This document provides a summary of design work completed by Rob Christianson as Creative Director including social media branding, templates, icons, infographics, event design, marketing websites, eBooks, and advertising campaigns. It highlights achievements in adapting brands across multiple platforms and audiences while meeting tight deadlines. Challenges included retaining engaged audiences through rebranding, designing reusable templates, standardizing icons, and developing cohesive designs that account for varying business units and brands.

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Rob.Christianson@gmail.com | November 2016
Rob Christianson
Creative Director & Designer

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Brand Leadership

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Internal Office Branding
Cincinnati Internal Office Artwork

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Social Media Branding
Highlights
o Unveiled CDK’s new brand across all
existing social media channels
Challenges
o Retain a highly-engaged social
media audience through rebranding
properties
o Adapt newly delivered brand identity
across mulitiple digital platforms not
originally considered by external
branding agency.

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White Paper Templates
Highlights
o Easily-reusable design accounts for
any subject matter and quick-turn
electronic delivery.
Challenges
o Template must account for mulitple
document lengths, yet fluid and
repurposable.
o Align inset imagery and datapoints to
CDK visual brand in a versatile
format for quick online export.

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New Corporate Powerpoint Template
Highlights
o Reduced filesize from 12.5 mb to
less than 1 mb
o Multiple options for title slides
o Optimized with pre-styled type
o Simplified delivery accounts for
user behavior
Challenges
o Original filesize prevented
fluid webinar presentations and
caused “inbox full” errors
o Timely distribution of updated
brand-aligned graphic resources
o Accounting for multiple business units’
brand considerations

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Corporate Icon Standardization
Highlights
o Created living icon library to be
shared by all designers
o Icons aligned to products, corporate
initatives and resources
o Icon theme is currently evolving to
current ”thin-line style”
Challenges
o Develop an overarching system
making it easy for other designers to
contribute
o Effectively design icons so they can
be recolored in one click
o Maintain a modern look and feel yet
company wide distribution

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Assorted Infographics
Highlights
o Brand-oriented data point delivery
communicated hard-to-grasp
information in a digestible, visual
style.
Challenges
o Developed a large library of brand-
compliant infographic templates.
o Provided web and print-friendly
versions for Product Marketing staff,
for use in PowerPoint, Word-
generated one sheets and online
product pages.

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Event Design and Support

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2016 National Sales Leadership Conference
Provided increased support to the Events team with on-site signage, executive
presentation support and unveiled a Marketing “Sizzle Reel” of FY16 highlights.
o Presentations & Digital Signage: Rob Christianson
o Event Signage: Frank Nazal
o Video Production: The Escape Pod

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2016 Executive Leadership Conference
Highlights
o First year theming the new ELC
(formerly SL100)
o Raised bar of design quallity for
Executive presentations.
o Impactful environmental signage and
supporting gifts and keycard
Challenges
o Tight turn for event design with NSC
following one month later.
o Subtleties in dark design elements
were lost in digital printing
o Hotel keycard was misprinted
upside-down, so directional arrow
was incorrect. Had to scrap
deliverables at last minute.

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2016 Executive Leadership Conference (Cont.)

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2016 National Sales Conference: Executive Presentations
Objective
o Raise the bar of design quality on
all executive presentations
o Ensure a seamless on-site
presentation experience
Highlights
o Personally designed four
presentations, working closely with
Sr Executives.
o Provided on-site support for last
minute changes, design and
delivery.
o Partnered closely with event
production company behind the
scenes for seamless execution.

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Marketing Design

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CDK Global – Digital Marketing Website
Highlights
o CDK Digital Marketing divisional
website was the first company
property to adopt new corporate
branding
o Visually pushed the envelope of
CDK’s maturing brand with engaging
imagery and content marketing
Challenges
o Apply and evolve new company
brand across a dynamic site already
built in Wordpress
o Maintain high audience engagement
through aligned content marketing,
event awareness and social media
o Expand the CDK visual brand
through the use of engaging colors,
textures and graphic treatments
relevant to Automotive Dealer
customer base

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Endorsed OEM Program Websites
Highlights
o White-labeled product offerings vary
from OEM contract to contract.
CDK’s Digital Marketing Program
Sites account for varied offerings as
well as branding aligned with
manufacturers.
Challenges
o Maintain brand alignment with
multiple OEM’s design standards.
o Developed a common Wordpress
design theme that was easily
skinnable per OEM brand.
o Core functionality remained the same
from OEM to OEM, for ease of
updating by shifting Marketing
Manager staff.

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Cobalt/CDK Digital Ad Campaigns
Highlights
o Leveraging Cobalt’s brand (the
precursor to CDK Global), multiple
brand explorations engaged dealer
clients with a high success rate.
o Every campaign was backed by
content marketing, eBooks and
webinars.
Challenges
o Consistently raised the bar of visuals
to engage targeted audiences.
o Overcame stigma of lackluster
banner ads by engaging customers
with questions, visual tricks, etc.

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Cobalt Infographics
Highlights
o Cobalt’s content marketing efforts
reguarly explored trend-setting
delivery methods such as long-form
storytelling infographics.
Challenges
o High levels of illustration needed to
align with brand standards.
o Visually engage with distracted
dealership clients using colorful,
printable and sharable infographics.

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Inventory Study eBook
Highlights
o New horizontal format for eBook
promotes easier on-screen reading
o Custom illustration
Challenges
o Rebranded and reformated existing
eBook content after CDK Global spin
o Modernized “Dating Game” concept
with a take on popular dating app
Tinder

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Disaster Preparedness eBook
Highlights
o Further expansion of eBook design
template to allow for multiple distinct
covers
Challenges
o Solved for consistent series look yet
differentiation of covers per subject
matter.
o Infographics were repurposed for
Social Media usage.

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Creative Direction

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Social Media Management Campaign
Summary: Drip campaign promoting Social Media Management
product included a series of four emails and a landing page.
Design: Gerard Agency

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Intellidealer 3.0 Campaign
Summary: Billed as ”The DMS that’s ready
for anything”, HE’s 3.0 campaign features
engaging print ads, packaging and
infographics.
Design: Gerard Agency

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Lightspeed Ad Campaign
Highlights
o Address multiple audiences with
segmented imagery
o Engaging imagery for “high
adrenaline” customer base
o Campaign designed to stand out
amongst industry competitors within
trade magazines
Challenges
o Via a series of ads directed at
motorsports, RV and marine
audiences, agency developed a
common theme..
o Web banner ads with limited real
estate made use of the campaign
imagery well.
Design: Gerard Agency

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Service Connect Anywhere
Summary: Email campaign, landing page and alert graphics.
Design: Gerard Agency

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Video Production
Summary: Provided design direction from script to storyboard to post-production
Production Partners: @Large Productions, yDraw, Vossler, Macguffin Agency

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Thank you.
Questions? Email rob.christianson@gmail.com.