ABOUT ME
Ken Drab
Creative Director
Design & Visual Storytelling
Global Project Management
Brand Vision Alignment
I am a creative leader adept at unifying teams, developing processes, and channeling creativity towards strategic objectives. My resume highlights a diverse career and showcases the depth of expertise I’ve developed along the way.
Therefore, I would like to share with you a few of the most impactful experiences that have helped shape my journey to become the creative leader, brand strategist, and collaborative mentor I aspire to be. Hopefully, this will help communicate the value of what I bring to any role.
The Entrepreneur
Short version: Meet the business goals – because when the business wins, we all win.
I left college to cover the Florida Marlins Major League Baseball team in their inaugural season. My two partners and I had built a network of 35 radio stations throughout the state of Florida and southern Georgia, broadcasting a program of daily updates on the games, the team, and more. While we had a clear vision of our goals and each of us shared valuable expertise to build towards achieving this plan, none of us were able to sell the program to the point it was profitable.
I learned an incredibly valuable lesson about the importance of constantly contributing and providing value to all sides of the business. To this day – no matter how creative my role has been, I am constantly seeking to understand the larger picture and use my unique vantage point (leveraging my expertise and experience) to help find opportunities and drive the business forward.
The Steward
Short version: I am focused on building a strong brand experience and an inclusive team culture.
The most valuable brand experience I had was during my time at Rakuten Advertising, previously Rakuten Marketing, previously Rakuten LinkShare, previously LinkShare… Rakuten Advertising started out as an Affiliate Marketing business that added Programmatic Display, Paid Search, Attribution, and other digital technologies in order to build out an omnichannel service offering to its advertisers. Ultimately, Rakuten Advertising was a complex marketing ecosystem interconnected with a larger complex corporate global ecosystem. When I began my journey, there were no standards, no tools, and very low adherence. Literally starting from scratch, through each of the rebrands and onboarding of new companies globally, I was able to build a digital asset management system, and provide consistent development, education, and guidance of the corporate, marketing, and sales creative. When I left, brand adoption was no longer an afterthought and brand evangelism was at an all-time high.
Additionally, while assembling a collaborative and inclusive global creative team, I built an integrated project management system, restructured the organization, and rewrote job descriptions to provide each designer and leader with a detailed career path. I also organized cross-training exercises to break down silos, improve communication and initiate inspired teamwork. Our global team of sixteen produced thousands of projects working across continents and time zones to provide creative to marketing, sales, corporate, and many more areas of the business. Perhaps my most proudest accomplishment, during the two years of my management of the team, I was able to promote two leaders to regional directors – and there was zero attrition.
The Ego-Free Collaborator
Short version: I play well with others - and get things done.
One of the most exciting things about being a designer is the opportunity to provide creative solutions for business challenges. Creating something from nothing requires an important personal investment that is crafted into each design, and it’s ingrained in the belief that through your expertise and experience, you can solve any problem. Beginning with my experience as an entrepreneur and throughout my creative career, I have learned that if we are all communicating efficiently and effectively, we are all rowing the same way, and if our objectives align, then even if my solution isn’t the exact right one, my greatest contribution needs to focus on supporting the greater business goal.
Throughout my childhood, I dreamt of becoming a comic strip artist and clipped out the comics each day from the newspaper. After several rejections from newspaper syndicates, I decided I needed to do it on my own – as a web-based comic strip. After developing a website, I committed to publishing the comic Monday through Friday. With webcomics, you need to act as writer, illustrator, publisher, and promoter. There are a lot of shoes to fill in order to try and build an audience – and I was trying to do this while maintaining my full-time job and through the birth of two children. After three years, amassing over 900 comic strips that filled three published books, I came to the realization that despite the immense pride in what I had created and accomplished, I humbly lacked the audience I needed to fulfill my dream.
One point I have tried to live by is to learn from trying. I’ve learned that failure is not fatal but a catalyst for improvement. My role is supporting the greater business goal through expertise, not just executing my personal vision.
I believe:
- I believe in leading by building authentic relationships through transparency and communication.
- I believe in fostering an inclusive, collaborative, and productive creative culture.
- I believe in continuous improvement by actively designing with an insatiable desire to learn and grow.
- I believe in mentoring and challenging my teams individually to achieve professional and personal growth.
I bring:
- I bring a vast amount of experience designing for digital and print, tech and retail, and both B2B and B2C.
- I bring a fanatical affinity for brand development experienced through leading eight global rebrands.
- I bring expertise in branding, marketing, advertising, and event management.
- I bring a proven track record of building global creative organizations focusing on proficiency, efficiency, and performance.
My skills:
- Creative Ideation, Intelligent Design, & Development
- Brand Strategy, Design Systems, & Guidelines
- Collaboration, Team Development & Culture
Recommendations:
Professional Skills
Design Skills
* I would never claim to have a complete bar for any skill – there is ALWAYS more to learn.
Let's Connect!
I’m passionate about what I do and the people I surround myself with. It would be great to keep it going and start a real conversation – the best way to connect with me professionally is through LinkedIn.
While I’m currently involved in a few projects, I am available for work in creative leadership, designing freelance, or in a creative organizational consultation capacity.