Even the best creatives need perspective. Someone to challenge the thinking, strengthen the work, spot the opportunity and ask the question you haven't thought to ask yet. This is Creative Director support for freelancers, founders, studios and independent creatives who usually have to provide that perspective themselves. You might be a brilliant designer, copywriter, Creative Director or small studio, but when you're deep in the work, it can be hard to zoom out.
That's where I come in. I work alongside creatives as a second senior creative eye, bringing 14+ years of experience across advertising, branding, strategy and design into your work or your business. Sometimes that's a campaign ideation session or creative check-in. Sometimes it means stepping into a client project as a white-labelled Creative Director, helping shape the strategy, pressure-test the creative, sharpen a presentation or push the work further. You stay the relationship owner; I bring the extra brainpower and creative leadership.
The work can also be about your own creative business. We might look at your positioning, brand strategy, offer, pitching, pricing or business strategy — particularly if you've grown beyond being "just a freelancer" but don't want to build a traditional agency. I know that territory because I've lived it: from working in big agency teams to building Picky Images, Stretchy Social Yoga Club and Studio Dawn myself.
What we can work on
The format is flexible because creative work rarely fits neatly into a box. We might work together for an hour to sense-check a campaign, run a creative workshop, bring me into a project from strategy through to execution, or have me embedded as a white-labelled Creative Director for a larger client engagement.
That might include campaign ideation, creative direction, brand strategy and positioning, naming and tone of voice, brand identity, pitch development, presentations, digital products, community building, launches and emerging technology. Or it might be the wonderfully weird brief no one else quite knows where to start with.
The goal isn't to take over your work. It's to help you do your best work — and make you better at doing it.
Who is it for?
This is for freelancers, designers, copywriters, studio founders and independent Creative Directors who want senior perspective without hiring a full-time Creative Director or handing their client over to a big agency.
Maybe you're working on a pitch and want someone to make it sharper. You have a great idea that needs stronger strategy behind it. A client has given you a brief that's bigger than your usual scope. Or you've simply been staring at the same thing for three days and need someone to say, "Have you thought about it this way?"
Sometimes one conversation is enough. Sometimes you need a workshop, a project or a senior creative partner alongside you for a while. We can work hourly, daily, through workshops or by project.
Why Studio Dawn?
- ✦ 14+ years in the game — across advertising, branding, design and strategy, including FCB New Zealand and Saatchi & Saatchi London.
- ✦ Big agency experience, small studio attention — I know how to work at scale, but you work directly with me.
- ✦ I understand both sides — I've been the Creative Director and the person doing absolutely everything myself.
- ✦ No ego, no takeover — I'm here to strengthen your work and your thinking, not take your client or your spotlight.
- ✦ Flexible by design — one hour, a workshop, a project or ongoing support.
- ✦ A genuinely senior second brain — someone who can see the work, the strategy and the bigger opportunity.
What we're drawn to
- 🧘 Health & wellbeing
- 🧠 Education & financial literacy
- 🫶 Community & belonging
- 🍸 Hospitality, events & third spaces
- 🌱 Sustainability & circular thinking
- 🥕 Agriculture & food
- ✨ Astrology, human design, yoga, breathwork, meditation — and all the beautifully "woo" things
- 👀 Or surprise us.
If you're building something with potential — or know someone who is — I'd love to hear from you.
If you're a creative who's been wishing you had another senior brain in the room — for your business, your client work, or both — let's chat.
Kimberley 🌞