EXECUTIVE CREATIVE DIRECTOR
BMI (BROADCAST MUSIC, INC.), NEW YORK NY
Jeff Gilligan is a creative professional with over two decades of experience. At BMI in New York City, he oversees the design and advertising initiatives for the nation’s leading performing rights organization. With a hands-on approach, Jeff brings a vision and an acumen honed across a wide array of platforms and creative campaigns. Prior to his tenure at BMI, Jeff spent two years as Head of Creative for 300 Entertainment and, before that, was the Creative Director of Digital for SpotCo, an entertainment advertising and branding agency. Brands like American Express, Atlantic Records, Citibank, Coca-Cola, Hamilton The Musical, Robin Hood Foundation, Sony Music and Warner Brothers, among others, have employed his services with awardwinning results. A former faculty member at the School of Visual Arts, his design aesthetic is focused on smart, contemporary work that is recognizable and resonant.
Has the pandemic changed your workplace and your workflow? Do you expect to return to pre-pandemic ways of working or will any changes become the ‘new normal’?
Luckily, the transition to a fully remote staff was seamless. Clear communication is inherent to designers, and now, more than ever, we have to be able to work through solutions and keep projects moving. I think as creatives we had a head start! I expect things to return to a ‘new normal,’ maintaining certain practices we learned during the pandemic that benefitted our process: video conferences to reduce the stress of in-person meetings, remote work as needed with strengthened teamwork, support and collaboration.
What do you expect 2021 to hold for graphic designers and the design business? Have the challenges of 2020 changed the way you think about your job and career or the role of design?
2021 will be and exciting and BUSY year for designers. Creatives of all types will be leaned upon to help with reopening and creating this new normal. We are more powerful than ever, responsible for spearheading an impact that is seen, heard and designed to affect change, not just make things look pretty. Designers are no longer simply working for clients and businesses, we are forming and developing communities, starting and supporting movements and influencing culture and politics.
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