hire james stanley. purpose. presence. permanence.

one designer. every discipline. no hand-offs lost in translation.

Hiring a senior creative is a bet on judgment. Portfolios show what someone made. They rarely show how that person thinks under a deadline, how they handle feedback from five stakeholders, or whether they can carry an idea from a sketch to a finished video without the quality dropping at each hand-off.

This page is for recruiters and hiring managers who want that fuller picture. I am James Stanley, and I am considering remote Senior Graphic Designer and Art Director roles. A Marketing Director role is worth a conversation when the fit is strong.

at a glance

• Bluejacket Creative — Creative Director and Owner since 1994. Branding, website design and development, motion graphics, video, photography, and print for small businesses and action sports and lifestyle brands.
• New Benefits, Dallas-Fort Worth — Senior Graphic Designer / Digital Media Content Creator since July 2019. High-volume B2B2C benefits SaaS marketing, motion graphics, and video for brokers, employers, employees, associations, and universities.
• #DontSuck — Co-founder and apparel designer since 2012.
• Vista Ford of Oxnard / Vista Ford Lincoln group — Creative Consultant, Marketing Director, and Art Director path.
• U.S. Navy — Mass Communication Specialist, more than ten years of post-9/11 service.
• Brooks Institute — BFA, Graphic Design.
• Location — Mineola, Texas, in East Texas. Remote only, with travel as needed.

choose your path

Each of the pages below goes deeper on a specific role and industry.

Senior Graphic Designer, employee benefits and insurance

Seven-plus years designing for a benefits SaaS platform that reaches brokers, employers, employees, associations, and universities. Read more on remote senior graphic designer, employee benefits.

Art Director, automotive and aftermarket

Dealer group art direction and marketing experience, plus work connected to Borla, Hoonigan, HRE Wheels, and SEMA, and hands-on automotive photo and video. Read more on remote art director, automotive.

Marketing Director, automotive

A creative-led leadership option for automotive and aftermarket brands that want strategy and execution in one person. Read more on remote marketing director, automotive.

Graphic Designer, action and adventure sports

Apparel, identity, photo, video, and motion for brands built on riding, racing, and the outdoors, backed by co-founding #DontSuck. Read more on remote graphic designer, action sports.

what makes the work different

range without dilution

Branding, web, motion, video, photography, and print are all things I do at a professional level, not things I dabble in. For a hiring team, that means one senior hire who can lead a campaign across every format and talk credibly with photographers, developers, editors, and printers.

volume without sloppiness

Benefits SaaS marketing is relentless. Multiple audiences, constant product updates, partner co-brands, compliance review. Doing it well since 2019 has made me fast and organized, with systems and templates that keep a brand consistent no matter how many assets ship in a week.

cinematic standards

The automotive and lifestyle work on this site reflects how I approach everything: light, composition, pacing, restraint. Premium brands notice. So do their customers.

military discipline

Ten-plus years as a Navy Mass Communication Specialist shaped how I work: prepared, accountable, clear in communication, steady when plans change.

role criteria

I would rather be upfront than waste anyone's time.

• Work arrangement: remote only. I am based in Mineola, Texas, near Tyler, with a long Dallas-Fort Worth work history, and I travel for shoots, launches, events, and planning.
• Titles: Senior Graphic Designer or Art Director. Marketing Director when the fit is strong.
• Preferred industries: insurance, employee benefits, automotive, automotive aftermarket, extreme sports, and adventure sports.
• Agencies: in-house is my focus. Agency roles are considered only when the agency specializes in automotive, autosports, motorsports, or action sports.
• Compensation: competitive senior-level compensation appropriate to the role.

how I work on a remote team

• Clear intake. I ask the questions up front that prevent a third round of revisions.
• Visible progress. Work in progress is shared early, status is never a mystery, and deadlines are communicated before they are at risk.
• Clean delivery. Files are labeled, organized, and built so the next person can use them.
• Documented systems. Templates and brand rules are written down so the team can move without waiting on me.

explore the portfolio

The portfolio is organized by discipline: branding, graphic design, web design, photography, and videography. The clients page lists brands I have worked with, and about tells the longer story.

questions worth asking me

If you are evaluating candidates, ask me how I would handle a launch that changes scope the week before going live, how I keep a brand consistent across dozens of co-branded partner assets, or how I would brief a photographer on location when I cannot be there. Those answers will tell you more than any portfolio page.

get in touch

The best way to reach me about a role is a direct message on LinkedIn. I read and reply to every message personally. If email works better for your process, use the contact page and I will get back to you promptly.