience without losing existing readers.

  • Boosted average monthly sales from 600K-700K to 850K, with some months topping 1M+ units sold at newsstands during difficult time for competitors.

  • Developed and articulated clear strategies and guidelines for branding, photo and graphic art direction for Family Circle Magazine, familycircle.com, and social media.

  • Coordinated, inspired and oversaw creative team of top photographers, art directors, stylists, photo editors, designers, videographers and postproduction artists for 250+ photo shoots.

  • Utilized new creative approach to gain visibility in the advertising community and increase ad revenue.

  • Won several industry awards (Ad Age A-List; AD WEEK Hot-list; SPD Awards; Folio).

  • From ADWEEK: "What a comeback. Since snapping up the homemaker's trusted helpmate (one of the original "Seven Sisters"), Meredith has cleaned up with food, finance business as already-enormous circ spikes. Buyers say this book, beloved in middle America, "looks better than ever."

  • Designed and produced the prototype for an editorial product supporting AllRecipes.com.

Skills 

  • Adobe XD

  • UX/UI Design

  • Figma; Sketch

  • Research & Development

  • Personas

  • Prototyping

  • Keynote

  • Cloud Sharing

  • Google Slides

  • Adobe Creative Suite including InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop Empathy

  • Writing

  • Drawing  

  • Problem Solving

  • Grit

Education and Training 

  • Bachelor of Fine Arts, Graphic Design from School of Visual Arts - New York, NY

  • Master of Arts, Writing: Fiction and Creative non-fiction from Vermont College of Fine Arts - Montpelier, VT

  • Certificate in User Experience Design from General Assembly - New York, NY

Awards 

AIGA; Graphis; Society of Publication Designers; Folio; Society of Illustrators 

References 

References available upon request.