Hi Hillary!
I hope this webpage finds you well. I'm excited to work with you to get myself back in the game and on track for my next work-life chapter.
I created this page to share what I'm doing right now to position myself. I hope it helps you get a sense of who I am and what you have to work with.
I'm, of course, open to your insights, recommendations, as I want to get to a good place ASAP.
Thank you,
Axel
Axel is an independent Creative Director who crafts visual stories with purpose and precision, offering creative direction, design, and video that captures and converts.
I believe that every brand has an authentic voice.
Just like great music, the best creative work doesn’t follow a formula—it finds its own rhythm.
Real results, delivered
My work has converted hundreds of thousands of social media users from followers to active brand participants.
I evolved one of the biggest global brands and helped new cutting-edge products cut through the noise for a successful launch.
How I get it done
I look beyond the brief, to craft visual stories that resonate deeply with an audience. Here’s how I go beyond the expected to deliver real results.
In three weeks, I turned 300,000 Instagram followers into registered voters for Headcount's 'Are You Good to Vote' campaign. Here's how I did it.
Star power and big prizes aren’t enough.
With only eight weeks left to the U.S. Presidential election, Headcount and The Lede Agency weren’t converting Instagram followers into registered voters. Even with the star power of Ariana Grande, Sabrina Carpenter, Ellen Pompeo, and others, plus VIP concert and movie premiere packages as prizes, the message wasn’t standing out in crowded social feeds.
I came on board not just to design but to create authentic stories.
I came on board not just to design, edit, and animate posts but to create stories that would feel authentic to each celebrity while driving the Headcount message home. Each post had to grab attention instantly while maintaining the personal tone of the celebrity, whether it was Ariana Grande’s bold aesthetic or Ellen Pompeo’s down-to-earth vibe.
To achieve this, I focused on clean layouts punctuated with popping animations and messaging that aligned with both the celebrity’s style and Headcount’s goal. My designs had to work in a fast-paced social environment, ensuring they weren’t just seen but interacted with.
300,000 Followers to Participants.
The results were clear: we reached millions of followers across celebrity accounts, driving over 300,000 voter registrations. The campaign became Headcount’s most successful effort, with content tailored to each celebrity’s audience.
"The team has loved partnering with you and all the work you’ve done has had such a tremendous impact (more than 300K actions/registrations from our campaigns alone – wow). I know there’s been a lot of shifting sands as this client is chaotic and there are so many stakeholders feeding in, so it has meant a lot to Lauren and to all of us that you’ve been such an effective, responsive and all around great vibes partner. THANK YOU"
—Jaclyn Murphy, Chief Impact Officer, The LEDE Company
Credits
Client: HeadCount
Agency: The LEDE Company
Senior Manager, Impact: Lauren Crimmins
Creative Director, Designer, Animator, Editor: Axel Gimenez
Fee/Rate: $150/hr, 6 weeks 20-30 hours a week.
Over four years, I shaped the look and feel of Amazon Pay, driving their brand forward with bold campaigns and fresh visuals. From evolving their identity to tackling last-minute challenges, I boosted their presence and kept them at the forefront of their audience’s mind.
Here’s how I became their trusted creative partner.
Struggling to Engage Audiences and Keep Up with Rapid Growth
On top of that, Amazon prides itself on being efficient with both budget and time, so I developed several innovations that allowed us to squeeze the most juice out of a creative concept and execution.
Amazon Pay needed a cohesive brand identity that could keep up with their evolving product offerings. They wanted stronger engagement and better awareness, but the challenge was staying consistent across platforms while keeping things fresh.
Driving Brand Evolution Through Bold Innovation
As their trusted creative partner, I didn’t just design campaigns—I became a trusted problem solver and innovator, ensuring the brand could adapt to new opportunities and overcome challenges.
Throughout our partnership, I worked with Amazon Pay to evolve their brand’s look, keeping it consistent, fresh, engaging, and scalable across platforms.
I looked beyond the brief. Whether it was finding new ways to streamline production or quickly adjusting creative strategies, I made sure that every creative idea drove the brand forward.
A Dynamic, Evolving Brand That Keeps Amazon Pay Ahead of the Curve
Together, we built a bold, scalable brand that grew with Amazon Pay. Each campaign boosted their visibility, kept them relevant, and left a lasting impression.
I helped Amazon Pay become a brand that evolved with their audience, staying fresh, impactful, and efficient across every touchpoint.
Credits
Client: Amazon
Agency: Lighthouse Creative Group
Creative Director, Client Lead, Producer, Designer, Animator, Editor: Axel Gimenez
Fee/Rate: Project based $20K-$160K per project. ~$2MM in fees over 4 years.
In an oversaturated space of AI competitors, I created a launch video for Afterpay’s AI-powered platform, ‘IQ,’ that left the client thrilled. Here’s how I cut through the noise with a compelling story that made their product stand out.
Simply showing the product visuals wasn’t enough.
Simply showing the product visuals wasn’t enough. The challenge was to take these elements and turn them into a story that would captivate, inspire, and make the tech feel accessible.
Afterpay needed a launch video for ‘IQ,’ their AI-powered platform designed to help brands optimize spending with precision. The problem? The AI space was crowded, and they needed a video that would make IQ shine.
I didn’t just explain IQ—I made it look like the game-changing tool it was.
The video hit the mark. It didn’t just explain IQ—it made it look like the game-changing tool it was. Afterpay was thrilled with how the video captured the essence of their platform while standing out from the AI crowd.
In the end, I delivered a launch video that positioned Afterpay IQ as a must-have solution, cutting through the noise and making a lasting impression.
The video hit the mark. It didn’t just explain IQ—it made it look like the game-changing tool it was. Afterpay was thrilled with how the video captured the essence of their platform while standing out from the AI crowd.
Positioning Afterpay IQ as the must-have AI Solution
In the end, we delivered a launch video that positioned Afterpay IQ as a must-have solution, cutting through the noise and making a lasting impression.
Credits
Client: Afterpay
Agency: Lighthouse Creative Group
Creative Director, Designer, Animator: Axel Gimenez
Fee/Rate: Project-based, $30K. Part-time effort over 5 Weeks.
My Process
I'm not here just to get creative work done—I foster a space where brands connect deeply with their audience. Through thoughtful collaboration, I create design, animation, and video that go beyond execution, elevating a brand’s presence with work that inspires and drives impact.
My process is a journey of discovery, where I create a space for bold ideas and meaningful collaboration. Whether I'm retooling a brand, launching something entirely new, or just giving a boost, I can shape that story and amplify its impact with stunning design, animation, and video.
I built my skills over 10 years of freelancing and full-time positions at brands and agencies, including Disney, BBDO, Amazon, HP, Visa, Emirates Airlines, FedEx, and Citibank.
Leadership Skills
• Creative Direction
• Team Leadership
• Project Management
• Client Communication
• Team Collaboration
Creative Skills
• Storyboarding
• Script Visualization
• Typography
• Kinetic Typography
• Graphic Design
• Branding
• UX/UI Motion Design
Technical Skills
• 2D Animation
• Video Editing
• Visual Effects
• Color Grading
• Post-Production
• Web/App Dev
Software Skills
• After Effects
• Premiere Pro
• Illustrator
• InDesign
• Figma
• Blender
• Photoshop
• Davinci
About Me!
Son of MX/DE immigrants
I grew up navigating diverse perspectives and blending contrasting influences—a skill that shapes my creative work today. This background fuels my passion for crafting stories that cut across cultures and resonate on a human level, bringing unique depth and authenticity to every brand I touch.
My parents took this photo moments before they arrived in New York to start their new life in the States. Yeah, dope. I know.
Ex-Rock & Roller
Before I was shaping brands, I was on stage as the lead guitarist, touring North America with the rock band Closure, which I co-founded.
Closure hit the Billboard Top 200 and made waves in film and radio. That life taught me how to captivate an audience, bring bold ideas to life, and work with big personalities—skills I bring to every project today, crafting visual stories that resonate as deeply as a great song.
Things I Like
Below is a list of core things that I love and inspires me to push my own work.
Personal Projects
Always Be Creating! Below are a couple of things that I'm working on late in the night because I love it.
Spotstillery
We all know about stock footage. What about stock commercials? Spotstillery was born out of a quest to make funny story-driven commercials of the 90s and 2000s that inspired me to get into advertising as a kid.
Spotstillery creates spots that deliver a human truth that connects to a business's core values. Each spot has enough space for a business to customize the ad with their product or service and call to action. We bring the value of high-concept, sticky advertising to small businesses for pennies on the dollar.
To keep production costs low, we're experimenting and innovating with low-cost production techniques. We are also bringing young production companies and up and coming commercial directors to create our content so they can build their portfolio with real ads with the possibility of making money as opposed to spec ads.
Scrappy shoot. Four spots in one day!
Scrappy shoot. Four spots in one day!
That's a 3D chicken 'filmed' in Blender.
Getting creative with stock footage.