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Creative + Partnership

Senior creative direction, on retainer, without the overhead of a hire.

Fractional creative direction and white-label support for agencies and in-house teams. Reserved capacity, held to your standard, priced to reward commitment.

Who it’s for

Agencies at capacity who need senior hands they can put in front of a client. In-house teams that need real creative judgment but not a department.

You walk away with

A senior partner who shows up, holds the line on quality, and makes the work better, without adding headcount.

  1. 01Fractional Creative Direction
  2. 02White-label Agency Support
  3. 03Embedded Team Weeks
  4. 04Overflow + Pitch Support
  5. 05Creative Review + Direction

One service. Two very different problems. Pick yours.

For agencies at capacity

A brief lands and the team's already full. That's not a staffing problem, it's a good week. Reserved senior capacity, white-label by default, deployed under your own name.

See how agency partnerships work

For in-house teams outgrowing freelancers

You don't need a creative department. You need someone senior in the room for the calls that matter, on a fraction of a full-time schedule.

See how it works for in-house teams
How it works
  1. 01Fit call. A short conversation about the work, the team, and the gap. No commitment.
  2. 02Scope and shape. Monthly hours, cadence, communication. Most land between 20 and 60 hours a month.
  3. 03Embed. Fast onboarding on the brand, the team, the calendar. After that, I'm part of it.
  4. 04Review and evolve. A regular check-in to scope up, scope down, or shift direction.
Pricing logic

One-off work is billed at the standard project rate. Committed capacity isn't. The more hours you reserve and the longer the term, the lower the effective rate, up to 20% below project pricing. There's no rate card because it moves with volume and commitment, and that's the point. Commit more, pay less per hour, plan the year instead of the week.

Availability

The calendar holds a fixed number of engagements, because embedded work only scales so far before the standard slips. Right now that's only a few agencies and limited retained businesses. As the roster fills, lead times stretch. Worth the conversation sooner, not later.

Confidentiality

Confidential by default. I show up as your team, as Serif + Gold, or invisibly, whatever the relationship needs. Nothing goes public without asking first.

Who it's not for

A one-off task with no interest in an ongoing relationship. This is reserved capacity over time, not a quick pair of hands for an afternoon. If that's what you need, a freelance marketplace will be faster and cheaper. I'll say so.

Questions

Can you work under our agency's name?

Yes. White-label creative direction is a core part of this service. Serif + Gold works behind your agency's brand, on your clients, under your name, whether that is overflow, embedded support or pitch cover. Your agency keeps the client relationship and the credit.

Who actually does the work?

You work directly with Aaron Armstrong, a creative director with over 20 years of experience across CPG, craft beverage, food and consumer brands. There is no account manager relaying feedback to a junior designer. The person doing the strategic thinking is the same person doing the design work.

Do you only offer retainers, or can we start with a single project?

Both. Many clients start with a defined project and some move into an ongoing retainer for continued creative direction or design support. There is no minimum commitment required to start.

Let’s talk about where your brand should be.

No pitch deck, no hard sell. A conversation about the work, the team, and the gap a partner would fill.