John Charles Norman

John Charles Norman (born May 5, 1966 South Oak Cliff, Texas) is an American classically-trained graphic designer and advertising executive. After getting his start at The Richards Group, Norman spent time client side at Nike Design, and then Wieden + Kennedy, before another client side stint in Italy at Benetton Group. After running his own agency in Dallas for two years, he spent time as Executive Creative Director at Goodby Silverstein & Partners and W+K Amsterdam. John went on to become Chief Creative Officer at The Martin Agency, TBWA\Chiat\Day L.A. and Translation—before joining Havas Chicago in March 2019. Since 2021, John has been the founder of JNO Creative LLC, operating as a freelance creative consultant specializing in brand image, design, advertising and marketing for creative companies, advertising agencies and brands.

John believes in the transformative power of storytelling. In a world suffering from fragmented messaging, information overload and industry uncertainty, brands that win will own ideas with a simple human truth, told with a provocative single-minded narrative that work across all media channels. Most great ideas are simple, and simplicity will always cut through the noise and make an emotional connection with people. John has made a career of attracting the best talent to each position he holds, and inspiring them to create their magic. John practices a leadership style of “freedom within a framework” that he learned from his earliest days at Wieden & Kennedy that gives teams the room to fail, learn, succeed and repeat.

John’s holistic team approach to creative challenges has allowed him to lead and craft brand identities, campaigns, social conversations, digital experiences, and experiential environments for iconic global brands ranging from Nike, Apple, BASF, Hewlett Packard, NBA, Wyndham Hotels, Adidas, Benetton, Coca-Cola, the American Indian College Fund, Pepsi, BF Goodrich, Heineken, NFL, State Farm, Gatorade, Beats, NBA, Pirelli, and The Ad Council. Some of his work is still in use today, three decades after he created it. John has been fortunate to work with some great leaders over the years including Phil Knight, Tinker Hatfield, Dan Wieden, Oliviero Toscani, Steve Jobs, Carly Fiorina, Lee Clow, Steve Stoute, and Jimmy Iovine, as well as many others in his career. John excels in building teams, connecting talent, and in creating a working environment where people want to succeed and grow.

His work has been widely recognized and has won awards including an Emmy, an Emmy nomination, Cannes Grand Prix, the Grand Prix Epica Award, The New York Art Directors’ Vision Award, Campaign of the Year and the Top 5 Award, multiple Cannes Lions, Effies and One Show medals, The Japan Nikkei Award, The Russian Grand Effie, Adweek’s Spot of the Year, and has been featured in almost every advertising and design publication. The “Happiness Factory” campaign for Coca Cola and “Write the Future” for Nike remain two of the most highly-awarded integrated global campaigns ever.