Open to opportunities

Steven Saltwell

@stevensaltwell

Message

Creative Director building research-led brand identities that drive commercial growth.

United Kingdom

Message

What I'm looking for

I’m looking to lead brand and creative systems where research becomes coherent identities—and work is tied to commercial results. I want to align teams around the audience, ship across channels, and grow creative functions that drive acquisition and retention.

I’m a creative leader who builds brand identities from research through to commercial outcome. I’ve spent a decade across Scottish agencies and venture-backed East African scale-ups, most recently as Head of Creative at Apollo Agriculture.

At Apollo Agriculture, I turned a fragmented, illegible brand into a single commercial identity across retail shelves, field operations, learning centres, and the digital product. I repositioned creative from a service line into a growth-driving function—CAC down 69% in six months, referral acquisition up 287%, and the acquisition target exceeded by 20%.

I build systems that bring scattered work into something coherent: aligning creative to the audience, setting the operating model, and shipping work tied to results. I also built and scaled the team (investment case, first hire, and designer development), delivering 100+ projects per season across three markets—while becoming a retained mentor after my Apollo tenure.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Creative Mentor

Current

Independent

Apr 2026 - Present (3 months)

Retained creative mentor to Apollo’s creative lead, supporting ongoing development sessions every six weeks following a career sabbatical from Apollo.

Creative Direction

Head of Creative

Apollo Agriculture

Nov 2022 - Apr 2026 (3 years 5 months)

Built Apollo’s creative function and repositioned a fragmented brand into a single commercial identity across retail, field operations, learning centres, and the digital product.

Creative Direction Brand Strategy Growth & Performance Creative Design Systems Campaign Development Art Direction Customer Segmentation Video Content Production

Fractional Creative Director

Saltwell Creative

Jul 2022 - Dec 2022 (5 months)

Provided short-term, CD-level creative direction for early-stage start-ups, including brand development, pitch decks, and video.

Creative Direction Brand Development Pitch Decks Video Content Production Art Direction

Brand Lead

Wefarm

Nov 2021 - Aug 2022 (9 months)

Led brand repositioning as the company pivoted from an SMS community platform to a digital marketplace, including identity development and creative for loyalty and acquisition/retention tactics.

Brand Strategy Campaign Development Growth & Performance Creative Customer Segmentation Art Direction

Video & Design Lead

BIG Partnership

Jun 2019 - Nov 2021 (2 years 5 months)

Joined to elevate the agency’s creative output, introducing video, animation, and radio as new revenue streams while leading that output and mentoring junior creatives.

Creative Direction Video Content Production Art Direction Animation Radio Mentorship