Senior Design Manager, Creative Department, August 2006 - Present• Product: stationery, office products, kids’ activities, dining/entertainment, home decor, dated products, gift wrap, gift bags, greeting cards, tissue, product packaging and displays• Primary accounts: Michaels Arts and Crafts, BJs Wholesale Clubs, Books and all dated products• Responsible for line planning, design direction, product development and production for key accounts• Work with licensors to achieve the best looking product while maintaining the look of their brands• Negotiate and execute licensing contracts• Manage a team of 6 designers as well as several freelancers for multiple simultaneous projects• Write and conduct employee performance reviews• Collaborate with product development on presentation and production product details• Collaborate with other design managers on the development of current trends• Conduct customer presentations for products and trends• Communicate pre-production issues with foreign factories• Attend industry shows for artwork, trends and new product development• Collaborate with creative director and other design managers to determine work schedule and design resources• Evaluate and initiate processes and procedures to make design and production execution more organized and efficient

• Product: gift wrap, gift bags, boxes, tags and tissue• Primary account: Target Corporation• Responsible for line planning, design direction and product production related to primary account• Lead/shared a team of 7 designers as well as several freelancers for multiple simultaneous projects• Conducted customer presentations for products and trends• Attended industry shows for artwork, trends and new product development• Collaborated with creative director and other art managers on designers’ employee reviews• Processed multiple projects under tight deadlines

• Product: gift bags, note cards, journals and other stationery gift products• Responsible for overseeing product design, mock-ups for presentations and artwork production• Reviewed trends (colors, elements, applications) and new product ideas• Lead/shared a team of 2-4 designers and freelancers, collaborated with other managers on projects and staff availability• Expanded gift product line with the introduction of gift bags• Initiated all procedures for gift product production consisting of: created digital product templates; created and initiated product specification sheets; developed product tracking procedure to make communication with Chinese factories easier; developed preproduction proofing procedures; organized customer specific standardizations to make sure that each customers’ individual requirements were met.• Reviewed resumes and portfolios of freelance artists and licensors for future projects• Negotiated and executed licensing contracts with licensing agents and artists• Processed multiple projects under tight deadlines

• CPS Corporation merged with Plus Mark (a division of American Greetings) in 2000• Product: gift wrap, gift bags, cards, tags, tissue and ribbon• Designed product from concept to finish consisting of: reviewing trends (colors, elements, applications), illustration, prepared digital files, created mock-ups for presentation, reviewed and commented on preproduction samples as well as developed new product concepts• Collaborated with marketing department on designs and new concepts• Assisted in product styling and trend support for showrooms and photography• Acquired extensive knowledge of pattern repeats and production for cylindric printing• Worked multiple projects under tight deadlines• Participated in volunteer work representing the company, such as brochures, t-shirt designs and logos

• CPS Corporation was purchased by American Greetings in 2000.• Product: gift wrap, gift bags, cards, tags, tissue and ribbon• Designed product from concept to finish consisting of: reviewing trends (colors, elements, applications), illustration, prepared digital files, created mock-ups for presentation, reviewed and commented on preproduction samples as well as developed new product concepts• Collaborated with marketing department on designs and new concepts• Assisted in product styling and trend support for showrooms and photography• Acquired extensive knowledge of pattern repeats and production for cylindric printing• Worked multiple projects under tight deadlines• Participated in volunteer work representing the company, such as brochures, t-shirt designs and logos