Rick Ayers Email & Phone Number

United States

Remote

• Online Portfolio www.rickayers.com
• Create concept idea to final artwork, graphic design, logos and illustrations for products, packaging, brand identity, merchandising, marketing, collateral, exhibit, magazines, editorial, advertising, and promotions.
• Website graphics, animations, interactive product demos, and E-Cards.

Bentonville, Arkansas

• Oversaw 25+ company private owned brands creative packaging design across all general merchandise, home and kitchen wear, home décor, electronics, apparel, toys, lawn & garden, hardware, automotive, stationary.
• Directed conceptual creative design development for packaging on multiple billion-dollar brands.
• Managed 14 in-house designers, contractors, and various agencies on creative teams.
• Responsible for brand consistency and packaging production mechanical finals of 25,000+ retail product SKU’s per year.
• Maintained brand style guides for hard lines, electronics, and home soft lines categories.

Greater Atlanta Area

• Led all aspects of creative strategy, planning, artwork, structural design, budgets, schedules, design operations and development for global packaging and in-store displays from concept to implementation across.
• Managed in-house packaging prototype lab producing mock-ups for presentations and line reviews.
• Supervised U.S. and Asia, graphic design, and structural design teams in fast-paced collaborative environment.
• Built packaging management team in Asia to drive and maintain production QC excellence.
• Implemented print calibration process and generated measurable 30% quality improvement.
• Negotiated innovative strategy improving efficiency and quality of global retail POP displays while reducing costs 50%.

Greater Atlanta Area

• Creative lead for global packaging, in-store retail displays and signage.
• Orchestrated multiple branding initiatives developing look/feel, logos, typography, photography, and illustration styles.
• Traveled to Asia providing training, direction for teams, suppliers and printers, approved final packaging for product launches.

Greater Atlanta Area

• Incorporated digital interactive media into product marketing and corporate communications showcasing company’s wide range of packaging capabilities and innovative solutions.
• Produced animations, interactive product demos, websites, promotions, and multimedia presentations.
• Managed new media projects, creative teams, schedules, and budgets.
• Developed digital interactive process that increased viewing audience of CEO’s Quarterly Address from one plant of 350 employees to over 80 plants and 10,000+ employees.
• Received Paperboard Packaging Council Excellence Award for designing “Formations” product promotional campaign including brochure, collateral, and interactive multimedia presentation.
• Received High Performance Employee of the Year Award, Rock-Tenn Company, Folding Carton Division. Awarded annually to top 5 highest performers of division’s 3,400+ employees.

Greater Atlanta Area

• Innovative design and development of product packaging, in-store retail displays, trade show and marketing collateral.
• Wrote articles explaining packaging manufacturing processes for recycled packaging, corrugated boxes, folding cartons, plastic packaging, SBS paperboard, laminated paperboard products, retail displays and more for.
• Illustrated comprehensive packaging manufacturing reference manuals.
• Some customers included: The Coca-Cola Company, UPS, Siemens, Kimberly-Clark Corporation, Nestle USA, Napa, Caterpillar, Makita, and Hitachi.