Alex Lieven is an award-winning senior creative with over 25 years agency experience with a background in design and art direction. He uses creativity to solve problems and motivate people to do something special. As a result, his work has continued to improve and he now enjoys working amongst London's top agencies.
"You might not always get it right, the important thing is to keep trying to improve. As long as you do that, there ultimately is no limit to what you can achieve".
He has a deep understanding of nearly all marketing disciplines including brand advertising, direct marketing, social media, digital, shopper marketing and experiential but this doesn't mean he knows everything.
"I'm a strong believer in listening. When you listen properly, you learn and then you can apply".
Conceptually he believes “simple is best”.
"Over-complexity doesn't optimise opportunity. Not having the skills to simplify is often at the core of the problem the client is trying to solve".
In terms of industry experience, Alex has pretty much worked across them all, including FMCG, telecoms, drinks, entertainment and the sports sectors. He has won numerous awards and has recently been camping out at the door of Lürzer's Archive.
Away from it all, Alex is a passionate cyclist, traveler, husband, father of two gorgeous girls and lives in Surrey.
"Life doesn't get much better".
Projects
- Meantime "MEAN IT."Meantime "MEAN IT." If something’s worth doing, do it like you mean it. Meantime has pioneered the British craft beer movement since 1999. In a bold step up from previous campaigns, Above+Beyond had won a strategic pitch and now needed to show Meantime really does MEAN IT, in a campaign that remained true to the brewer’s founding belief that good beer comes from going the extra mile and doing things properly. My challenge was to give the brand a new visual language for this first outdoor campa
- Cadbury's Keep Team GB PumpedCadbury's Olympic Campaign With London 2012 set to be the most branded & badged Olympics to date, our brief was to create a credible role for Cadbury Dairy Milk, which was as utterly unique as the brand's previous communications. I was tasked to help develop the brand and translate that on-pack, in print and online and position Cadbury as playful ringleaders of the nation’s support for Team GB. We invited the whole nation to take centre stage by helping to re-record versions of 6 iconic power tr
- TalkTalk TV OOHTalkTalk TV Outdoor After the successful launch of TalkTalk's new branding, we were asked to create the next outdoor campaign execution. The fresh bold and chunky style illustrated TalkTalk TV's new updated offering. The art direction style and typographic design create a fun and interesting take on each week's promotion with a mixture of spirited headline copy and illustrated imagery. Creative Directors : Micky Tudor & Jimmy Hunter Head of Design : Louise Sloper Design & Art Direction : Alex Li
- John Smith’s Smithy the HorseHeineken UK (then Scottish & Newcastle) Ale brand John Smith’s had a long-standing sponsorship of horse racing. However, now the brand wanted to make its long-standing involvement with the sport in a more relatable to the audience. My solution was simple – involve loyal drinkers in the sport they love by offering them a share in a real racehorse, called Smithy. The idea came from reading the clients brief which talked about how much they wished to return to John Smith’s ‘No Nonsense’ positioning
- Man In An Orange ShirtA complex story with an exciting array of young and upcoming stars have been cast alongside Oscar-winning actress Vanessa Redgrave in Man In An Orange Shirt – the first screen drama from best-selling British novelist Patrick Gale. I was briefed to create concepts and keyart for this BBC commission. Concept : Alexander Lieven Art Direction & Design : Alexander Lieven
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Work history
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SeniorSaatchi & Saatchi
London, United KingdomFreelance
FreelanceDark Horses
London, United KingdomFreelance
Creative lead sports marketing for Nissan, Puma and Greenhouse Sports.
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Skills
- Art Direction
- Typography
- Photography
- Advertising
- Print Design
- Illustration
- Photoshop
- Digital
- Creative Strategy
- Branding
Education
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(BA Hons) Advertising and Graphic DesignBucks New University
High Wycombe, United Kingdom
Placements at: Cogent Elliot working on Thorntons Chocolate, Mercier Champagne and Charles Wells Bombardier with my writer Lucie Peters and Publicis London working on Renault Espace.
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BTEC Graphic DesignNorwich School of Art and Design
- United Kingdom
Falling off of piers while trying to get shots of girders, getting hyperthermia while sketching on the Norfolk Broads, learning to draw copy perfect typography had to make this one of the most amazing courses in the country.
Awards
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MAA Best Awards, Best Sponsorship Led CampaignMarketing Advertising Association
John Smith’s Smithy the Horse
Heineken UK (then Scottish & Newcastle) Ale brand John Smith’s had a long-standing sponsorship of horse racing. However, now the brand wanted to make its long-standing involvement with the sport in a more relatable to the audience. My solution was simple, involve loyal drinkers in the sport they love by offering them a share in a real racehorse, called Smithy. The idea came from reading the clients brief which talked about how much they wished to return to John Smith’s ‘No Nonsense’ positioning. Result? Now, 10,000 people own a share in a No Nonsense racehorse.I
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Bronze Award: IMC European Award, Innovative Idea or ConceptIMC European Awards
John Smith’s Smithy the Horse
Heineken UK (then Scottish & Newcastle) Ale brand John Smith’s had a long-standing sponsorship of horse racing. However, now the brand wanted to make its long-standing involvement with the sport in a more relatable to the audience. My solution was simple, involve loyal drinkers in the sport they love by offering them a share in a real racehorse, called Smithy. The idea came from reading the clients brief which talked about how much they wished to return to John Smith’s ‘No Nonsense’ positioning. Result? Now, 10,000 people own a share in a No Nonsense racehorse.+ Show more