Akila Abdul Azeez
About Me
With over a decade in Marketing, Advertising, and Design, I've built a reputation for crafting impactful campaigns and visually captivating solutions. Starting as an intern and rising to Creative Group Head at Wunderman Thompson, Colombo (WPP Group), I honed my expertise in branding, advertising strategy, and design.
In 2021, I relocated to Malaysia, expanding my career as a freelance designer with FMCG, fintech, and adtech clients, while also serving as Creative Director for a Sri Lankan ethnic wear brand and co-founding a sleepwear brand. My journey reflects a commitment to delivering impactful designs and strategies that resonate with audiences and drive results.
Now that I've secured my Residence Pass in Malaysia, I'm looking to return to the corporate world in a senior creative role that aligns with my extensive experience in branding, advertising, and design. Whether it's as a Senior Art Director or a Senior Graphic Designer, I aim to contribute strategic and visually compelling solutions to drive impactful results.
Where I’ve Worked
Campaigns I’ve Worked On
Brands
2009 Leo Burnett Sri Lanka - Internship
2009 Response Marketing [McCann Group]
2010 Art Director | 2013 Senior Art Director
2015 Senior Art Director, J Walter Thompson
2018 Co Founder, Design Sutra, J Walter Thompson
2019 Head of Design Sutra, J Walter Thompson
2019 Creative Group Head, Wunderman Thompson
2021 - Present | Freelance Design Consultant
FMCG and Fintech sectors Malaysia
Executive Creative Director - Bollywood Boutique, Sri Lanka
Co-Founder - SleepTight, Sri Lanka
Professional Development & Skills Enhancement - UI/UX Design Training
Motherhood Project
Spear-headed this project, which was a design-led book that portrays the experience of motherhood as felt, enacted, shared, judged and compared by many women, men and children of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Tourism
New Brand Identity development and launch (both locally and globally)
Telco Expert
Brand experience on majority of the telco brands (Dialog, Etisalat, Sri Lanka Telecom) in Sri Lanka and currently an integral part of the design team for Sri Lanka Telecom.
Brand Guidelines
Created new brand identity and brand guidelines for: Sri Lanka Tourism, Sri Lankan Airlines and Heritance Hotels (key luxury Sri Lankan hospitality brand
Packaging
Design of packaging for Lipton Ceylonta, Ceylon Biscuits Limited, Unilever Sri Lanka
CSR
Development of creatives for the Trail Cancer Walk fundraiser which raised over $4 million
Integral part of the team that pitched and won three national accounts Sri Lanka Telecom, SriLankan Airlines, Sri Lanka Tourism
Worked on various businesses and brands ranging from FMCG to hospitality, banking and communication industries, understanding the different structural skillset required to handle each brand. Brands worked on are as follows
FMCG
Fonterra, Johnsons Baby, Clean & Clear, Neutrogena, Lux, Sunsilk
AVIATION
Sri Lankan Airlines
TELCO
Sri Lanka Telecom, Dialog, Etisalat
HOSPITALITY
Heritance Hotels, Turyaa Hotels and Resorts, Cinnamon Hotels
TOURISM
Sri Lanka Tourism
FINANCE
HSBC, Seylan Bank, Hatton National Bank
F&B
Pepsi, Mountain Dew, Ceylon Biscuits Ltd, Elephant House, Keells Foods, Lipton Ceylonta, Domino’s Pizza
INSURANCE
Union Assurance, Asian Alliance, Janashakthi
IT
WSO2
OTHER
Unicef, Trail, Asian Paints, Colombo Fashion Week, Colombo Municipal Council