About me

I help marketing leaders solve creative problems — fast. Whether your challenge is strategy, creative, process, or team dynamics, I bring clarity and momentum. I’ve led teams, built systems, and shipped work that works — across brand, demand, and everything in between.

If your creative team is stuck, spinning, or scaling, I can help you get results without burning people out (including you).

Connect with me

Connect on LinkedIn

Creative direction
that drives results.

When brands need clarity, I curb the chaos.

Rick Gore: Solver of problems and maker of things

IF YOU NEED:

A brand that actually reflects who you are now • A marketing system that works at scale • A creative team that runs without constant oversight • Campaigns that feel as good as they perform • Leadership that makes things clearer, faster, better…

I’ve got you.

About Me

I turn strategy into ideas, and ideas into impact.

I specialize in guiding brands and in-house teams to produce work that truly resonates. Structure, insight, and strategy — I bring these so your creative connects.

If your team is stuck, stretched thin, or if you're unsure about how to scale up without spinning out, I can help.

A Small Sample of Recent Projects

Some highlights from my portfolio See lots more in my full portfolio (soon)

CAPABILITIES

What I bring to the table:
Creative direction, strategic guidance, and the experience to get your team unstuck.

Clarity, fast.

Creative teams flounder when the brief is unclear. I translate business strategy into creative direction that’s actionable, inspiring, and aligned.

Campaigns that work.

I've led high-performing campaigns across every channel—from brand to demand, startup to enterprise.

Systems and standards.

I build scalable design systems and workflows that reduce inefficiency and increase output—without burning people out.

Creative leadership.

I coach teams, manage up, and protect the creative process so ideas have room to grow (and KPIs get hit).

Partnership, not ego.

Whether I’m working with founders, CMOs, or first-time marketers, I meet people where they are and move things forward.

Bringing it home.

From pitch to polish, I make sure great ideas don’t get lost in execution—and make it out the door with impact intact.

Let's chat about how I can help you.

Contact

Recent Thinking

Insights and experiences I’ve shared on LinkedIn.

Creatives aren’t artists (and that’s a good thing)

It’s common to think of creatives as people who treat their craft as precious and untouchable. Wrong.

Read on LinkedIn

Stop what you're doing. Maybe.

What's not important is spending undue time chasing perfection.

Read on LinkedIn

Using AI to create ads? Don't.

Real advertising is about telling stories, making connections, and sparking emotions.

Read on LinkedIn

Mastering the critique

How to give feedback that not only refines the work but also helps designers grow.

Read on LinkedIn

Advertising. And my goats.

Four lessons I learned from some horny hoofstock.

Read on LinkedIn

The best person to hire

Beyond the portfolio: What to look for in creative candidates.

Read on LinkedIn

See more on LinkedIn

Questions I sometimes get

Here are a few quick answers. Need more detail? Just ask.

Most of my work is on a 6-month or longer fractional basis — long enough to make real change, short enough to stay efficient. I’m open to full-time roles if the fit is right, but most clients get better value bringing me in as a senior partner, not a permanent headcount.

Not unless that’s the goal. I can serve as an interim lead or collaborate with your existing CD to tighten up strategy, workflow, and output. Sometimes I’m brought in to stabilize things; other times, I’m helping make a good team great.

I spent years agency-side working with clients across entertainment, SaaS, healthcare, education, nonprofits — the whole mix. These days, most of my clients are mid-size companies (usually between $100M and $800M in revenue) with in-house teams that need structure, strategy, or a more scalable creative approach. I also play nice with funded startups.

Both options are on the table. I’ve got a roster of trusted, senior-level creatives I can call on when needed — but I’m just as happy working with the team you already have. I believe in building on what’s working, not reinventing the whole machine.

Absolutely. That’s actually where I do my best work. Sometimes the issue is process. Sometimes it’s team structure. Sometimes it’s a lack of clarity at the top. I approach consulting like a creative director would — listening first, identifying what’s stuck, then helping the team move forward.

I’ve led teams on both sides — agency and in-house — so I know how to balance creative integrity with business pressure. I don’t sell slide decks or hand off strategy to juniors. I get in the trenches with your team, fix what’s broken, and leave you with something that runs better than I found it.

Brands I’ve Worked With

What People Say

“Working with Rick is like being on an epiphany carousel. He often strings together a course of action from seemingly thin air.”

Rocha Dollar
Airbnb

“He is a gifted visionary with meticulous attention to detail—he can’t help it. He has high standards. He is direct, yet gentle in offering creative direction. ”

Robyn Luk
Deloitte Digital

“I was continuously impressed by his magician-like dexterity pulling innovative and imaginative customer-focused experiences out of his designer tool box. What if? and Why not? are Rick’s guiding principles”

A-M Petersons
Avalara

“He is technically-minded and understanding in a way that is refreshing to work with, bridging the gap between creative and dev with thoughtful questions and valued criticism.”

Rick Pierce
Stitch

I measure success by your results —
not my awards.
(But I do have a few.)

My work has been published and recognized over the years — but awards don’t solve problems. You do that with the right creative leadership, team structure, and clarity of direction. I’m proud to have been featured in Communication Arts, HOW Books, and Print, and to have picked up a few cubes from The Seattle Show, GDUSA, and others along the way.

The Seattle Show (multiple), Communication Arts (multiple), Print, GDUSA, HOW Books (multiple), Interactive Media Awards

About me

Connect with me

Creative direction
that drives results.

I turn strategy into ideas, and ideas into impact.

A Small Sample of Recent Projects