Resume — Brad Holem | Monocled Moose Studios

Twenty years in, I've learned the hard part of creative work isn't making something look good. It's deciding what to make in the first place, and why. I've run creative projects for a B2B ad agency, shaped a brand for a college, built a restaurant's brand from nothing, and now I'm writing, designing, and shipping an entire game studio's catalog by myself. Every one of those jobs taught me the same thing: get the thinking right before anyone touches a keyboard, and the execution takes care of itself. These days that means writing tight briefs, building the systems that keep them coming, and using AI tools as a tool to move faster without cutting corners on the thinking.

Core Competencies

Creative Direction & Brand Strategy

Brand development Visual identity Campaign & launch strategy Creative concepting Messaging frameworks

Content & Design

Graphic design UI/UX design Photography Social media content Stream/broadcast design Visual storytelling

Creative Operations

Production playbooks Content calendars Pipeline management CMS platforms Web technologies AI-assisted workflows

Leadership

Team & vendor management Cross-functional collaboration Budget oversight Hiring & training Client & executive presentations

Digital Marketing & Campaigns

Campaign strategy Email marketing Landing pages SEO Digital advertising Testing & iteration

Copywriting & Content

Scripts Headlines Ad copy UI/UX copy Brand voice Creative briefs

Game Design & Development

TTRPG design Worldbuilding & lore writing Narrative systems Godot 4 / GDScript AI behavior design Boss & encounter design

Experience

Founder & Creative Director

2024 – Present

Monocled Moose Studios · Kabankalan City, Philippines

Founded and run Monocled Moose Studios, an independent creative studio producing tabletop books, video games, and an ongoing periodical series, with six titles on the roadmap through 2027.
Launched Odin's Own, a Norse mythology TTRPG sourcebook published on DriveThruRPG — original setting, custom factions, and multi-stage boss encounters, with graphic design, art, writing, gameplay, premise, and lore all done in house.
Launched Mr Wonderful's Traveling Circus, built on the same production and launch infrastructure as Odin's Own, with its own setting and tone. Key art was commissioned; all writing and layout was done internally.
Grew BlackDragonRP, a three-year live-streamed original campaign with 50+ episodes on YouTube and Twitch, serving as sole worldbuilder, lore designer, and Game Master, and designing the stream's visual overlays and branding. It remains the studio's founding audience.
Designing and building three separate PC games in Godot 4: one merging chess mechanics with TTRPG combat (AC, HP, d20 rolls) and a full AI opponent system with distinct personalities refined through iterative playtesting; a trivia contest with RPG story features; and a companion video game to Odin's Own with old-school RPG vibes and cozy pixel graphics.
Built the studio's brand identity and website (monocledmoosestudios.com), an internal production dashboard, launch playbooks, and a 6-month content calendar to run every title's production and marketing from one hub.
Building out the studio's marketing operations: newsletter infrastructure, a weekly content brief for the studio's content lead, DriveThruRPG bundle configuration, and a VTuber-style streaming presence as the next community channel.

Business Owner & Creative Director

2017 – Present

Spanishtown Cantina and Bakery · Kabankalan City, Philippines

Own and operate a full-service restaurant, personally responsible for all creative output: brand identity, photography, graphic design, social media content, and promotional materials.
One of the longer-surviving food businesses in the city; navigated COVID and sustained growth through consistent brand presence and community engagement.
Manage all operational functions — hiring, training, inventory, financials, and supplier relationships — alongside the creative workload.

VP of Marketing, Communications & Technology

2013 – 2015

Southland College · Kabankalan City, Philippines

Held executive-level leadership across marketing, communications, and IT.
Led a full rebrand and marketing overhaul for an institution of higher education — brand strategy, visual identity, and messaging architecture.
Created the institutional tagline “Be a Southlander, Be Empowered,” still in active use years after departure.
Directed enrollment marketing campaigns that drove 10–12% growth; managed marketing, communications, and IT teams simultaneously.
Oversaw all creative production: digital, print, web, and internal communications across a multi-department institution.

Director of Marketing Technology

2001 – 2013

Interline Creative Group · Palatine, Illinois, USA

Served as the primary creative technology lead at a B2B agency for 12 years. Clients included Honeywell, Sloan Valve, Geberit, and Chicago Faucet.
Ran direct sales and multichannel campaigns across print, direct mail, and email, plus B2B trade publication and magazine advertising in print and digital editions; handled market research, offer development, and conversion-focused landing pages.
Led creative concepting, client pitches, and UI/UX design for marketing campaigns, product websites, landing pages, and digital experiences, working closely with other designers and strategists.
Designed and built CMS-driven product catalogs, client portals, lead tracking systems, and automated marketing tools — bridging creative vision with functional delivery.
Served as digital and technology lead with 2 direct reports, interfacing closely with production, research, and client management on every project from brief to launch.
Helped evolve the agency from 60% single-client dependence to a diversified client book by expanding creative and technical scope into new categories.