Hi, I’m Dara!
I’m an art director, designer, and creative director based in New York City.
Let’s work together! Reach out for my availability: darasoukam@yahoo.com
Get to know more about me ↓
Concept + Craft
I do both art direction and design. Ideation and iteration. I’m a hands-on art director that crafts beautiful work from start to finish.
Projects: digital • social • print • integrated campaigns • video • responsive web design • graphics • nontraditional • tv
Skills: Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, XD, Figma, Sketch
Agency Life
I’ve worked full-time at places such as Digitas, Lowe Worldwide, and About.com. I’ve freelanced at countless other agencies around NYC and remotely.
Along the way, my work received a One Show Merit Award. I had the honor of representing my agency at the Cannes Advertising Festival. My design team also received a Webby Award for our digital design work.
While I’ve mostly worked at ad agencies, I’ve also done stints in-house. Contact me to learn more: darasoukam@yahoo.com
Client Love
See what clients are saying about me
“Dara is a highly dependable and organized creative director. She manages her own accounts effectively and is always ready to help put out fires on other accounts; and she does this with skill and determination. Dara has a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of visual design (especially in the digital space) as well as deep experience in consumer and wellness marketing. Dara comes up with insightful creative ideas that solve real problems making the breadth of her work extremely relevant. Not only is Dara a professional but she has a unique creative spirit to go with it which makes her a rare one out there. Looking forward to working with her again.”
“Dara has a fantastic sense of design and a well-developed skill at concepting. She was able to take lead on multiple projects with very little supervision. She wasn’t afraid to speak up for her designs, but took direction with grace. I would love to work with Dara again, and look forward to the day that happens again.”
“Dara joined our team during one of our big launches. With the fast-paced timelines and amount of work coming in the door, we needed someone with experience. Dara jumped right into the mix with little needed direction. She took on and owned her own projects. With her sharp eye to design details and strong UX knowledge, I knew I could always count on Dara to deliver strong work. Dara is very reliable and a big team player, who played a valuable role in helping us succeed with our launch. I hope to work with Dara soon again!”
“When Dara freelanced for my creative team, there was an urgent need for her to come in, onboard quickly and help support several integrated multi-channel projects with tight timelines. The role required a solid working knowledge of digital media, strong aesthetic design sensibilities, a mature work ethic, impeccable organizational skills and the ability to multi-task within a frenetically paced environment. In addition to meeting these expectations, she also consistently put in the necessary effort for months on end to deliver the caliber of creative product we needed to achieve. Along the way, her positive attitude and calm demeanor easily added to the agency’s culture, and meshed with our tight-knit team’s steady rhythm. Dara is easy to work with and I’m happy to recommend her work.”
“We lucked out and were able to get Dara to join our team here to help with large initiatives and tactics for a major global launch. Such an amazing mix of a solid print designer, great digital mind and a super sweet spirit. That trio is nearly impossible to find, but again, we lucked out. While here the team fell in love with her spirit and work ethic, and the client fell in love with the work she did. Extremely focused, hard worker, and a pleasure to have had on our team. Not only would I refer her to anyone, but I will constantly try to create situations to bring her back into the fold.”
“I wish there were more Daras in this industry. Not people named Dara per se, but people who stay late until they’ve run out ideas; people who aspire to see their name in award show books; people who listen before they shout; and people who make the most out of any assignment no matter how small.”
“I have had the distinct pleasure of working with Dara at both Digitas and on several freelance gigs. I can say that I couldn’t ask for a better partner. She is skilled beyond measure, hard working, handles pressure brilliantly and is a great idea person. What more could you ask for? Easy to get along with? Well, she has that base covered too. In spades. I wish more creatives had her chops and work ethic. I hope to be working alongside Dara again in the near future, but can say without hesitation, hiring Dara is a huge win for anyone looking to do top tier creative.”
“Dara is a very creative and talented art director. She is detail-oriented, an effective problem-solver, a great team-player. Everyone loves working with her and having her as an art partner on any project. Dara is equally comfortable working on digital projects as well as producing print pieces. She has a strong technical knowledge and is always willing to jump into a challenging project. Dara is a valuable asset to any creative team, I look forward to working with her in the near future.”
“Dara has a wonderful personality and is very easy to work with. She has a firm grasp of the unique design challenges digital projects present, especially responsive web sites. Dara’s thoughtful design approach and collaborative attitude invariably resulted in effective and aesthetically pleasing website designs. She consistently provided constructive ideas during the discovery phase of several website projects, allowing the team to meet, and often exceed, our clients’ expectations.
Dara is eager to work with team members to help solve problems or discuss alternative ways to approach and achieve project goals. It is a joy to work with Dara and I hope our paths will cross again.”