Creative Leadership
A hands-on creative partner for founders, marketing teams, and agencies.
Learn more about Creative LeadershipTom Smith · Portland, Maine
Creative Director & Design Engineer
I’m Tom. I work with founders, startups, and marketing teams to shape brands, build products, and make the creative work easier to keep up with. Sometimes I lead the team. Sometimes I write the code. Often, I do a bit of both.
Teams I've worked with
- Total Synergy
- tea.xyz
- Candor
- The Action Company
- MyHealthily
- Action Analytics
- No To The Man Brands
- Tidus Wallet
- NYCrypto
- Verizon
- Quidsi
- RadicalMedia
- EngenderHealth
- Vivitar
- Horizon Group USA
What I can help with
Creative direction, hands-on execution, and the systems that help a team keep moving.
Design & Systems
Brands, reusable templates, and Figma systems that a whole team can work with.
Learn more about Design & SystemsDevelopment & Automation
Websites, working interfaces, and small tools that take repetitive tasks off the team.
Learn more about Development & AutomationProduct & Business
A practical partner for testing an idea and getting its first version into the world.
Learn more about Product & Business
Selected work
A few examples of what I’ve built, with the teams I’ve worked alongside and through Hatrack Digital, my own small venture studio.
Total Synergy · Embedded consulting
A marketing system the team could use
I embedded with Growth Marketing to make campaigns, landing pages, and a reusable Figma system that colleagues could work with themselves.
- Creative Leadership
- Design & Systems
- Development & Automation
Hatrack Digital · Own venture (early stage) · 2026
West End Ghost Tours
A self-guided ghost tour of Portland, Maine's West End, built as a digital experience people can explore on their own schedule.
- Design & Systems
- Development & Automation
- Product & Business
tea.xyz / tea Protocol · Employment
Creative operations with code in the mix
As an early team member and Director of Creative Operations, I built the first two marketing websites and worked across brand, marketing, and product.
- Creative Leadership
- Design & Systems
- Development & Automation
Hatrack Digital · Own venture (early stage) · 2026
StoryBrags
A browser-based editor that turns daily accomplishments into a shareable social story.
- Design & Systems
- Development & Automation
- Product & Business
Candor USA / MyHealthily · Employment
Room for 20+ brands to grow
As Creative Director at an early healthcare startup, I connected brand, product, and marketing with a reusable website infrastructure.
- Creative Leadership
- Design & Systems
- Development & Automation
Hatrack Digital · Own venture (early stage) · 2026
Tusque
An online art gallery developed with a collaborator, with a Parisian-Bohemian visual sensibility.
- Design & Systems
- Development & Automation
- Product & Business
I've worn a lot of hats.
I started in graphic design, worked with remote clients across six continents, and joined two startups among their first 10 employees. Along the way, I learned to lead creative work, build websites, and organize the systems behind both. These days, I put that experience to work for other teams and a small venture studio of my own.
Read my storyOne hire, or six?
Untick any roles you already have covered.
Hiring each role
$825,500
Hiring me
$180,000
You'd save about $645,500 a year.
Estimates only. Role costs are approximate US base salaries plus 30% for benefits, payroll taxes, and overhead.
Ways to work together
Join your team
For companies looking for a senior creative and technical generalist. I’m interested in conversations about creative leadership, design engineering, product design, and substantial ongoing roles with a team.Work alongside your team
For founders, marketing leaders, and agencies who need an experienced partner. I can embed with a team, provide fractional creative direction, or take on a defined brand, website, or product project.
Tell me what you have in mind.
An idea, a team, a role, or a problem you haven’t quite put your finger on yet. A little context is a good place to start.