Pamela Golafshar

Creative leader and visual designer with 20+ years of experience, who understands the ins and outs of building and expressing a brand. Detail-oriented, skilled in blending storytelling and strategic thinking, I have a deep understanding of how to utilize the power of design to align business objectives with campaign strategy. I strive to inspire brand loyalty through hands-on visual design and user experience, and have an unending desire for continuous improvement. I help brands create value.

Experience

Owner/Visual Designer/Consultant

1999–present
Yellow Heron Design
  • Responsible for creating brand identities, developing creative strategies and delivering final design executions for digital and traditional design.
  • Recent projects include: UI/UX design for software app (in progress) | Campaign branding and visual design
    | Book cover & ebook design | Brand identity and sales/marketing assets | Multi-page document design.

Design Director

August 2022–November 2022
Clario | Remote
  • Created, fostered and delivered creative concepts that met strategic briefs and expectations across all channels, for global pharmaceutical CROs in the clinical trial industry.
  • Managed creative studio operations including best practices for project workflow, strategic creative development, and digital asset management.
  • Expanded the organization’s brand identity by creating and implementing a set of illustration guidelines.
  • Led and motivated brand design team to produce best-in-class communications while ensuring brand consistency and strategic alignment with organizational goals.
  • Developed visual concepts to address strategic marketing solutions as defined by briefs, requiring an understanding of stakeholder business challenges and goals.
  • Fostered contractor and agency relationships; provided creative direction for external partners.
  • Utilized data analysis to evaluate and improve campaign success.
  • Partnered with copywriter and ECD on campaign concept development.
  • Presented concepts and designs to stakeholders at all levels, providing design rationale.
  • Initiated partnership with product design team to ensure cohesive brand identity across all mediums.
  • Created visualizations to help improve cross-functional communication and workflow efficiency throughout project lifecycle.

Senior Art Director

September 2019–August 2022
Six Degrees | Scottsdale, AZ
  • Provided creative strategy, art direction and visual design in a fast-paced, deadline-driven agency setting.
  • Produced high-quality work for B2B and B2C clients, from concepting to design executions: brand identity, product marketing campaigns, digital marketing, layout design, print collateral, digital media, advertising, websites, direct mail, landing pages, presentations, packaging, emails, banner ads, social media assets, etc.
  • Provided critical feedback to other team members, mentoring designers and coaching industry best practices.
  • Collaborated with cross-functional teams, utilizing qualitative data from user research to inform creative and content strategy.
  • Designed storyboards and art directed video, animation and motion design; photo art director from concept to planning to completion.
  • Presented creative solutions to stakeholders, articulating design rationale and highlighting how objectives were met.
  • Designed websites, including wireframes, design systems, functional prototypes and mockups; worked with front-end developers to ensure seamless handoffs and optimal user experience.
  • Proven ability to learn new industries and knowledge of consumer product, client business, product strategy and differentiators.
  • Developed branding and design deliverables for clients in the healthcare/pharma industry: clinical trials, HCP and DTC campaigns.

Creative Director

June 2018–March 2019
ITA Group | Remote
  • Provided creative direction for the ideation/execution of various marketing campaigns including mood boards, concepting, experiential & visual design elements, as well as developing timelines of all communication touchpoints.
  • Developed creative briefs to translate business goals across all channels, driving strategy, vision and execution.
  • Reviewed work and provided effective, actionable feedback to the creative team in a timely manner.
  • Managed campaign budgets and profitability on six-figure accounts.
  • Created work informed by data analysis, collaborating with cross-functional teams to improve campaign effectiveness.
  • Created experiential event concepts and large-scale environmental branding and signage plans for events including conferences, sales meetings and business events.

Creative Director

September 2015–June 2018
Zoe Organics | Remote
  • Creative direction, omni-channel creative strategy and hands-on visual design for a consumer retail company.
  • Created the brand identity from the ground up, ensuring consistent brand expression across all platforms including retail POP, packaging, website, social media, advertising, photography and B2B sales presentations.
  • Developed customer-centric creative strategy in tandem with business goals.
  • Provided art direction for product photography and lifestyle shoots.
  • Created and implemented a redesigned e-commerce website which elevated the customer experience, contributing significantly to the growth of the business and increasing sales by 30% YOY.

Creative Director

Creative Director: June 2014–July 2015
Acting Creative Director: September 2013–June 2014
The Vine | Hong Kong
  • Responsible for managing a culturally diverse team of 4-5 creatives.
  • Provided leadership and mentorship while fostering a culture of inclusion and open collaboration.
  • Led strategic development of abstract conceptual creative ideas, driving creative vision and overseeing execution from concept to completion.
  • Managed team’s productivity, timelines and budget while motivating creativity and overseeing deliverables for print, digital, video, animation and social media.
  • Provided hands-on design and illustration for campaigns.
  • Increased audience engagement by developing thematic visual concepts and overseeing execution of environmental, experiential and multimedia design executions.
  • Managed a team of volunteer creatives in the local community, empowering and fostering new ideas and leading the execution of experiential events.
  • Hired, managed and provided creative direction for third-party vendors.
  • Developed the branding and created visuals for an international conference; integrated an intuitive human centered design thinking approach to bring improvements to the attendee experience YOY.

Graphic Designer

October 2012–September 2013
The Vine | Hong Kong
  • Created comprehensive branding based on abstract concepts foreach thematic series, including poster series, presentation templates, social media, digital collateral and supporting printed materials.
  • Supported other in-house departments with graphic design needs.

Graphic Designer

Graphic Designer: February 2002–November 2004
Assistant Graphic Designer: November 2001–February 2002
Portland Art Museum | Portland, OR
  • Provided in-house graphic design for a world-renowned art museum.
  • Designed print ads, outdoor banners, posters, brochures and other printed materials for exhibitions, educational programs and events at the museum.
  • Received a promotion within the first few months due to work ethic, learning agility, high quality standards and design aesthetic.

Leadership qualities

  • Leads with authenticity and emotional intelligence
  • Honest and effective communication
  • Empowers team members
  • Supportive mentor
  • Active listener
  • Inspires big-picture dreaming 
  • Strategic/critical thinker
  • Responsible and dependable
  • Leads with empathy
  • Builds teams and culture
  • Teaches advanced design skills
  • Comfortable executing decisions
  • Current with industry trends
  • Intellectually curious; enthusiastic about continuous improvement at all levels

Skills

  • Creative direction, art direction
  • Creative and conceptual strategy
  • Design management
  • Flexible, adaptable
  • Agile learner
  • Motivated, driven
  • Creative problem-solver
  • Detail-oriented
  • Organized and analytical
  • Excellent ability to communicate and collaborate
  • Project management
  • Branding and identity, brand development, advertising, marketing
  • Typography, illustration, social media
  • Visual, graphic and digital design, web design, UI/UX design
  • Strong understanding of design thinking methodology

Software

  • Adobe Creative Suite (CS)
  • Adobe InDesign (LinkedIn Skills Assessment Badge: Top 5%)
  • Adobe Illustrator (LinkedIn Skills Assessment Badge: Top 5%)
  • Adobe Photoshop (LinkedIn Skills Assessment Badge: Top 15%)
  • Adobe XD, Figma, Sketch
  • WordPress, Webflow, HTML/CSS
  • Microsoft Office: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook
  • Communication/collaboration apps (Teams, Slack, Google Docs, Sheets, etc.)
  • Project management apps (Asana, Trello, Workamajig, etc.)
  • Digital asset management apps (Frontify, Dropbox, etc.)

Education/Certifications

Greenville University

September 1996–June 1997
Greenville, IL
Major: Music Theory & Composition

George Fox University

September 1994–May 1996
Newberg, OR
Major: Piano Performance

LinkedIn Learning:

  • UX Foundations
  • UX Design
  • Design Thinking
  • Storytelling for Designers
  • Critical Thinking
  • Learning Design Research