Fractional Creative Director

How I Work

Two engagements, built for different starting points. If you already know what you need, the descriptions below will tell you which fits. If you’re not sure yet, start with The Starter — that’s what it’s for.

If you’re unsure of what a Fractional Creative Director does and what working together could look like, I’ve got answers to that too.

START HERE

The Starter

You know something isn’t working — but the problem isn’t fully defined yet. The brief hasn’t been written because no one is sure what the brief should say.

The Starter is a fixed-scope engagement. I come in, audit what exists, talk to the people closest to the work, and surface what’s actually getting in the way. From there I write a creative brief and a plan — specific enough for an internal team or an external agency to execute without me.

Most Starter engagements run two to four weeks. More complex organizations with multiple stakeholders or programs can take longer. At the end, you have a clear picture of the problem and a concrete path forward — whether that leads to an ongoing engagement or hands off to your existing team.

What you walk away with
  • Audit of existing creative, messaging, and communications
  • Problem definition: what’s not working and why
  • A written creative brief
  • A creative plan ready for internal or agency handoff
  • Recommendations for next steps, with or without me
Duration

2–4 weeks, depending on scope

Investment

$5,000 – $9,500 flat fee

Minimun

None – this is the starting point

Ongoing Engagement

Monthly Retainer

A consistent, structured presence inside your organization. I’m involved before the work exists — in the planning conversations, the briefs, the decisions about what to make and why. Not reviewing work after the fact, but shaping it from the start.

The level of involvement is scoped to your needs. Some clients need two to three days a week during a high-output period. Others need a lighter, steadier presence to keep the work on track between bigger pushes. We scope it at the start and adjust as the engagement develops.

The three-month minimum exists because the first month is always orientation. By month two, I know your stakeholders, your brand, and your constraints well enough to make decisions without you having to explain the context every time. That’s when the engagement starts paying off.

What’s included
  • Involvement in briefs, planning, and strategic decisions
  • Active creative direction on all work in progress
  • Feedback and approval before work goes out
  • Brand and visual system oversight
  • Stakeholder and client-facing presentations
  • Mentorship of in-house design and content teams
  • Written summaries of decisions and direction
Time

Scoped to your needs

Investment

$4,000 – $15,000 / month

Minimun

3 months

so Which engagement fits?

The Starter

You know something isn’t working but you don’t have a clear brief yet. Maybe there’s no internal person with the seniority to define the problem. Maybe a previous effort didn’t land and you’re not sure why.

Start here. The Starter often leads into a retainer once the brief is written — but it doesn’t have to.

Monthly Retainer

You know what you need to build — a brand, a campaign, a communications program — and you need a senior creative leader to own the direction while you get on with running the organization.

You may already have a team in place. You may be building one. Either way, you need leadership and judgment, not production.

Still Unsure? Let’s Talk

If you’re trying to make something complex easier to understand, I’d like to hear about it. Tell me what you’re working on — even if it’s not fully defined yet — and we’ll figure out the right starting point together.

I work with a small number of clients at a time. Currently, I have the capacity to take on a couple more clients. Reach out and let’s see if we’re a good fit for each other.

Reach Out

Common Questions

What is a fractional Creative Director?
Senior creative leadership, without the full-time commitment

A fractional Creative Director is a senior creative leader who works with your organization part-time, on a contract basis. You get the same level of judgment and ownership you’d expect from a full-time CD — without the full-time cost or the open-ended commitment.

The word “fractional” refers to the time, not the role. The work is real. The accountability is real. A fractional CD owns the creative direction, leads the team, and is responsible for outcomes — not just deliverables. The difference is that they typically work with more than one client at a time, which means you access senior-level expertise at a fraction of what a full-time hire would cost.

It’s a model that makes sense when the need is real but not permanent. When you’re in a defined phase — a launch, a rebrand, a communications build-out — and you need senior judgment for that period without carrying the headcount after it ends.

A freelancer is hired to produce. You define the problem, write the brief, make the decisions — they execute. 

A fractional CD is hired to lead. They own the creative direction, define the problem, and make the calls on what’s right. The relationship is closer to a part-time senior hire than a vendor engagement.

The brief, the creative direction, the standard of the work, and the outcome. If something isn’t connecting with the audience, that’s theirs to diagnose and fix — not just to flag in a handoff document.

A freelancer works from a brief. A fractional CD works before one exists. A freelancer scales output. A fractional CD scales judgment — helping you decide what to make, how to brief it, and how to know if it worked. Over time they build institutional knowledge: why the last campaign underperformed, what your stakeholders will push back on, where the brand has already been. That knowledge compounds.

When the need is real but not constant. When you’re in a defined phase and you need senior judgment for that period without carrying the headcount after it ends. It also makes sense when you need someone in the room before the brief is written — not just a pair of hands once the scope is set.

No. The Starter engagement below exists precisely for situations where the brief doesn’t exist yet. Defining it is the work.