Creative Leadership &
Mass-Market Design Strategy
Directing the design of collections for nationwide retailers
Creative Direction &
Retail Strategy
In 2018, the JOANN buying team approached us to develop Q2 collections for their impulse section.
As the lead in-house designer and project manager in the NYC office, I developed the art provided by JOANN, adding seasonal sentiments and foil embellishments. I narrowed in on a selection of the strongest, most saleable prints. Extra care was taken to ensure the final collection would tell a cohesive story on the shelf.
Design Operations &
Process Standardization
To eliminate bottlenecks across high-volume seasonal requests like this one, I designed and implemented a standardized project intake system.
This SOP streamlined brief intake from sales reps, aligned creative output with buyer specifications early, and enabled seamless delegation across our design team. The result? Fewer rounds of revisions and more deadline milestones met.
Team Leadership & Execution
I led a team of four designers through end-to-end execution, managing project timelines and serving as the primary liaison between sales and production. I oversaw art approvals, maintained visual consistency across all SKUs, and ensured samples and final production layouts met strict standards.
I laid out our designs into a planogram that conveyed our recommendation for in-store merchandising. Our work was overseen with final approval by the head of the stationery department and was presented to our client by the sales rep.
Our designs were selected, produced and sold in stores across the country in summer 2019.
High-Volume Holiday
Art Direction
Led the design of home decor
box collections at scale
Art Direction & Trend Strategy: Interpreted buyer trend guides, conducted market research, and sourced art from licensors to set the visual direction for seasonal gift collections.
Team Leadership & Operations: Directed workflow and project delegation for a 4-person design team across hundreds of high-volume seasonal SKUs.
Stakeholder & Buyer Management: Partnered directly with sales leads during buyer presentations at JOANN and Michaels headquarters, translating client feedback into design direction for the team.
Production & Scale: Oversaw the production layout design and approval of samples and color proofs for 30–50 seasonal box sets per account, for nationwide retail distribution.