Switching to 1st person.
Despite being born in Vietnam and raised a Texan, my native tongue is not so good and my southern accent is nonexistent (I do say “y’all” though).
When I was a kid, my Pre-K teacher couldn’t pronounce my name and decided to call me Tommy, so my parents ran with that and changed my name on all of my school paperwork. In first grade, I begged my parents to change it back. And though now it’s frequently mispronounced, I’m proud of it.
I taught myself how to design from making layouts on Xanga and MySpace in middle school, and after enough spiraling, it led me to art direction and advertising.
Talking about Tommys, check out my writer Tommy’s portfolio here.
Experience
Associate Creative Director, Art @ Giant Spoon, NYC
Associate Creative Director, Art @ Annex88, NYC
Sr. Art Director @ Annex88, NYC
Art Director @ Saatchi & Saatchi, NYC
Jr. Art Director @ Saatchi & Saatchi, NYC
Art Direction Intern @ Saatchi & Saatchi, NYC
Art Direction Intern @ EnviroMedia, Austin
Recognition
2X GOLD / 2024 Muse Creative Awards / Reddit
WINNER / 2023 AdWeek Experiential Awards / Reddit
2X SILVER / 2023 Clio Entertainment / HBO
BRONZE / 2023 Clio Entertainment / HBO
GRAND EX / 2023 Ex Awards / Reddit
WINNER / 2023 Ex Awards / Reddit
SHORTLIST / 2023 One Show / HBO
HONOREE / 2022 Webby Awards / Stags’ Leap
AUDIENCE HONOR / 2022 Shorty Awards / Stags’ Leap
SHORTLIST / 2017 Clio Awards / Walmart
BRONZE / 2017 Cannes Lions / Walmart
7X SHORTLIST / 2017 Cannes Lions / Walmart
SILVER / 2017 American Advertising Awards / Behind the Seams
SHORTLIST / 2016 Future Lions / Caregiver by FitBit
GRAPHITE / 2016 D&AD New Blood / Amnesty International
4X BRONZE / 2016 American Advertising Awards / Austin Addys