Give the champion
a challenger.
dish / DIRECT MAIL · ART DIRECTION · DESIGN LEADERSHIP
We introduced lifestyle photography into dish’s direct mail, iterated the creative, and beat the existing champion. A more human connection became a stronger creative direction.
Design: Kathleen Buenviaje and Melanie L. · Art direction: Kathleen Buenviaje · Copy: Matt A.
The challenge
The existing champion had held its spot for several years. I built an internal direct mail team and collaborated with our strategy team to help shape a new direction using their old research.
Our task was to find a more compelling way to connect with customers while staying grounded in direct-response best practices.
The creative shift
We introduced lifestyle photography and a lighter visual approach, bringing an emotional connection into the mailer alongside the offer.
The photography gave the communication a human context while the promotional message remained clear.
Iterate. Learn. Improve.
We iterated the creative against the existing champion, refining the direction as we worked toward stronger performance.
The lifestyle-led redesign outperformed the champion and became the new creative to beat.
My role
I led the art direction and co-designed the work with Melanie L., partnering with copywriter Matt A.
Beyond the individual piece, I built the team and its creative foundation: reviewing work, mentoring designers, improving processes, and creating space for feedback and shared learning.
A library of our own.
Made for real life.
I helped create a robust lifestyle photography shoot to build dish’s own custom photographic library, giving the brand imagery created for its needs instead of relying on stock photography.
Building the library
The shoot created a collection of everyday settings and moments that could support the brand’s creative. It gave us a custom source of lifestyle imagery to draw from across our work.
I helped shape the shoot through art direction, with work spanning mood boards, pre-production, casting, location scouting, and on-set direction.
Selected images from the custom dish lifestyle photography library.