Dustin Vyers
Education
SMU Cox School of Business - Advanced Marketing Certificate (2019)
Harding University - Master of Science (MSE), Communication Emphasis (2002)
Harding University - BA, Advertising (2001)
Creative Director | Brand Builder | Art Direction + Marketing Strategy | 15+ Years Experience
Brand and marketing leader with hands-on experience driving product launches, integrated campaigns, ecommerce storytelling, promotional strategy, and cross-functional execution across email, paid media, website, social, and retail. Known for pairing strong creative instincts with business-minded thinking to grow engagement, strengthen customer loyalty, and drive measurable results. Thrives in fast-moving entrepreneurial environments where ownership, speed, and quality matter.. Dedicated to leveraging creativity for meaningful change.
I am looking for director and/or senior-level roles in creative direction, services, and operations.
My Work
Dustin Vyers Art LLC
Owner/Creative Director (December 2020 - Present)
Through my company, I provide strategic branding, marketing, and creative services for diverse clients, acting as an extension of in-house teams to elevate brand presence and engagement. I manage all aspects of business operations, from client relations to creative execution.
Lane Boots, Creative Director
(March 2024 - June 2026)
Lead creative direction and integrated go-to-market campaigns across ecommerce, email, paid media, social, retail, and product launches for a fast-growing DTC footwear brand.
Partner closely with the head of marketing, merchandising, retail, and leadership teams to support customer acquisition, engagement, and overall brand growth.
Develop seasonal campaigns, product launch strategies, promotional moments, and customer-focused storytelling designed to drive conversion while maintaining premium brand positioning.
Plan, concept, moodboard, and oversee photoshoots from pre-production through final asset delivery.
Oversee homepage refreshes, landing pages, product copy, and key customer touchpoints within the Shopify ecosystem to improve experience and performance.
Shape email/SMS and Post Pilot campaign creative and messaging tied to launches, promotions, retention efforts, and ongoing customer engagement.
Collaborate with partnerships and influencer team on creator campaigns, events, and social content that expand reach, build credibility, and generate brand awareness.
Created the Smokeshow Social Club campaign, which delivered a 21% increase in sales PoP and 141% YoY growth for the featured product line.
Utilize AI tools to speed ideation, improve creative output, and increase efficiency.
TACA, Brand Strategist
Helped lead a full organizational rebrand for a prominent arts nonprofit, creating a more modern and cohesive identity across digital, print, events, and donor-facing communications.
Continue to support annual fundraising events through campaign collateral, signage, invitations, and social media assets designed to drive engagement and attendance.
Whitebox Real Estate, Creative Marketing Strategist
(July 2022 - September 2025)
Served as an embedded creative and marketing partner to the Whitebox team, providing strategic support across branding, marketing, content development, video production (including scripting, casting, and art direction), social media, and recruitment initiatives.
Other clients include:
Nick Rodriguez Law, Case Management Studio/Dallas College, Jeff McKnight Interior Design, Discover Health, Cinch Jeans
Black Tie Dinner
Volunteer Board Member (January 2017 - December 2025)
Black Tie Dinner is the nation’s largest non-profit fundraising dinner for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community. The organization annually supports up to 20 North Texas beneficiaries and a national beneficiary, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation. Since 1982, Black Tie Dinner has distributed more than $32 million.
Co-Chair, 2023 — 2024
Co-led a 30+ member all-volunteer Board of Directors, driving organizational strategy, governance, fundraising, and community engagement efforts.
Spearheaded a strategic board reorganization and rebrand, adoption of a new mission and vision, and implementation of the organization’s first Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion statement
Concepted and launched the inaugural Black Tie Dinner Legacy Luncheon, a donor stewardship and engagement initiative designed to reconnect founders, former leaders, and long-time supporters with the organization, raising more than $27,000 in its first year while rebuilding relationships with key stakeholders and legacy donors.
Led annual strategic planning retreats, facilitating board alignment, goal setting, committee collaboration, and leadership development.
Served as a public ambassador for the organization, representing Black Tie Dinner across community events, sponsor meetings, media opportunities, and stakeholder engagements.
Helped oversee record-breaking fundraising efforts, resulting in more than $3 million distributed to LGBTQ+ supportive organizations, plus the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, during my two-year leadership term, including a record $1.73 million distribution in 2023 and the organizations first-ever $1 million+ distribution to local beneficiaries.
Co-Chair Elect, 2022
Partnered with board leadership and a strategic planning consultancy to identify opportunities for organizational growth, governance improvements, and long-term sustainability.
Supported all board committees to gain operational insight and strengthen cross-functional collaboration across sponsorship, beneficiary, governance, and fundraising initiatives.
Personally secured more than $60,000 in new sponsorships and donations while helping support a total annual distribution of $1.5 million to beneficiaries.
Chair, Board Governance, 2021
Modernized board recruitment efforts, expanding outreach strategies to attract a broader and more diverse pipeline of prospective board members.
Created new volunteer engagement opportunities and networking events to increase awareness of board service and strengthen leadership succession planning.
Storytelling, 2020
COVID presented many challenges for a very public and event-heavy organization, so the organization pivoted to a digital experience which streamed online. During this year, my role pivoted to community engagement and storytelling in which I utilized our virtual capabilities to conduct and record interviews with all of our beneficiaries to help tell their stories across our social platforms in an effort to increase individual donor funding during COVID.
Chair, Sponsorship, 2019
Developed sponsorship engagement and activation strategies in partnership with development leadership to strengthen sponsor retention and visibility.
Personally generated approximately $50,000 in cash and in-kind sponsorship support.
Chair, Creative Director & Marketing, 2017 — 2018
Directed brand strategy, marketing, creative development, and event communications for Black Tie Dinner and multiple year-round fundraising and community engagement events.
Led the development of integrated print, digital, experiential, and event branding campaigns that elevated attendance, donor engagement, sponsor participation, and overall brand visibility.
Skills: Strategic Planning · Public Speaking · Public Relations · Marketing · Free Thinking · Nonprofit Organizations · Project Tracking · LGBTQ Rights · Adobe Creative Cloud · Event Planning · Creative Strategy · Creative Problem Solving · Fundraising · Design · Project Management
Stratus
Brand & Marketing Manager (April 2019 - December 2020)
Healthcare company offering in-home EEGs to patients with epilepsy and seizures.
Managed and directed creative strategy for full company rebrand from Alliance Family of Companies to Stratus. The project included agency management, logo design, branding, and building a more robust lead-generation website.
Built and established company brand guidelines to create cohesive sales collateral, email campaigns, and various marketing materials.
Designed branding for internal and external Continuing Education Courses for EEG Technologists.
Created and directed the execution of experiential marketing activations at a high-profile conference.
Developed strategy and creative for a national campaign to lobby against government regulations impacting the company’s customers.
Concepted, built and edited landing pages and websites (through Squarespace and WordPress) that met marketing campaign strategy and objectives.
Created and presented new marketing initiatives to the company‘s national sales executives.
Lead team to execute strategies and processes for sales rep attendance at neurological conferences around the nation.
Manage relationships with various outside agencies for creative, social, and digital execution.
Eighty Three Creative
Creative Director (October 2015 - April 2019)
Creative & Marketing agency that I helped start in 2015.
As Creative Director at Eighty Three Creative, I managed a team of designers, production artists, photographers, videographers, animation specialists, and UX/UI designers. I worked very closely with the Account Managers, Marketing Communication Manager, Project Managers, and VP of Operations on daily client meetings and various client projects. Assisted the account team on building pitch decks for potential new clients and responding to RFPs, as well as attending pitch meetings. Played huge roles in creative and marketing strategies for clients.
Directed the photography and videography team on all client shoots for print, digital, and social media.
Clients included men's skincare brand, Jack Black, Hudson Construction Group, Mercanti Fiorentini, Lincoln Property Company, The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center, Fruit of the Earth, Nextlink, and the rebranding of Eighty Three Creative.
Built the initial agency brand from concept to completion
Collaborated with account managers to obtain knowledge of clients’ needs and established the creative brief
Participated in brand immersions for clients building a new business or rebranding
Conceived and implemented creative strategy, concepts, and guidelines in various internal and external projects and campaigns, overseeing them to completion
Wrote and implemented processes and procedures for each creative department
Helped to establish agency culture; created and implemented a unique internship program, and lead the team through weekly creative exercises
Networked and secured $230,000 in new business in the first three years of operation
Skills: Marketing · Free Thinking · Project Tracking · Adobe Creative Cloud · Social Media · Creative Strategy · Executive Visibility · Creative Problem Solving · Design · Corporate Identity
I was the very first employee of Eighty Three Creative, a small marketing and design agency in downtown Dallas. When the agency first started, I served as Art Director, Designer, Account Manager, Project Manager, Client-Greeter, and sometimes Copywriter.
In my first few months with Eighty Three Creative, I was responsible for landing our first big client, AT&T.
I managed a team of young graphic and digital designers on large and small social and branding projects. My personal branding projects include 400 Record, Bullion, Whitebox Real Estate, and The Tot. I art-directed branding projects for Event Mechanics Co., Labora, WESA, and Clarity Home Improvements.
City Electric Supply
Art Director (July 2014 - April 2016)
City Electric Supply is a leading worldwide electrical distributor serving Electrical Contractors in trade and industry across all market sectors.
Led creative development for corporate marketing initiatives, designing integrated print and digital campaigns that supported more than 500+ branch locations across North America.
Partnered with the Marketing Director and executive leadership to develop creative strategies that strengthened brand consistency across corporate, branch, and customer-facing communications.
Directed creative for the company's biennial leadership conference, producing environmental graphics, trade show exhibits, wayfinding, signage, and large-format installations for the Dallas Convention Center and Omni Hotel.
Collaborated with social media and marketing teams to concept and execute integrated campaigns, promotional initiatives, and customer engagement programs across digital channels.
Led the "Rebrand Freebrand" initiative, providing complete brand identity redesigns for selected electrical companies nationwide, including logo systems, visual identity, marketing collateral, and launch materials.
Designed a wide range of marketing assets including brochures, catalogs, sales collateral, advertising, direct mail, event materials, and branch marketing resources.
Managed multiple concurrent projects while partnering with internal stakeholders, branch leadership, vendors, and print partners to deliver high-quality work on schedule and within budget.
Helped establish brand standards and creative processes that improved consistency and efficiency across marketing initiatives.
Provided creative mentorship and art direction to designers and cross-functional marketing partners while maintaining a high standard of visual excellence.
National Roper Supply | David’s Western Wear
Art Director (May 2007 - October 2011)
NRS is a national western DTC operation for apparel and tack equipment. We produced four large catalogs annually.
Planned, designed, and helped execute the company's first national trade show at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, creating an immersive walk-through brand experience featuring more than 60 vendor partners.
Led creative direction across photography, catalogs, packaging, advertising, retail environments, and digital channels, establishing a cohesive brand experience across print, retail, and online touchpoints.
Directed and produced fashion and product photography, overseeing art direction, styling, studio operations, image retouching, and final production for print and web.
Designed seasonal catalogs, direct mail campaigns, packaging, signage, logos, and marketing collateral that supported both retail and wholesale sales initiatives.
Partnered with merchandising and leadership teams on product development, apparel design, assortment planning, and buying decisions to strengthen the overall customer experience.
Managed studio operations, product samples, photography schedules, and creative production workflows to deliver projects on time and on brand.
Recruited, trained, and mentored a team of creative interns each year, providing hands-on experience in photography, design, production, and marketing.
Managed early social media and digital marketing efforts, helping expand brand awareness and customer engagement across emerging online platforms.
Planned and produced annual company-wide events that strengthened employee engagement and company culture.
Pepperdine University
Student Activities Director (July 2006 - May 2007)
Led the planning, marketing, budgeting, and execution of campus-wide events and programming designed to foster student engagement and community.
Recruited, hired, trained, and managed a paid student staff responsible for event production, communications, and on-site operations.
Developed creative marketing campaigns and promotional materials that increased awareness and participation across campus initiatives.
Managed budgets, project timelines, vendors, and cross-functional partnerships to deliver high-quality programs from concept through execution.
Collaborated with university leadership and campus partners to create meaningful student experiences while improving operational efficiency and team performance.
Harding University
Director of Campus Life (May 2003 - June 2006).
Led the university-wide transition from a manual to digital social club selection system by partnering with IT and campus leadership, modernizing a high-profile annual process, improving operational efficiency, and enhancing the student experience.
Facilitated regular collaboration with faculty advisors and university leadership to communicate policy updates, improve organizational effectiveness, and strengthen the student experience.
Directed the strategy, planning, marketing, execution, and on-site leadership for campus-wide programming and experiences serving the entire student body, including weekday, weekend, and signature annual events.
Managed semester operating budgets for Campus Life, allocating resources across student programming, events, and organizational initiatives while maintaining fiscal accountability.
Recruited, mentored, and led the Student Activities Committee, developing student leaders responsible for event planning, promotion, and execution across campus.
Partnered with university leadership to design, develop, and launch the Campus Life office and student gathering space, creating a centralized hub for student engagement, meetings, and community building.
Oversaw the operations, governance, and annual recruitment process for 15+ student social clubs, coordinating leadership development, faculty partnerships, policy implementation, and year-round programming.
Developed creative campaigns and marketing materials that increased awareness and attendance for campus events through print, digital, and experiential communications.
Collaborated across academic departments, student organizations, facilities, admissions, athletics, and executive leadership to deliver engaging campus experiences that strengthened student involvement and university culture.