Art Direction. Brand Strategy. Creative Leadership.
Most brands don't
have a creative problem.
I'm Jerome Mabini, art director and creative lead in Toronto. I figure out what a brand actually needs before anyone opens a file, build the system to get it there, and keep the work honest all the way through execution.
“Most brands don't fall apart at the start. They fall apart slowly, after launch.”
Anyone can have a good idea. Getting that idea through a client presentation, three rounds of feedback, a format change nobody mentioned until Tuesday, and still land looking like it was always meant to be that way. That is the actual job.
Eighteen years teaches you things most briefs will never tell you. The brief is rarely the real problem. The system matters more than the style. The work that holds up longest almost always has the clearest thinking behind it before anyone touches a computer.
The last four years have been in-house at 8Twelve Mortgage, leading creative across every channel the brand touches. Lendfinity was built in parallel. Started from nothing, designed from the ground up, and given a system that still runs today. Before that, six years at an agency across retail, property, industrial, and public health brands. Different clients, different constraints, same standard. Make the thinking clear, build the system, get the work out clean.
Fine arts background. Agency training. In-house ownership. I've been setting the direction, building the system, and making sure the work stayed true all the way through. That full range is what keeps the strategy and the execution from drifting apart.
Campaign direction
One creative direction across photography, posters, out of home, social, display, and digital. The photography was directed and shot in studio. The website carried the same visual language into a functional space. The campaign reached 23.6 million impressions.
Brand system
Nothing matched because nobody had built the system first. I went back to the foundation, rebuilt every touchpoint around it, and set the standards that have held since. Five years on, 8Twelve has grown considerably. The brand has not wavered once.
Brand creation
Lendfinity started with nothing. Not even a name. Naming, identity, voice, photography direction, patterns, social, and web. All built to feel distinct from its sister company without feeling foreign to it. Handed over complete. Built once, three years strong. Still whole.