Freelance paid social static ads for HexClad Cookware — Gordon Ramsay's brand of choice. Celebrity-led objection-busting creative, product-first performance ads, and seasonal promotional work across 4:5 and 1:1 formats.
Client
HexClad Cookware
Role
Freelance Ad Creative Designer
Deliverables
Paid Social Static Ads
Formats
1:1 · 4:5 · Story
Overview
Static paid social for a DTC cookware powerhouse
HexClad is Gordon Ramsay's cookware brand of choice — and one of the most aggressively advertised DTC brands in the kitchen category. As a freelance ad creative designer, I delivered static paid social assets across multiple campaign types: celebrity-led Gordon Ramsay creative, product-first performance ads, and seasonal promotional work.
The brief consistently prioritized stopping power and clarity — ads that arrest a scroll, communicate a single idea fast, and move product. HexClad's brand mixes premium photography, bold typography, and an authoritative dark green palette that has to land at thumb-stop speed.
Deliverables spanned 1:1 square and 4:5 portrait formats — each requiring compositional decisions specific to its placement and aspect ratio rather than simple crops.
10+
Static ad units
3
Campaign types
2
Aspect ratios
DTC
Performance-first brief
Celebrity Creative
Leading with Gordon Ramsay
HexClad's biggest creative asset is Gordon Ramsay — not as a hired endorser, but as a genuine user who came to the brand himself. The ads had to communicate that authenticity without undermining it. Skepticism about celebrity cookware deals is common; the creative strategy leans into it directly.
The objection series addresses the audience's real doubts head-on — "Does Gordon actually use these pans?" and "When a product has a celebrity endorser, it's usually not that good" — then flips the script with Gordon's own words. The lifestyle 4:5 units lead with product authority and brand energy.
01
Objection → Reframe
Lead with the audience's actual skepticism as the headline, then answer it with the true story. Disarms doubt before it can form.
02
Proof over claim
Gordon's own words — verbatim — as the visual centerpiece. A real quote in his voice is more credible than any brand-written headline.
03
Format specificity
4:5 for argument-style copy that needs vertical space. 1:1 for impact frames designed for feed and grid. Different compositions, not crops.
1:1 — Objection Series
4:5 — Celebrity & Brand
Product & Promo
Product-led & seasonal creative
Alongside the Gordon creative, I designed product-first performance ads and a Labor Day / Back to School promotional campaign. These units prioritize feature communication and price conversion over brand storytelling — a different brief with a different visual hierarchy.
The product ads lead with the pan in action, using HexClad's signature dark palette and nonstick hex texture as brand anchors. The Back to School campaign introduces a warmer aspirational lifestyle angle while keeping deal mechanics prominent.
