DTC Art Director · Research-Driven

Strategy you can see in half a second.

I'm an art director for DTC performance brands. My job is to take a strategic angle and translate it into a visual decision (the hierarchy, the framework, the composition) that earns attention in the feed before anyone reads a word.

10yr

In the Craft

Concepts / Day

6×

Speed vs Avg

30m

Brief → File

Industries I've produced for

Supplements Skincare Health & Wellness Fitness Food & Beverage Tech & Gadgets Legal Services Lifestyle

About

An art director who reads
reviews before opening Photoshop.

I'm André Vega. Ten years as a creative and art director across multiple disciplines (branding, editorial, advertising), with the most recent chapter focused on DTC performance creative for paid social: supplements, skincare, wellness, fitness, lifestyle. My day job is Design Lead at a Canadian performance agency, doing art direction and design ops for a pod that ships at volume, working alongside in-house strategists and copywriters.

On my own projects I run the full loop. I have a personal research pipeline (mining reviews, comments and customer feedback for the exact Voice-of-Customer signals worth turning into ads) and I use it to feed my own concepts end-to-end. So I can plug in as an Art Director inside a team, or as a Creative Strategist + AD when there isn't one.

What stays the same in both setups: I treat art direction as the act of translating a clear strategic angle into a visual decision the feed can read in half a second. The aesthetic is the byproduct, never the brief.

Role DTC Art Director

Approach Strategy → Concept → Direction

Domain DTC · eCommerce · Paid Social

Personal Output 42 Concepts / Day

Experience 10 Years

Based In Paraguay · Remote

How I Direct

From brief to file
in roughly 30 minutes.

Whether the angle comes from a strategist on the team or from my own VoC research on a solo project, the direction work runs the same way: five decisions, in sequence, that turn a written angle into a finished ad fast enough to keep up with a performance team.

Read the Brief

Before anything else: what's the actual tension this ad is trying to dramatize? I make sure I understand the strategist's intent, not just the copy lines.

Pick the Framework

Every angle has a visual structure that fits it best: comparison, problem/solution, social proof, isolated hook. The choice happens before I touch the canvas.

Set the Hierarchy

Where does the eye land first, second, third? What's a one-second read versus a three-second read? Hierarchy is the most underrated tool in the feed.

Direct the Image

Composition, typography, color, treatment. This is where craft shows up: turning the structure into something a thumb actually stops scrolling for.

Ship & Read

I hand off, watch what performs, and feed that signal back into the next round. The work that converts teaches the work that comes after it.

Visual Vocabulary

Six structures I direct from.

Over ten years I've kept returning to the same six visual structures (the ones that consistently earn a second of attention in the feed). Each has its own signature, its own typographic logic, its own use case. Picking the right one is half the art direction.

Us vs Them

The Comparison

Split-screen contrast structure with color-coded superiority signals. Checks vs crosses. Fast scan-comparison for competitive positioning.

Problem / Solution

The Pain Point

Emotional hook that names the user's frustration, then presents the product as the hero. Social proof badges seal the deal.

Features & Benefits

The Value Stack

Central product with dynamic bullet points connecting features to benefits. High-contrast CTA inside the safe zone.

Isolated Hook

Product Is King

Minimalist structure: product as visual lead with generative backgrounds. Minimal text, maximum impact. Pure branding power.

Social Proof

Mass Validation

Star ratings, real comment overlays, authority badges, user counters. Converts skeptical users through wisdom of the crowd.

Founders Choice

Authority & Transparency

Founder photo with product, handwritten-style annotations. Humanizes the brand. Exceptional in health and supplement verticals.

Selected Work

Concepts I directed.

A selection of static and video ads I concepted and art-directed for DTC brands across supplements, wellness, fitness, finance, lifestyle and pet care. Every piece started in a research doc before it became a file.

PurePath · Supplement Static

Fundsmart · Finance Static

Obvi · Supplement Static

Primal Queen · Wellness Static

Hollow Socks · Apparel Static

Flow Alarm · Tech Static

UndrDog · Auto Care Static

H&W · Wellness Static

Petsmont · Pet Care Static

Pure Plank · Fitness Static

SAF · Lifestyle Static

Acapella Challenge Video

Base · Video Edit Video

What I Believe

Ten years of art direction,
distilled.

The creative IS the targeting.

The algorithm uses the ad itself to find the audience. The hook, the hierarchy, the first frame: that's the targeting signal. My job as AD is to make that signal sharp enough to be unmistakable.

Understand the angle before you design it.

I won't open Photoshop until I understand the tension the ad is trying to dramatize. If I can't say the idea out loud in one sentence, no amount of craft is going to rescue it.

Taste is a result, not a starting point.

"Looks good" is a side effect of clear thinking. If the angle is right and the hierarchy is right, the aesthetic falls into place. Pretty without a point is just decoration.

Speed is a craft decision.

I can move from concept to finished file in roughly 30 minutes because I've removed every guess from the process, not because I'm rushing. Velocity comes from clarity, not from cutting corners.

Also · At Scale

When the work needs a pod,
I can build that too.

My day job is leading a small creative pod inside a Canadian performance agency. So beyond directing my own concepts, I've learned to build the operating layer that lets a team produce consistent, research-driven work without losing quality. If you need it, it's available. If you just need an AD, that's the default.

Lead

Creative Pod

3–4 Designers

I run direction, framework choice and QA for a small pod of designers, keeping the creative voice consistent across high-volume output.

Build

Briefing & QA

Process, Not Bureaucracy

Intake briefs, framework catalog, async QA: light scaffolding that protects craft while letting the team move fast.

Teach

Onboarding

Days, Not Months

I document the visual logic so new designers reach full velocity in 2–4 weeks instead of shadowing for a quarter.

Get in Touch

Looking for an Art Director
who thinks before designing?

I'm open to art direction and creative strategist roles with DTC brands and performance teams (full-time, contract or project-based). If your creative needs to convert in the feed, let's talk.

Connect on LinkedIn