Kristen Smith

Creative Director | AI Leadership | Award‑Winning Campaigns | Brand Strategy | Adobe CAB

Driven by curiosity about what’s next, I actively seek emerging spaces where AI, brand strategy, and creative leadership converge — building bridges between creativity, technology, and strategy.

Kristen-Smith-Creative-Director-Portfolio-SEP-2026

Awards & Recognition

Defining Creative Leadership in the AI Era

Creative Direction at Global Scale

Direct creative strategy and storytelling across global markets — translating complex industrial innovations into compelling narratives that drive measurable business impact in North America, Europe, China, emerging markets
Build scalable creative infrastructure — architect design systems, brand toolkits, Storytelling resources portal, and 25+ trainings that enable non-designers across every business function to produce on-brand, professional quality creative, reaching 750+ professionals annually
Influence C-suite executives and global stakeholders on creative strategy while mentoring early-career creatives — fostering the next generation of creative leaders who blend human creativity with AI capability

AI Leadership and Enterprise Adoption

Champion AI adoption organization-wide — scaling Adobe Express, Creative Cloud, and Microsoft Copilot; training programs to enable professionals across business functions to leverage AI-powered creative capability andinfluence how ABB competes in an AI-driven landscape
Beta tester and strategic advocate for ABB’s AI ecosystem — participating in ABBY’s pilot program since 2024, championing adoption of ABB’s proprietary custom LLM, and ensuring ABB’s creative infrastructure remains at the forefront of enterprise AI innovation
Identified Adobe Express and Firefly as enterprise-scale multipliers — through grassroots outreach, grew adoption from 10 users (2024) to 1,000+ professionals in 20+ languages and across 20+ business functions

Professional Experience

ABB I Collaboration at Scale: In-house Agency, Global Brand and Creative
Aug 2018 to present

Director of Creative and Visual Storytelling — January 2024 to Present
Creative Director US Communications Team — August 2021 to January 2024
Creative & Brand Manager US — August 2018 to August 2021
ACW Event Creative Services Director — August 2018 to September 2021

PPD – Pharmaceutical Product Development — Building Corporate In-House Career
Senior Graphic Designer and Project Manager — August 2013 to Aug 2018

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PPD is a global leader in clinical research trials and drug development partnering with pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and laboratories to help develop life-changing therapies across pharmaceutical, biotech, and clinical research divisions.

Developed PPD corporate brand system guidelines, templates, and design standards
Established in-house creative agency, scaled design team from one to three professionals
Created PPD Biotech and Partnership sub-brands from concept to execution
Created scalable creative infrastructure supporting rapid growth
Managed creative assets including corporate identity, sub-brands, templates, collateral, communications

Recognition | Team Collaborate Work Excellence Award Winner | Peer Nominated | 2015 and 2016

Founder | Creative Brand Designer — Entrepreneurial Foundation
Smith Design Studios | Raleigh NC | June 1996 – August 2015 (19 years full-time freelance)

Hired, coordinated, and managed vendors, designers, and marketing professionals;
Created contracts, proposals and project schedules ensuring consistent on-time delivery
Developed and enhanced brands for SMB, B2B, and B2C clients across diverse industries
Translated client vision into compelling visual identities and marketing materials
Delivered complete creative spectrum: identity systems, logos, brochures, catalogs, packaging, collateral, website creation, digital design, AdWords campaigns, keyword research, drove client visibility and ROI

ABB Customer World | Director of Creative Services — Career Defining Firsts
ABB | Cary NC in Houston TX | August 2018 – March

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Led 10-day on-site execution in Houston, managing 24/7 operations across 150,000 SQFT show floor — delivered 245 branded graphic walls and 200+ signs with 95% brand consistency to 10,000 ABB customers and attendees

Diagnosed execution pain points into a comprehensive template system 50+ wall styles, 750 indexed icons, how to guides, and training framework for 50+ employees and 20+ vendors — enabling 100+ simultaneous creators to maintain visual standards at scale. “Kristen’s leadership was key to our success. Her focused planning, execution, and teamwork proved ABB has the best people.”— President, ABB North America

Recognition | ABB Quality Salute Award | Customer World Leadership and Execution | 2019

Original Travel Poster Designs

After travelling to Japan in 2024, I looked for vintage style travel posters. Nothing was quite right or all inclusive. Having taken hundreds of photos, I decided to create a travel poster template of my own. I used them to create a travel album journal with captions and events. There are 4 designs translated into full scale posters and used the Adobe Express Print-and-Deliver service as well. These designs are my photography and personal ideas executed in Adobe Express and Photoshop. No AI was used to create the photos or design although some was applied to edit, remove and extend content as needed.

View My Travel poster gallery