Craig Cardilino
Marketing & Operations Manager

I've always been a pretty creative person and I've always loved computers - so when I got to college I found myself choosing classes that allowed me to be creative on a computer.  Amongst all these classes I quickly realized that working in Photoshop was by far my favorite.  Through college, I was able to secure a few internships and one of those internships led to a full time job at a school photography company.  Within two years I was managing the retouching in the studio - the amount of photos I was retouching annually had grown exponentially and really gave me an incredible understanding of retouching as a business. The intense amount of work taught me the importance of balancing speed and achieving perfection and how efficiencies in the process was the only way to be able to achieve both.

Throughout my college and post-college career I was really interested in advertising and always wanted to get more experience in that side of the creative field, so once I saw that TRG was hiring a retoucher I jumped at the chance and was fortunate enough to perform well and get the job. My experience at TRG has taken my retouching to a level I could have never imagined. The retouching and color knowledge that we have at TRG rival any business in the world, and I would gladly put our work up against any studio - we take pride in what we do, we make everything as perfect as we are able, we truly enjoy working with each other, and we honestly love what we do.

Within a few years, there was an opening at the studio for a person to take control of the marketing, I was chosen for that role, and within a few weeks earned a certification for inbound marketing as well as a had a totally new strategy for the company moving forward. To further streamline the business end of the studio, I was tasked with managing the operations, which includes making sure the studio is running as streamlined and efficiently as possible without sacrificing quality. I am one of those left brain-right brain people who are totally comfortable working in spreadsheets and flowcharts one day and retouching images the next - so what could be better?

Fun Fact

Married way out of his league. Father of three. Lover of sports and television. Incapable of driving anywhere without GPS. Once went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs playing on Progressive Field.

Favorite Cleveland Hangout

I generally stay in the suburbs but if I am in Cleveland hanging out, I am either at Great Lakes or Townhall. Great Lakes because I love their beer and Townhall because I love their burgers and I also love their beer.

Favorite Project You've Worked On

Project Name: Defending Childhood Initiative
Agency: Recess Creative


It's nearly impossible for me to pick just one project so I will pick two.

My favorite images - hands down- was a project for the Defending Childhood Initiative through one of our favorite agencies Recess Creative.  The images were really striking and the message wasn’t your run of the mill advertising campaign - it was an extremely important social issue that affects millions of children throughout the US. The photography and makeup was really terrific and really allowed me to just refine the image a little and not have to make big moves to overcompensate for a lack somewhere else. These images were the first shots I retouched that I saw on a billboard and the first project I was involved in that won multiple American Advertising Awards!  Really proud of the organization, the message, and the entire team involved with this project.

My favorite video project was a marketing piece we did for our newsletter, blog, and social channels. It's informational, it's lighthearted, and even has a gag reel at the end. I wish we had more time to make these kinds of videos all the time.