Howdy.
My name's Tony Ali Libera—but most people just call me Tones. I'm a Persian-American creative director, writer, and director from MPLS.
My career began at the Minnesota Daily, where I was a writer and associate editor for the Arts & Entertainment section. It was undoubtedly the best job a 20-year-old kid could ever have.
After graduating college, I transitioned into a copywriting role at a small sports startup, and eventually took over as their creative director—managing creative, strategy, and social accounts.
In February 2013, I began working at General Mills. Freelance community management became a full-time digital gig after an agency descoping, and soon I was overseeing digital and social strategy, media buying, and content for Wheaties and Cascadian Farm—creating assets, art directing, and managing a designer and community manager. Eventually, I was moved to their internal agency, The Bellshop, where I was a Senior Brand Creative working across GMI’s many brands. In that role, I performed odd jobs like copywriting, directing commercials, creating Wheaties beer, and really just trying to make cool creative.
In January of 2017, I went off on my own and founded Gray Duck Creative Agency—providing all of the above services for clients like Polaris, Clif Bar, and Cargill… and just for yuks I also moonlighted as a movie critic for the Star Tribune’s City Pages.
My work.
Here are some of the projects I've helped bring to life.
Let's make something cool.
Here's what I can do for you.
Creative
From one-shot commercials to massive campaigns—I’m your creative director.
Strategy
The best creative is grounded in insights and brand strategy, not the other way around.
Video
Whether it’s a pre-roll ad or an Instagram post, your video content should be top-notch.
Copywriting
21st-century advertising isn’t about being a slick salesperson… it’s about telling a compelling story.
Photography
If you’ve got a good brand, you want to make sure it looks good. People become fans with their eyes first.
Social Media
Traditional media is dying. Now is the time to build the infrastructure for the future marketing.