Aren Johnson
Selected Works

Creative Direction
Media Strategy
Narrative Development
Talent Positioning

Positioned the client for an editorial feature that scaled her beyond internet visibility and into a sharper conversation around fashion, identity and personal history. The story was built around her cultural identity rather than her online presence, reinforcing her Japanese and Black heritage, her relationship to grillz, and beauty as a form of cultural storytelling.

The feature solidified the client’s editorial identity and positioned her as a cultural figure with a distinct point of view. Dazed framed the project around Sukii Baby using grillz to explore identity and self-definition, strengthening her long-term positioning across fashion, beauty and cultural storytelling.

Brand Alignment
Creative Direction
Editorial Strategy
Talent Positioning

Supported the client’s move further into an elevated fashion and editorial space by aligning her visual identity, personal story and cultural relevance with the Office Magazine audience — framing her beyond the online-creator label as a personality with a defined point of view, from styling and image direction to the broader cultural context around her.

Office Magazine published “Sukii Baby Is Limitless And You Can Be Too,” with Models.com listing the Officezine Spring 2025 Sukii Baby x Salomon cover story. The placement expanded her fashion credibility and shifted the narrative from viral recognition toward long-term cultural positioning.

Campaign Development
Concept Development
Event Production + Logistics
Venue Scouting
Talent Acquisition

Developed the concept for Nike Air Max Day with the founder. Managed venue scouting and talent acquisition across the photo campaign and event performances. Built three campaigns positioning three photographers as creative and art directors of their own shoots, giving each artist ownership over how the shoe was represented. Ran the full run of show as the day shifted from gallery exhibition to night rave.

4,000 RSVPs against a 1,000-person capacity. The activation generated significant impressions for Nike NYC, and the collaborative t-shirt released as a free giveaway is still resold today — a lasting piece of Nike’s cultural footprint in the city.

Brand Partnership Strategy
Cultural Positioning
Talent Alignment

Positioned the client within a sports, fashion and culture moment connecting Jordan Brand, the LA Lakers and popular culture — aligning the placement with her personal style and the energy of the event so she showed up with intention rather than simply as a guest.

A placement that reinforced her as a fashion and culture figure in a high-visibility sports context, expanding her reach across sports and lifestyle culture while strengthening her relationship with Jordan Brand.

Brand Partnership Strategy
Global Event Support
Influencer Marketing
Talent Acquisition

Identified and aligned creators, tastemakers and cultural figures for Jaguar’s global activations, matching the personality of each vehicle line with talent carrying credibility across design, fashion, lifestyle and travel. Recommendations were tailored around audience, visual identity, location, brand safety and long-term partnership potential.

A more intentional casting approach supporting Jaguar’s global influencer strategy across Formula E and Land Rover activations — connecting a heritage automotive brand with contemporary voices while maintaining premium positioning.

Creator Acquisition
Influencer Marketing
Talent Strategy

Identified creators representing luxury, design, taste and trend foresight — talent who could carry the brand visually and culturally, not just deliver reach. Developed talent strategy for Range Rover’s Above the Line campaign, including the selection of @okdeon as a face of the Range Rover Evoque.

Positioned Range Rover through a more modern cultural lens while protecting its premium identity — contemporary influence and luxury lifestyle positioning, without diluting the brand.

Campaign Development
Creative Strategy
Ideation
Influencer Marketing

Contributed to ideation for Candy Crush’s large-scale activation strategy, translating a globally recognized digital game into a real-world moment. Pitched a drone show concept over New York City to bring scale, spectacle and media value to the campaign.

The activation created large-scale impressions and strong public visibility, giving the brand a tangible real-world presence and a visual moment built for shareability.

Creative Strategy
Ideation
Influencer Marketing
Talent Partnership Support

Strategized the collaboration across video, photo and strategy, with consistent branding across animation, scent storytelling, experiential design, social content and talent touchpoints. Lil Baby’s connection to anime and personal memory gave the campaign a clear creative throughline.

Brought Axe into a youth-culture conversation through music, grooming and animation. Covered by Hypebeast, Ebony and Revolt — a cohesive brand moment extending beyond product into culture, media and storytelling.

Creative Direction
Experiential Design
Project Management
Production & Storytelling
Partnerships & Sponsorships
Talent Management

As manager and creative director for Sukii Baby, oversaw communication, timelines and partner coordination. Adidas approached us for a car-build activation based on the storytelling we’d built on social. Developed an episodic series documenting a car built from scratch and the visual language for the reveal event — four months from concept to execution, grounded in local car culture through sponsor and community relationships.

The content series garnered over 1 million views, and the live reveal established Sukii Baby’s legitimacy within car culture alongside Adidas’s support of the Los Angeles car community.

Brand Partnerships
Creative Concept Development
Cultural Strategy
Editorial / Zine Production
Retail Activation

Supported On Running’s visibility push following its new NYC flagship. Conceived a physical zine and short film on how local New York creatives live in the product, distributed free in the windows of four respected magazine shops — with golden tickets hidden in select copies for a free pair.

The zines sold out by the end of day one and the window installations stayed up for over a week, establishing a lasting cultural marketing relationship between Manual and the brand.

Head of Collaboration
Partnership Development
Production Oversight
Asset Delivery & Coordination
BTS Photography

Procured and led a partnership with The North Face for Earth Day: three activations with a branded Manual booth at each. Oversaw delivery of all assets, including 3,000 disposable cameras for The North Face’s retail locations globally, working with TNF’s agency to hit deadlines and shooting behind-the-scenes at every event.

A fully executed multi-city activation series across retail and events, giving The North Face an authentic, culturally engaged presence and global recognition for both brands.

Brand Partnerships
Creative Direction
Merchandise Development
Retail Activation
Talent Commissioning

Built the relationship with Carhartt WIP for a collaboration at our NYC pop-up — commissioning a young photographer’s original body of work with a limited t-shirt line built around the imagery. Followed with a second partnership in Los Angeles: a short film, gallery of stills, companion zine and free item for guests.

The NYC event drew hundreds, including Frank Ocean; the shirts sold out same day and several prints sold. The LA work has since been exhibited by the photographer in galleries worldwide.

Assistant Art Director
Photo Assistant

Assistant Art Director
Photo Assistant

Assistant Art Director
Photo Assistant