Next-Generation CTV Ad Formats

Context

I design on DIRECTV’s advertising innovation team, which develops the ad formats that come after the 30-second spot: pause ads, interactive overlays, and branded content experiences for Fortune 500 clients. Each format has to serve three parties at once: the viewer, the advertiser, and the platform.

My role

I own creative execution end to end, from the brief to production-ready specs. I concept and prototype in Figma, then work with product managers and engineers so that what ships matches the design pixel for pixel. I also contribute ideation and UX thinking to research on emerging formats.

The constraints

• The 10-foot screen. Everything is read from across a room and operated with a remote, on displays that range from calibrated OLEDs to decade-old sets.
• Brand meets platform. Every Fortune 500 advertiser arrives with strict brand guidelines, and every format has to stay consistent with the platform and respectful of what the viewer came to watch.
• Many surfaces. The same experience has to hold up across streaming and digital platforms and stay technically feasible on each.

Approach

• Translate, don’t decorate. I turn complex advertiser requirements and brand guidelines into ad experiences that are visually compelling and buildable.
• Systems before one-offs. New formats are designed as scalable systems, so the next advertiser and the next format start from a foundation rather than a blank canvas.
• Advocate across the lifecycle. I partner with product, engineering, and sales to hold the line on design quality and consistency from concept to launch.

Outcome

This is ongoing work across the full product lifecycle, from emerging-format research through production specs. One of its formats, Pause Ads, has its own case study on this site.