Leigh Chandler

• Design Director
  Title
• Vault49
  Company
• New York
  City
• Design
  Industry
• About
  "Leigh is a consummate creative talent whose achievements are well represented by the clients, brands, and award juries who place her work on a pedestal.
  Yet above all this, what is truly remarkable about Leigh is so much more than her unique creative vision. Leigh inspires. She compels those around her to achieve new heights both creatively and personally and she does it through magnetism rather than directives. Leigh is a driving force, a visionary, and a leader from the front who can bring out the best from established designers while also nurturing emerging talent with pragmatism, respect, and class.
  Leigh manages to embody all of this while being a thoroughly decent person of the highest integrity. She is more than just an integral part of Vault49, Leigh changes the game for our industry." Jonathan Kenyon, Founder and Managing Creative Director, Vault49
  
  Leigh re-located to New York in February of this year to join the inimitable creative playground that is Vault49 and now collectively directs the design team alongside founders Jonathan Kenyon and John Glasgow.
  Previous to her role at Vault49, Leigh gained over 13 years industry experience in the world of brand and experience design, working for Fitch, Identica and The One Off in both London and New York.
  
  Leigh is a unique creative talent. Capable of understanding, engaging and delighting clients and peers with a balance of pragmatism and creativity, she has natural leadership ability, gets to the heart of the issue, clearly articulates the solution and provides those working with her confidence and belief in everything she does.
  Leigh is able to create visionary ideas and then ground them with exacting design precision – be it brand identity executions, live art events, environments, product, packaging - her experience and inner confidence means nothing is off limits.
  
  Leigh’s projects are always stand-out pieces that make clients famous and awards cabinets bulge. In 2012, Leigh led the Fitch design team to create the groundbreaking global campaign for Molton Brown’s new fragrance line, ‘Navigations Through Scent'. This work went on to win a Design Week Award as well as winning gold in the WPPed Cream awards. The work redefined the Molton Brown brand helping them to achieve “Best British Brand” status that year by the CEW Beauty Awards. It also redefined the beauty category, being featured in a Stylus trend report as an example of an exciting new venture into a previously untapped creative arena:
  
  “With the launch of its new range of five, luxury unisex fragrances, accompanied by a vibrant and off-brand campaign, UK heritage skin, beauty and haircare brand Molton Brown appears to be cruising into bold new territory. We investigate where the radical departure is taking it, and what it might signal for other fragrance and beauty brands.”
  
  http://www.stylus.com/kdjvpw
  
  Other award winning projects include the branding and environments for HiQ from Goodyear Dunlop (D&AD in-book, Design Week Awards winner and DBA Design Effectiveness silver) and the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum identity (Benchmark awards winner) among others.
  The work for HiQ again re-defined the category, this time for car care. Previously a subject far from creative minds, this arena was ripe for a re-think. This work was featured in the creative press including Coolhunter:
  
  “The aim was to revolutionize the way fast fit car care is delivered and to develop a fresh retail concept that would set new standards in this sector. And it looks like they have come up with the goods.”
  
  http://www.thecoolhunter.net/design/The-Friendly-Garage
  
  Leigh also has a real eye for scouting and attracting young creative talent – not only establishing, branding and launching the global Fitch initiative for recruiting graduate talent – RAW - but also taking a keen interest in student competitions, sitting on the jury for Spatial Design for the D&AD New Blood awards in 2013.
  
  http://www.fitch.com/careers/fitch-raw/
  
  Leigh’s future at Vault49 is extremely promising as she leads the charge into complete strategic brand initiatives, adding value to Vault49s’ clients, expediting revenues and bringing depth and breadth of knowledge to the studio’s collective of artists and designers.
  She leads by example, works hard and plays hard, she has retained her 'spark' under pressure and has earned genuine respect from peers, clients and industry leaders through her talent and manner.
  Leigh is a pleasure to work with and a great person to inspire new people and drive the studio.
  A creative’s creative, a directors’ partner and a client's dream.
  
  Articles & thought pieces:
  
  Opinion: Colour strategy: it's not all black & white
  http://www.retail-focus.co.uk/features/706-opinion-colour-strategy-its-not-all-black-a-white-825
  
  Job interviews by video link: insight on the benefits - and the pitfalls
  http://www.thedrum.com/news/2014/02/25/job-interviews-video-link-adjust-your-set-23red-fitch-powermeeter-and-rivs-digital
  
  Full list of awards:
  
  2003 FX Awards - Best Temporary Exhibition
 (AUDI FORUM)
  2005 Benchmark Awards - Best Institutional Branding
 (KELVINGROVE ART GALLERY & MUSEUM)
  2008 DBA Design Effectiveness - Silver
 (HiQ / GOODYEAR DUNLOP)
  2008 DandAD - In Book
 (HiQ / GOODYEAR DUNLOP)
  2008 Design Week Awards - Retail Interior: Winner
 (HiQ / GOODYEAR DUNLOP)
  2008 Benchmark Awards - Best Automotive Branding
 (HiQ / GOODYEAR DUNLOP)
  2008 Fitch WW Chairman's Award - Gold
2011 (HiQ / GOODYEAR DUNLOP)
  
2011 WPPed Cream Awards - Posters: Highly Commended
 (MOLTON BROWN)
  2012 WPPed Cream Awards - Point of Sale Design: Gold
 (MOLTON BROWN)
  2012 Design Week Awards - Point of Sale Design: Winner
 (MOLTON BROWN)
  2013 WPPed Cream Awards - Tobacco category: Gold (CAMEL ARTISTS: CENTENARY)
  2014 WPPed Cream Awards – Tobacco category: Gold (CAMEL ARTISTS: RIO)
  

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  Added: August 2014 • Updated: August 2014