# Vicki Spielmann > Group Creative Director | Brand Experience | Visual Merchandising | Retail & Exhibition Environments | Google | ex-Apple Location: San Francisco Bay Area, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/vickispielmann I believe that the most powerful brand stories aren’t just told—they are felt through the environments we inhabit. For over 20 years, I’ve operated at the intersection of physical space, emerging technology, and human emotion. My career has been defined by a singular challenge: How do we translate the world’s most sophisticated technologies into intuitive, culturally resonant brand experiences that make customers fall in love with a product? From the early, foundational days of Apple Retail to the global launch of Google’s first flagship stores, I have focused on translating brand ethos into spaces that do more than showcase products—they emotionally connect, build community, and foster discovery. Core Areas of Impact: Visual and Experiential Storytelling: Turning abstract concepts and emerging technologies into window displays and tactile, human-centered experiences. Strategic Leadership: Building and mentoring world-class, multi-disciplinary in-house creative teams that bridge the gap between Product, Marketing, and Architecture. Vision Setting: Pitching transformational ideas and creating unified experience playbooks that ensure a brand feels consistent whether a customer is in London, Tokyo, or Mountain View. I thrive on the "impossible" brief—creating the physical soul of a digital brand. Whether reimagining the carrier shopping journey or crafting immersive experiences for global product launches, I am obsessed with the details that make a space feel like a story. I'm always open to connecting with like-minded creators and leaders. ## Work Experience ### Group Creative Director, DTC Retail Design & Experience @ Google Jan 2018 – Present | Mountain View, California Brand Experience in Retail: Led the creative translation of the Google brand into its first permanent physical environments. In close partnership with the SVP of Design and Aidlin Darling Design, we defined the look, feel, and experience intent for Google’s flagship and core store formats, establishing a scalable Design Standards Playbook for growth and expansion. Experiential Storytelling: Direct the creative vision for 2+ major product launches and 6 seasonal campaigns annually. I lead a multidisciplinary team of Art Directors, Designers, and Copywriters to transform abstract technologies—including AI and Gemini—into tactile, culturally resonant customer experiences. Strategic Alignment: Co-authored a unified Customer Experience Northstar, aligning cross-functional teams under a single, scalable vision. This framework ensures a cohesive brand journey across retail, events, service centers, and partner activations. Global Experiential Design: Direct the brand experience for high-stakes commercial and exhibition environments (CES, MWC, IFA, Google I/O), as well as the new Executive Partner Center. These spaces serve as the primary vehicle for communicating the Google Hardware vision to global retail partners and executive stakeholders. Leadership & Advocacy: Partner directly with VPs and Executive Leadership to drive high-visibility brand initiatives, navigating complex decision-making to ensure creative integrity across every touchpoint. Environmental Design & Workplace: Oversaw the end-to-end interior and exterior office redesign of our creative headquarters, managing the design vision and budget to create a workspace that reflects the brand's innovative culture. ### Creative Team Lead, Channel Retail Design & Experience @ Google Jan 2015 – Jan 2018 | Mountain View, California, United States Global Brand Vision: Established the creative Northstar for Google Hardware’s physical presence, ensuring premium brand consistency across thousands of doors and 16+ countries. This included the development of modular fixture systems, pop-ups, and immersive shop-in-shops. Strategic Innovation: Pioneered Google’s "non-traditional retail" strategy by pitching and executing a high-impact partnership with Sephora. This initiative reached new demographics, drove record-breaking inventory sell-through, and boosted brand awareness and active users for both global brands. International Footprint: Spearheaded the launch of Google’s flagship shop-in-shop (Canada), defining the holistic CX intent, brand storytelling, and uniform design, while overseeing the creative direction for the associated marketing campaigns. Multidisciplinary Leadership: Directed the creative vision for the Pixel and Nest portfolios. I managed an integrated team of Art Directors, Designers, and Copywriters to deliver cohesive photography, digital content, and environmental design that brought Google’s hardware ecosystem to life. Organizational Transformation: Modernized internal workflows by establishing a dedicated in-house maker-space for rapid prototyping. I focused on balancing operational efficiency with creative rigor, ensuring the brand felt cohesive as it scaled into new global markets. ### Design Manager, Android Retail @ Google Jan 2014 – Jan 2015 | Mountain View, California, United States Bridging the Digital-Physical Divide Service Design Innovation: Reimagined the carrier smartphone journey by developing a seamless online-to-offline experience, bridging the gap between digital research and physical purchasing. Omnichannel Impact: Conceptualized and launched the "Help Me Choose" interactive tool, which garnered 2M users on day one and remains a core part of the Android retail ecosystem today. B2B Partnership: Collaborated with Sales and Marketing to pitch major carrier partnerships (T-Mobile, Verizon, Carphone Warehouse), leading the design of custom Android fixture packages and interactive experiences. ### Senior Visual Merchandising Manager, Retail @ Apple Jan 2009 – Jan 2014 | Cupertino, California, United States Led the conceptual design of global windows and in-store environments for NPIs and seasonal campaigns, transforming high-level marketing strategies into immersive physical narratives. Revolutionized the Apple Store service model by launching "Smart Signs," a digital storytelling interface that reimagined product discovery with dynamic pricing. Spearheaded a cross-functional initiative between Product Engineering and Procurement to design a proprietary security system, simultaneously elevating the brand’s aesthetic and delivering an 80% gain in operational efficiency for global resets. Established an internal Center of Excellence by advocating for retail-first design with Marcom and Product Engineering leadership, creating the scalable production framework that fueled Apple’s rapid global expansion. ### Visual Merchandising Manager, Retail @ Apple Jan 2007 – Jan 2009 | Cupertino, California, United States Served as a strategic bridge between Store Design and Brand Experience, advocating for consistency during weekly Design Reviews with Apple’s SVP of Retail and VPs of Store Design, Real Estate, and Operations. Creative Thought Partner to the Senior Creative Director of Visual Merchandising, translating high-level marketing strategies into immersive in-store displays and window narratives that captivated customers and drove brand engagement. ### Visual Merchandising Project Manager, Retail @ Apple Jan 2005 – Jan 2007 | Cupertino, CA Scaled Apple’s visual identity by authoring and launching the first global Visual Merchandising Guidelines across the entire retail fleet. I spearheaded the development of a proprietary planning tool that moved the brand away from "one-size-fits-all" merchandising, allowing for dynamic, store-specific assortments based on footprint, sales data, and local cultural relevance. Additionally, I optimized the global New Store Opening (NSO) process, creating the standardized framework that enabled Apple’s rapid international expansion. ### Visual Manager, Apple Store Corte Madera @ Apple Jan 2003 – Jan 2005 | Corte Madera, CA Cultivated a culture of visual excellence at the store level, serving as a key thought partner for the field visual team. I oversaw the end-to-end execution of all in-store touchpoints—including high-profile window displays, graphics, and complex planogram resets—while mentoring team members to uphold Apple’s world-class merchandising standards. ## Education ### Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in 3D Computer Animation Savannah College of Art and Design ### Extended study in Motion Graphics Savannah College of Art and Design ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/vicki-spielmann --- Source: https://flows.cv/vickispielmann JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/vickispielmann/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13