Creative Operations
The systems, governance and reporting that let an in-house creative team move faster, stay on brand and prove its value.
OVERVIEW
Not what I designed, but what got better because I was there.
Alongside my design work, I've built much of what the DX Creative team runs on: a brand directory, an email design system, demand reporting, an agency cost model and a set of interactive playbooks.
CHALLENGE
Growing demand, and no clear view of it.
Demand on the in-house team was growing, but there was no clear view of capacity, of what the team delivered, or of what that work would cost through agencies.
Without hard numbers, every in-house vs agency decision was made case by case, and the team's value was hard to prove.
MY ROLE
Building the tools the team runs on, alongside the day job.
I built the reporting, cost model and reference tools the team uses every day. I partnered with the Head of Digital and reported monthly to Operate leadership.
WHAT I DID
Brand Directory
An interactive reference for every brand the team supports: logos, colour values, typefaces, guidelines, links and a compliance checklist.
11 core brands in one place
Email design system
A modular SFMC system: a fixed 600px framework, set type scale, standard CTAs and reusable modules.
129 emails delivered in 2025
Brand compliance
BOB, a Copilot agent that checks artwork against brand and ABPI requirements before review
9/10 seeded errors caught
Demand reporting
Capacity utilisation tracked in a redesigned spreadsheet pulling from Workfront, with a rolling demand view
3-month forward view of capacity
Agency comparison
A like-for-like model costing five common asset types against UK agency rate cards, applied to a full year of output
~6x lower cost in-house
Playbooks
Interactive playbooks that help people get it right first time: Email Marketing, Meetings Excellence, Business Intelligence and more
7 playbooks across 5 functions
AGENCY COMPARISON
Proving the value of in-house, in hard numbers.
I built a like-for-like cost model for five common asset types, setting agency rate-card prices against in-house cost per asset using Workfront delivery times. I then applied it to everything the team delivered in 2025.
It's now part of the monthly reporting to Operate leadership, tracking output, capacity and savings.
IMPACT
Measure from day one.
An in-house team that can show its capacity, output and value against agencies gets a seat in planning conversations. Otherwise it gets treated as overflow.
~6x
lower cost per asset in-house
773
assets delivered in 2025
Monthly
reporting to Operate leadership