Human Design Hires David Smail as Creative Director

Full-service digital/advertising agency Human Design has announced the appointment of David Smail as a creative director. This is the third senior hire for the agency in a month. In June, Scott Bain joined as strategy director and Daniel Clarke was hired as managing director of the new L.A. office. David reports to Human Design co-founder and chief creative officer John Weiss.

David will work on Nike, Twitter, Google and across all agency accounts and supervise the design team. He will be based in Boulder, but he will also work on projects for Human Design’s L.A. office. 

“David’s a rare blend of pure creative talent, entrepreneurial hustle, and a seasoned leader. He’s led teams at Ogilvy, JWT and BBDO, yet you get the sense that he has the same energy and love for creative, and hunger to win, as someone fresh out of college,” said John Weiss.

Since August 2016, David has been working as a professor of practice in Creative Advertising at the University of Colorado in Boulder while also taking on projects as a freelance creative director.

“My time at CU Boulder has been great, but the thing I’ve missed most over the last few years has been working closely with teams,” said David. “John and Matt have put together a formidable crew, creating work of substance, and I’m super excited to be a part of it and contribute to it.”

David spent almost 20 years in senior creative roles at Y&R, Ogilvy, and JWT in various parts of Asia. His most recent agency exploit was founding the Vietnam office of BBDO in 2007 and serving as its chairman and executive creative director for nine years.

Brands that David has worked on overseas include Citibank, Dove, HSBC, Ford, KFC, Mars/Wrigley, Mercedes Benz, Johnson & Johnson, Nike, PepsiCo, and Sony. He started his advertising career as a copywriter for Think Advertising in 1995.

Since July 2018, David has been a board member for The One Club for Creativity in Denver, focusing on building its mentorship program and organizing its annual award show.