About me

Eric Cruz is a creative leader, director, designer and educator who brings with him 23+ years of industry experience. He is a 'hybrid creative' - fusing design, film, moving image, music, art, technology, and innovation to bring a unique perspective to storytelling and design transformation in the connected age.

With a broad international experience, Eric has held various leadership positions in agencies worldwide, developing a model for the creative network of the future and exploring how creativity can help invent tomorrow today.

As Sid Lee USA's ECD for Innovation & Design, he leads the charge to exploring The New, Now and Not Yet, finding new ways of seeing and applying technology into stories, products, platforms and experiences for such clients as Facebook, Journi, The LA Rams and Warner Brothers.

Previously, as AKQA Shanghai's ECD, +cruz led the Greater China team, helping co-create the future through innovative brand storytelling for Nike, Jordan, Converse, Apple, Airbnb, Fendi, NBA, Diageo, J&J, GoreTex, Lycra, The City of Shanghai and Hong Kong.

During his tenure as Leo Burnett Malaysia's creative leader, he helped lead, evolve, and grow a traditional agency of 90 into a forward-thinking agency of 320.

Eric learned how not to do advertising at Wieden+Kennedy in Portland, Tokyo, and London for over 11 years. He was Co-Founder / Director of W+K Tokyo Lab, W+K Tokyo's creative think tank and experimental music label.

To mentor the next generation of talent, Eric regularly lectures and has taught Design, Advertising and Moving Media at the Center for Creative Studies Detroit, Temple University Tokyo, and The One Academy Kuala Lumpur.

He was a Founding Member of TEDx Shanghai, which aimed to ignite China's innovation renaissance through creative dialogue, idea exchange and transformative evolution.

His work has been recognized by the Tokyo ADC, Cannes Lions, ADC NY, One Show, D&AD, Spikes, AdFest, AdStars, The Webbys, The FWA, CSS Design Awards and Japan Media Arts Festival.

A Filipino-American 'global immigrant', Eric was born in the Philippines and raised in the USA and Spain. He's currently back 'home' in Los Angeles, CA after a 20-year backpack around the world.