I’m Jacques Gross, a Strategic Creative Director from Johannesburg. I bridge business strategy and human behaviour to build clear message systems that teams can use and buyers actually feel. I’ve spent 18+ years across agency and client side, moving from Art Director to Creative Lead and then independent. My constant has been a meticulous eye for detail and a bias for decisions grounded in human behaviour: define the ask, craft the solution, and make it land where it matters—out in the world, not just in presentations or rollout plans.

I keep my work sharp by staying close to culture, art, music, photography, travel, well‑made things, and an ever‑obsessive awareness of behavioural science. I like fast learning, clean craft, clear thinking, and curiosity with teeth. I work directly with decision‑makers and visionaries to shape a Strategic Platform, turn it into a unique, reusable messaging system, and guide the rollout. I prioritise objective outcomes over optics or vanity metrics. I’m not the partner who will pretend to promise ROI/KPI guarantees. If you’re after resonance and clarity, I’m the right fit.

Design

I didn’t take the traditional ad‑school path. I learnt to think creatively on my feet, a baptism of fire: first as an Art Director at South Africa’s top creative agencies, then by leading creative teams and mentoring junior talent. Craft matters in how work is received: typography, layout, rhythm, resonance, and restraint. I don’t design in isolation or for aesthetics alone; I design to express decisions. That is how the work stays both beautiful and useful.

I build systems, not one‑offs: a Strategic Platform that turns into a coherent message and design language. Every touchpoint serves the same idea. That’s how a line in a deck becomes something people feel—in a store, on a site, in a product, at an event. It’s an approach that scales across visual identity and brand language, digital and CRM, user journeys, touchpoints, live events and activations, production design, etc – the full stack needed to show up with one story, everywhere.

MentorSHIP

At King James II—a small agency turned top performer—I led the work and grew people, from interns to seniors. Weekly working sessions, live decisions, and simple rules the team could use meant faster progress and fewer blind alleys.

I quickly moved from Group Head (Art) to Creative Director. Mentorship focused on two tracks: craft (design, layout, technical fluency) and thinking (audience insight, brand development, experience design). Both are equally important in the final output; neither works alone.

Agencies are high‑pressure, deadline‑heavy, zero‑excuses environments. They sharpen instincts but can also burn out curiosity. The trick is building habits that protect standards without killing the urge to explore. My approach pairs pressure‑tested skills – speed, precision, attention to detail – with the freedom to challenge and explore. This results in repeatable levels of quality output: teams that know why a choice was made and how to deliver it again tomorrow.

COnceptual thinking / Strategic Creative thinking

Work resonates when it starts with how people actually decide. I surface the human and cultural insights that matter, then shape them inside the brand’s values and commercial goals. Clarity beats clever. Decisions beat vibes. This shows up in single assets and in multi-channel builds: one direction, one voice, used everywhere. Creativity isn’t a garnish at the end anymore. It’s key to every stage of the journey. That’s how what you put into the world earns attention without wasting effort.

Guidance and collaboration

In the progression of my career I fell in love with collaborating and helping people grow how they think and approach their work. Paired with a human‑insight, behavioural‑science approach, I developed this into a core skill I use to integrate across both sides of marketing communications: the creative side and the business side. I act as a conduit between those who procure the work and those who plan and run it, aligning incentives and coaxing the strongest output.

At iStore I grew multiple graduates into highly skilled designers with strong tenure and lifted juniors into reliable operators who could ship at pace and standard. In agency settings I saw similar lift: internal promotions to mid within 10 months; juniors placed at top South African agencies; three non‑ad‑school creatives grown into capable juniors; mentees with 3× Loeries finalists (2015), 6× (2016), 4× (2017, within the first six months), plus 3× Pendoring finalists (2017) and a Lürzer’s Archive entry (2017).

Just making it happen

I don’t do “we can’t.” I turn every stone until there is a sound way forward. If a tool or skill is missing, I’ll figure out a solve for it so we can ship. Excuses are what get in the way, and I don’t believe in them in any event.

2017

CRISTAL AWARDS [Gold] 

Kwése Great Escape TVC

CRISTAL AWARDS [Gold] 

Saxonwold Shebeen - Innovative use of Social Media

CRISTAL AWARDS [Gold] 

Saxonwold Shebeen - Best use of Promo & Activation

CRISTAL AWARDS [BRONZE] 

Siemens Him, Her & Me  - Craft certificate: Branded Entertainment

Ciclope Awards

Kwése Great Escape TVC

Cannes Lions Finalist

Kwése Great Escape TVC

Loerie AWARDS [Finalists]

Saxonwold Shebeen Live activation and events

Siemens Him, Her & Me TVC

Kwesé Great Escape TVC

2016

Loerie AWARDS [Finalists]

Metro FM Mic Drop TVC

5FM Live Loud Integrated campaign

2015

Loerie Awards [Craft certificate] 

SABC 3 Real Comedy - Radio 

2014

2013

Loerie AWARDS [Finalist]

The Aveng Group 200 Days - Print

2011

Loerie Awards [GOLD]

MTN Ayoba - Integrated Campaign

2008

Loerie Awards [GOLD]

MTN Free Ad - TVC

Loerie Awards [SILVER]

MTN Free Ad - Integrated Campaign

2007

Loerie AWARDS [Finalist]

MTN Fingers - TVC