Tom Eslinger's Biography

Tom works across Saatchi & Saatchi’s worldwide digital capability and is based in London. He works across the S&S network, with both a worldwide focus across network clients for integrated creative, strategy and operations, and an EMEA focus with respect to UK and European clients. He concentrates on the creative growth of Saatchi & Saatchi’s integrated and digital talent, adding new teams and capabilities and forging worldwide partnerships with best-in-breed creative partners.

The North Dakota native has been a Creative Director for Saatchi & Saatchi since joining in Wellington, New Zealand in 1998 and has worked on Toyota, Lexus, Visa, Sony Ericsson, P&G, T-Mobile, Telecom NZ, Heineken, Novartis and adidas. He was appointed in 2002 to the Worldwide Creative Board of Saatchi & Saatchi. Before joining the network, Tom was a senior lecturer and key creative in the establishment of Wanganui School of Design in New Zealand, one of the first creative-centred interactive media Degree programmes in the world.

Tom is a multiple Cannes Lion winner across outdoor, cyber, media, direct and promo for web and mobile work, and has judged, run Juries and been awarded internationally. In 2007, Tom was the President of the Cyber Lions jury at the Cannes International Advertising Awards. This was Tom’s third Cannes jury appearance, serving on the 2002 Cyber and 2006 Titanium juries.

Tom fell in love with typography in college and has designed fonts for nearly 20 years, with work appearing in RayGun magazine, The End of Print and CSA Archive/Design. His fonts have spelled stuff in designs for Swatch, Sega, Toyota, Levi’s, Warner Brothers, Urban Outfitters and Burton Snowboards.

Tom began creating mobile ideas at Saatchi & Saatchi New Zealand in 2001, launching projects for Rugby Super12, NZ All Blacks, Telecom, NZ Dairy Foods, More recently, Tom has worked across social media, applications, augmented reality and games for Toyota, 3M, Burton Snowboards, Coca-Cola, Visa, T-Mobile, Novartis as well as One Show, Cannes and D&AD winners T-Mobile Dance, UN Voices, Puppy Pulling Power and Telecom Rubbish Films.

Tom lives in a converted 19th century church in London with Berkeley The Dog, hoards comics, snowboards and recharges his batteries whenever possible at his humble, entirely solar-powered house on Great Barrier Island, New Zealand.