Professional Experience

  • Creative Director – Head of Product Design & User Research
    MCIM 2023-present
  • Executive Creative Director
    Blink 2021-2023
  • Chief Creative Officer – Product Management, UX & Brand
    Vicimus 2019-2021
  • VP, Creative Strategy
    Vicimus 2017-2019
  • Chief Creative Officer – Product, UX, Discovery & Design
    Dashboard 2015-2017
  • Associate Creative Director – Digital UX Lead
    Grey Canada 2012-2015
  • Senior Art Director
    Grey Canada 2010-2012
  • Senior Art Director
    Dashboard 2007-2010
  • Art Director, Designer, Illustrator, 3d Designer/Animator & More
    Various Firms 2001-2006
  • 20+ years In Creative & Leadership Roles
  • 20+ years of UX Research, Design, Planning & Information Architecture Experience
  • 8+ years of Product (SaaS) Design & Creative Lead Roles with 5 Automotive Tech SaaS shipped products
  • Independent Artist & Illustrator since 2001 (www.toddlawson.com)
  • UX Design Consulting & Mentoring since 2001 (www.minerthought.com)
  • Previous Businesses Owned: 2 (Design group & Clothing Co.)
  • Father of 2 twin daughters
  • Past Experience in 3D and Film

Todd Lawson
Creative Professional Since 2001
LinkedIN Profile

Awards & Accolades

2016 Cassies – Silver: Matching Message to Medium – GSK Snore Phone App
2015 Marketing Awards
2015 AToMiC
2015 Applied Arts
2015 Cassies
2015 Advertising & Design Club Of Canada
2014 CMA Media Innovation Awards – Gold – GSK Snore Phone App
2014 Marketing Awards – Gold and Silver – GSK Snore Phone App
2013 ADCC Agency of the Year
2013 Cassies – Grand Prix + 2 Golds – Milk Carton 2.0
2013 Cannes – Mobile Lion Silver – ValuableCheckin.ca
2013 Cannes – OOH Media – Guinness Window Pints
2013 Marketing Awards – Gold social media, Marketing for good special selection
2013 One Show – 2 Silver Pencils – ValuableNetwork.ca
2013 Art Directors Club – ValuableNetwork.ca
2012 Tomorrow Awards ADC of NY – ValuableNetwork.ca
2012 Art Directors Club of Canada – Gold – ValuableNetwork.ca
2012 London International Awards – Gold and Silver – ValuableNetwork.ca
2012 Marketing Awards Bronze – OOH Non-Standard Format Single – Guinness Window Pints
2012 Applied Arts Interactive – Public Service/Charity (Non-Profit)- ValuableNetwork.ca

2012 Applied Arts Interactive – Pro Bono – Missing Children Society Search Tool
2012 Applied Arts Interactive – Social Media – ValuableNetwork.ca
2011 ADCC – Silver – Media Innovation – Global Mood Clock
2011 IAC – Best Marketing Interactive application
The FWA – 2011 – Mobile Site of the Day (April 15th) – Global Mood Clock Mobile App
The FWA – 2011 – Short list – Global Mood Clock Web-Site
Cassies Grand Prix – 2007-2010 Hellmann’s Real Food Movement-Digital
The FWA – Shortlist 2010 3DToyota.ca
2009 Applied Arts Interactive Award – Hellmann’s eatrealeatlocal.ca Real Food Movement site
Unilever Global Award – Best Performance (internal) – Hellmann’s 09 Real Food Movement
2008 Applied Arts Award – H&R Block Facebook Campaign
Davey Silver Branding Award 2007 – Hellmann’s Eat For Real
American IllustrationApplied Arts Annual 2002
Applied Arts Annual 2003
2002 GXXi Graphic Exchange (bronze)2003
GXXi Graphic Exchange (bronze)
Sheridan Silver Medal
Sheridan Scholar

Brands, Speaking, Press & Skills

Brands I’ve Worked With…(partial list)
Abreva, AXE, Acura on Brant, AIDS Committee of Toronto, ATI, Atlanta Magazine, BlackBerry (RIM), Blu-Kote, Blue Ivy, Bombay Sapphire, Breathe Right, Bumper, Burlington Ribfest, Canadian AutoShow, Canadian Online Gamers Network, CDRS Hamilton, Corus, CosmoTV, Cruzan Rum, CCSC, Diageo, Dofasco, Débaufré, Eli Lilly Cymbalta (Pharama-depression), Elm Street Magazine, Enroute, Euroglass, Exclaim, Fortune Magazine, GSK, GloveboxCMS, Grape-Nuts, Great Grains, Guinness, Hellmann’s, H&R Block, Home Hardware, InBurlington, Independent School Association of Ontario, LCBO, Lexus of Oakville, Milk, Nissan Canada, Ontario Toyota Dealers Association, Ovarian Cancer Canada, Phaeton Automotive Group (6 Store Automotive Retail), Playtex (Health/Product – FemCare and InfantCare brands), POST Cereals, Pronamel, Sagicor General Insurance, Sensodyne, Scotiabank, SevenStar Sports, Shreddies Cereal, Sunlight Laundry, Suburban Ford (Retail Automotive), Sunveil Sunwear, St. George Apple Festival, Swiss Herbal (Pharma-vitamins), Target Canada, Toyota Canada, the Toronto Jewish Film Festival, Vaseline, Wrigely’s Juicy Fruit and W-Network (View larger list)

CHARITABLE CLIENTS SUPPORTED
Special Olympics, The Salvation Army, World Society For Protection of Animals, Missing Children Society of Canada, Ovarian Cancer Canada, Variety Children’s Charity.

PUBLIC SPEAKING
Opening speaker at the 2015 RGD Creative Directions Conference
Guest speaker at Sheridan College, 2004

Published
Art Book Art of Todd Lawson: Vol.1
Art Book Art Of Todd Lawson: Visitors
Children’s Book Song Bird
Magazines
In Burlington Magazine (7 issues)
Strategy Mob Magazine (2 issues)
AutoSuccess Magazine (1 issue)

Creative Skills
Creative Direction & Strategy, Art Direction, Concepting, Branding, Design, Illustration, Social, Digital & Traditional Marketing, Writing (short form, long form, scripting)

Business Skills
Executive team Experience, Team and Departmental Management, Client Management, New Business Development, Internal Planning, Budgeting, Resource Management, Project management, SOWs, Estimates, Process Development and deployment

Information Skills
UI/UX Design, UX Research & Planning, UX Strategy, Wireframes, Information Architecture, Prototypes, User Testing, UX Documentation, BRDs, Roadmaps, Product Management

Social Skills
Interpersonal Skills, Public Speaking, Storytelling, Mentoring, Teaching

Predictive Index Profile
Scholar (read more)
Data-Driven, analytical, Strong discipline and execution, Organized and thorough, Autonomous, Deliberate, Introspective, Task-Oriented, Freedom from micromanagement 

Press
– Strategy Magazine | Creative Report card 2015 – ranked #15 Art Director in Canada- Strategy Magazine | Creative Report card 2014 – Top 10 Art Directors in Canada

Career Experience

Creative Director – Head of Product Design & User Research (April 2023- present)
MCIM by Fulcrum Collaborations
Glen Allen, Virginia (Remote in Canada)
(www.mcim24x7.com)

  • Lead UX/UI design initiatives, focusing on user-centric methodologies across the platform.
  • Developed a comprehensive Figma-based design system integrated with Salesforce.
  • Spearheaded various product design projects including analytics benchmarking and incident reporting tools.
  • Designed complex UI interfaces and experiences for a Permit-to-work system, AI/ML Assistant System, and multi-user 52-week asset maintenance calendars and external user portals
  • Created process and strategy for UX User Research process (included the creation of User Tests, repeatable SUS analysis, and Surveys using Mixed Research Design Qualitative and Quantitive methods)
  • Collaborated with the entire staff and worked on further consolidation of amalgamated consumer journey mapping
  • Led and hosted multi-round sessions with staff to build a complete set of Personas from marketing targets down to core product users in a single Persona group structure
  • Build product brand guidelines combining marketing design with product design for consistency in design language

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Owner (October 2009- present) – UX & Information Architecture – Part-Time
Miner Thought
Burlington, ON
(www.minerthought.com)

  • Provide contract UX planning and design services for various digital products and startups.
  • Key Brands Worked on: BluIvy, iWorkyWorky, EquoShift, Neighbourhood Coffee, Quantum Gelato, BlueKote, We Are Social Toronto (Social Advertising Pitches/New Business)

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Executive Creative Director (November 2021 – April 2023)
Blink, Toronto, ON
(www.agencyblink.com)

  • Managed creative, production, and development teams, enhancing operational efficiency.
  • Managed Vancouver team remotely from Ontario

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Chief Creative Officer (March 2019 – October 2021)
VP, Creative Strategy (March 2017 – February 2019)
Vicimus, Toronto, ON
(www.vicimus.com)

  • Led the agency’s transition to a SaaS company, overseeing product management and UX/UI development.
  • Conducted regular 1 on 1 meetings with staff, Managed multiple teams across two offices
  • Managed product development roadmaps for 5 GTM automotive products
  • Led multiple product design and marketing teams

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Chief Creative Officer (March 2015 – March 2017)
Dashboard, Toronto, ON
(www.dashboard.ca)

  • Directed creative processes and product innovations, transitioning the agency from advertising to software development.
  • Rebuilt the creative department into a product design and b2b marketing department

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Associate Creative Director (December 2012 – February 2015)
Senior Art Director (April 2010 – November 2012)
Grey Advertising Canada/WPP, Toronto, ON
(www.greycanada.com)

  • Led digital creative projects, developing award-winning campaigns for major brands.
  • Won international recognition at Cannes, One Show, Communication Arts, and 50 more awards.
  • Ranked in the top 15 art directors in Canada twice (Strategy magazine Creative Report Card).
  • Key Brands Worked On: Guinness (Art Director & Copywriter), Post Cereals (Grape Nuts, Shreddies, Honey Bunches Of Oats, Great Grains), GSK (Abreva, Breathe Right, Pronamel, Sensodyne), Missing Children Society Of Canada, Sagicor, Playtex, Scotia Bank, Target Canada (Retail Canadian Launch), T-Mobile (Tele-retail), HSBC, Bombay Sapphire, Cymbalta.

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Senior Art Director (January 2007-March 2010)
Dashboard Brand Communications,
Toronto, ON (www.dashboard.ca)

  • Worked on interactive direct and digital experiences for major international brands in marketing and advertising
  • Key Brands Worked On: Unilever (AXE, Hellman’s), Cruzan Rum, Corus, CosmoTV, H&R Block, Home Hardware, LCBO, Milk, Ontario Toyota Dealers Association, Sunlight Laundry, Swiss Herbal, Toyota Canada, Vaseline, Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit, W Network.

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Sheridan College Instructor (2006 Fall Semester)
Sheridan College, Oakville, ON

  • 4th year Interpretive Illustration Instructor at Sheridan College in Oakville; working to educate and expand students’ horizons in multiple fields and industries. We covered hands-on development and implementation of projects outside of traditional illustration instruction to show alternate possibilities for the soon-to-be graduated.

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Lead Art Director and Designer (February 2005-October 2006)
IN Burlington Magazine + Little Green Tree
Burlington, ON (www.littlegreentree.com)

  • Art direction and design of a quarterly 72-page regional magazine with a circulation of 20,000+. Design direction and development of approximately 75-100 projects annually including advertising, multi-page collateral design, new media, and packaging design/illustration. Worked with editors, junior designers, publishers, and sales department in team-based and leadership environments.

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Owner (August 2001 – July 2004)
Toy Twuk Studios
Hamilton, ON

  • Multimedia development illustrations, graphic design, website design, 2D and 3D computer animation, video game pre-production and character design.

EDUCATION

  • 2002 Advanced Illustration, Sheridan College (1yr Post-Grad)
  • 2001 Illustration, Sheridan College (3yrs)
  • 1999 Art Fundamentals, Sheridan College (1yr)
  • 1996 Coral Shores High, Florida Keys
  • 1978 Born

Todd Lawson
Creative Professional Since 2001
LinkedIN Profile

Fine Art Work

Since 2004 I have displayed and sold my work around the world with a focus on North America.
You can learn more about my artwork on my other site at toddlawson.com.