Presenter
Associate Professor, Executive Creative Director, Artist
tomeslinger.com / Studio Twenty5k LLC
In 2021, Tom Eslinger's creative career expanded and diverged across three paths. He became a full-time, now adjunct, Associate Professor of Advertising at Columbia College Chicago (Chicago, IL), opened his creative studio, Studio Twenty5k (New York, NY and Chicago, IL), and began producing collage artworks built from custom stickers and laser-cut album covers. These are not pre-retirement pursuits. Each generates income, education, and excitement.
Before 2021, Tom worked (on-the-road more than 200 days a year) as a hands-on executive creative director across 27 Saatchi & Saatchi. He was the first Global Creative Director of Digital of any advertising agency network in the world when appointed in 2000, and later the first Global Creative Director in the 75-year history of PR powerhouse Burson-Marsteller. These roles were held for a combined period of more than 20 years. Tom served on five Cannes Lions juries, twice as President and has over 500 international awards for design, advertising, typography and digital innovation.
Today, Tom brings two decades of global brand leadership into teaching, studio practice, and original artwork.