Campaign’s Creative Faces to Watch 2020 – Leomerish Gale Leyco, Art director, Merkle

Campaign’s Creative Faces to Watch 2020 – Leomerish Gale Leyco, Art director, Merkle

Age: 24

Cristiano Tonnarelli, executive creative director, Merkle MENA: After chatting with Leo for five minutes you see she understands a lot. She is hungry, full of energy and empathic. Despite her age, she is extremely strategically focused, sharp, insightful and brave. I wish I had been like her when I was her age. Since she joined, Leo has shown her ability to merge conceptualisation and design. Thanks to her fashion touch, I can see her sitting in any creative department in Milan, Paris, London or New York, with the same self-confidence.

Career highlights

My first billboard born from my own concept/idea up for Bridgestone MEA, along the busiest road in Dubai, Sheikh Zayed road was definitely a highlight. Remembering how I was just sketching, trying to make sense of what I envisioned in my head, minutes before pitching it to the team. And them connecting with the idea, believing in it, and then it’s live in Dubai (and in Abu Dhabi, Morocco and Lebanon). What’s remarkable for me is the trust given to me by my team and our client. If you believe in your idea, it shows.

Guiding principles

A graduation speech delivered by my favourite writer, Neil Gaiman, resonates to whatever age or situation you might be in, and that’s to “make good art.” (Search for it.)

Dream job

Start my own vintage clothing store.

Side hustle

Check out The Long Way Home podcast on Spotify. It’s a passion project for me and my friend to bridge the gap of our millennial experiences working and living away from home and to reconnect with our friends back in the Philippines. It’s also a release from all the daily pressures where we can be silly and just laugh at ourselves. We’re working on season two.

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