CREATIVE DIRECTOR
SPECIALISING IN TRANSFORMING BEAUTY, WELLNESS AND LIFESTYLE BRANDS - FROM FOUNDER-LED START-UPS TO GLOBAL HERITAGE BRANDS
CASE STUDY 1
DOVE - Elevating an Icon
Business Challenge
Dove was entering a new era of premium, science-led beauty. The challenge was to create a more aspirational visual language for innovation-led products without losing the equity that had made Dove one of the world's most trusted beauty brands. Every execution needed to remain rooted in Dove's Real Beauty philosophy - using real women, celebrating authentic beauty and upholding the brand's commitment against digital distortion.
My Role
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Led the development of Dove Beauty's new global visual identity, defining an elevated visual language that reflected the brand's premium, science-led direction while protecting the equity of its iconic Real Beauty platform.
I then translated this vision into Dove's first innovation-led campaigns, leading the creative direction across film, photography and social content and partnering with global teams to deliver work that could scale across international markets.
Creative Thinking
The creative needed to feel more like prestige beauty than traditional FMCG. We shifted towards ingredient-led storytelling, premium beauty lighting, elevated product cinematography and a more luxurious aesthetic while remaining unmistakably Dove.
Results
Launched Dove Scalp+ Hair Therapy, a product later highlighted by Unilever in investor communications as contributing to volume-led growth for Dove Hair.
Supported Unilever's wider premiumisation strategy, with Beauty & Wellbeing delivering strong underlying growth during the period.
Contributed to the first wave of creative work supporting Dove's move into science-led premium beauty.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR - Gradual Self Tan ‘Leave no trace behind’
Everyone who's used self-tanner knows the aftermath - stained sheets, ruined clothes, orange handprints everywhere. Your home looks like a crime scene. Unless you use Dove’s Gradual Self Tan - easy to apply, leaves no trace behind.
This campaign helped elevate Dove’s iconic Real Beauty platform for a new generation - replacing flawless tanning clichés with relatable truths, real-life imperfections and artfully observed humour. Using the new elevated visual language the work brought a fresh, social-first sensibility to the category while staying true to Dove’s authentic voice.
Shelley is an absolute pleasure to work with. She was a fantastic creative partner for me on the Dove Skincare business and was pivotal in delivering a beautifully crafted and extremely successful campaign for the new tanning range. Shelley was extremely nurturing with the creative teams and all junior members of the team. She always brought a fresh perspective and pushed the work forward both from a beauty/aesthetic perspective as well as storytelling.
— LUCY TONE-McGURK Client Partner Ogilvy LondonCASE STUDY 2
HEAD & SHOULDERS - Modernising a Global Powerhouse
Business Challenge
As Pantene expanded into the dandruff category, Head & Shoulders needed to reinforce its position as the world's No.1 selling shampoo while evolving beyond purely functional anti-dandruff messaging. With the expansion of their product portfolio, the opportunity was to create a more elevated and emotive global brand identity and celebrity-led creative platform that strengthened differentiation, increased desirability and could scale consistently across international markets.
My Role
GLOBAL HEAD OF BEAUTY | SAATCHI & SAATCHI
Led the development of a new elevated global visual identity system for Head & Shoulders, including redefining the brand's photographic and cinematic language to move beyond functional anti-dandruff messaging. Recognised the need for a new photographic direction and secured Simon Emmett to help define it.
Following the successful development of the new brand world, I Creative Directed the international rollout across global ambassador campaigns featuring Sofía Vergara and Lionel Messi, ensuring consistency across markets and touchpoints.
Creative Thinking
We began by preserving the brand's strongest visual equity while evolving its expression for a new generation of consumers. From there, we introduced a more elevated visual identity through distinctive photography, cinematic storytelling and elevated art direction, giving the brand greater emotional appeal while maintaining its scientific credibility. The resulting creative system was designed to scale globally, providing a consistent visual language across campaigns, ambassadors and international markets.
Results
Campaign platform rolled out across 45 global markets.
P&G later cited Head & Shoulders as an example of improved marketing effectiveness after simplifying communications around Sofía Vergara and Lionel Messi.
During this period the approximately $3 billion brand delivered mid-single-digit growth, according to P&G leadership, while significantly improving marketing efficiency.
BRAND VISUAL IDENTITY
Shelley has an exceptional ability to see beyond the brief and define the creative direction a brand needs to evolve. On Head & Shoulders, she led the development of a new global visual identity, bringing fresh thinking that transformed the brand into a more premium and emotionally engaging proposition. Her creative judgement, attention to detail and ability to unite teams around a clear vision were instrumental in creating a platform that successfully scaled across international markets. Shelley is one of those rare Creative Directors who combines strategic thinking with beautifully crafted execution.
— JO WALLACE Global ECD Jellyfish and Founder Good Girls Eat DinnerCASE STUDY 3
LBB (Life Is Beautiful in Balance) - Launching a Skincare Brand with purpose
Business Challenge
Create a distinctive launch identity for a new skincare brand entering an increasingly competitive market.
My Role
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Working closely with the founder, I shaped the creative vision for LBB from the ground up, developing the launch campaign concept and art directing the campaign film, product photography and lifestyle imagery. By assembling a trusted team of photographers, filmmakers and talent, I created a launch campaign with a level of craft and production value that belied a start-up budget.
Creative Thinking
With a portfolio of just three products, the challenge was to create a complete and compelling brand world from a small but highly focused range. As Creative Director, I developed with the founder, the launch concept around a modern beauty consumer - ambitious, always moving and unwilling to compromise on skincare results.
The creative positioned the brand as a luxury, ethical skincare range for frequent travellers, full schedules and life on the go, bringing together performance, portability and premium beauty rituals. Through considered art direction, trusted creative partnerships and resourceful production choices, we created a launch identity that delivered the feel of a much larger brand while working within start-up realities.
Results
Delivered a unified premium brand identity across digital and social channels.
Created a scalable visual system that gave the founder a consistent foundation for future growth.
Translated the founder's vision into a commercially credible skincare brand.
Shelley was instrumental in bringing LBB to life. As a founder, you need people who don’t just execute a brief but genuinely care about your vision, and Shelley was exactly that. What stood out the most was how invested she became in the success of the brand. Nothing was ever too much trouble. She was constantly thinking of ways to elevate the creative, solve problems and make every detail better.
— NNENNA ONUBA Founder LBB Skin LtdBusiness Challenge
Create a premium skincare identity capable of competing with established aesthetic and dermatologist-led brands.
My Role
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
Partnered with the brand strategist to evolve the brand world into a cohesive visual identity, redesigning the website, art directing product photography and creating a social-first content ecosystem that established a premium, consistent brand experience.
CASE STUDY 4
AESTHETICALLY PERFECT SKIN - Building a Brand World
Creative Thinking
Rather than approaching the project as isolated deliverables, I created a cohesive visual ecosystem spanning ecommerce, photography, education and content, ensuring every customer touchpoint reflected the same premium positioning.
Results
Delivered a unified premium brand identity across digital and social channels.
Created a scalable visual system that gave the founder a consistent foundation for future growth.
Translated the founder's vision into a commercially credible skincare brand.
BRAND WORLD BUILDING
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Shelley on a number of projects, both freelance and in-house and I couldn’t recommend her enough. From briefing stage to execution, Shelley has a real creative integrity to her work that is hard to find. I would recommend Shelley for creative projects in a flash.
— SOPHIE BLOWFIELD Global Social, Brand & Influencer Consultant for Beauty, Wellness & Lifestyle BrandsCASE STUDY 5
UNILEVER & DOVE Scaling Premium Creativity Through a Lean Global Content Model
Business Challenge
When Dove launched its global Instagram channel, the brand needed a new approach to product storytelling that could meet the demands of a fast-moving social landscape while staying true to its iconic Real Beauty philosophy.
The challenge was to create a premium content system that moved beyond traditional product imagery and showed Dove products as part of real beauty rituals. I developed the creative platform “Real Life, Not Still Life” - shifting from static product photography towards authentic moments of use, creating a more human way to showcase innovation while complementing Dove’s Real Beauty campaign.
The approach needed to deliver both creative consistency and the volume required to support a global social presence, without compromising the authenticity and inclusivity at the heart of the brand.
My Role
CREATIVE DIRECTOR
I created the “Real Life, Not Still Life” creative platform and led the development of Dove’s global product content approach.
Partnered with Fresh Film, rather than building a traditional large-scale production model, we created a focused senior team comprising photographer Richard Pullar, retouching and on-set styling support.
I led the creative process from concept development through to art direction, photography, film and shoot execution - shaping the visual language, styling and set-ups to ensure every asset felt premium, authentic and unmistakably Dove.
Creative Thinking
The insight was simple: Dove products shouldn’t just be seen - they should be experienced.
By moving from traditional still-life product photography towards products in use, we created a more engaging and emotionally connected way to showcase Dove’s innovations.
The creative combined the brand’s established Real Beauty principles with the product storytelling required for a modern digital audience. The lean production model allowed us to move quickly, maintain craft and create a high volume of premium content with a small, experienced team.
Results
Delivered 300+ still and moving assets for Unilever.
Created a scalable content system to support Dove’s global social presence.
Established a consistent product storytelling approach across multiple categories and markets.
Demonstrated that a lean, senior creative team could deliver global-scale content with agility, efficiency and premium creative quality.
REAL LIFE
NOT
STILL LIFE
I’ve worked with Shelley and Antonia for many years, across multiple projects, from early-stage concept development through to fully produced campaigns, and they consistently deliver at the highest level. They don’t just create ideas - they create ideas that can actually be made, which is why I trust them implicitly. They are disciplined, collaborative and deeply committed to the quality of the work, and that shows in every project they deliver.
— KIM GRIFFIN CEO Fresh FilmsClient List
Boots Beauty & No7 • Dove & Dove Men • Max Factor • Illamasqua • Coty Fragrances • Head & Shoulders • Beauty Pie • Wella • SK-II • Olay • TRESemmé • Allergan • CoolSculpting & Juvéderm • EarthZest Organics • Rimmel • Sure • Axe • Nexxus • Primark beauty • Models Own • GHD • L’Oréal • LBB Skincare • APS • Pandora • Heinz Infants & Baked Beanz • Penfolds Wine • Vitamin Water • Nespresso • Coutts Bank • Ralph Lauren • Lake & Co Property • Browns Fashion • Net-a-Porter • Hacker Crafts • De Beers