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CREATIVE SERVICES MANAGER / SENIOR ART DIRECTOR

Creative & Design

Although I’ve held a variety of positions throughout my 11+ year career, they helped reveal my core strengths; a passion for building and managing creative and photography departments from the ground up, working to create and implement effective processes and best practices, and managing every creative project from strategic direction through execution while ensuring my team has the support they need to be successful.
 
Today, I work cross-functionally at the intersection of in-house B2B and B2C marketing, product photography, art direction, and graphic design.
 
I’m both a designer and project manager at heart, meaning I want everything to look impeccable and run efficiently, so I’m well-known for taking the initiative whenever I see room for improvement.
 
For example, Classic Home doesn’t have storefronts, so the sales team relies on photography to accurately depict the product. However, I saw a vast difference in quality between in-house and outsourced photography. To solve for that I:
• took a lead role in the photographic vision pre- and post-photography
• collaborated with stakeholders to ensure cohesive and strategic content
• implemented processes resulting in a more precise workflow
• resourced top-notch freelance talent to help manage heavier workloads
 
In addition, as the sole contract designer for Ispaci, I created and developed everything from the start, including brand look and feel, logo, marketing materials, and website redesign that resulted in a 138% increase in sales.

Core competencies:
Team Management • Marketing Campaign Design • Branding & Strategy • Web & UI Design • Publication Design & Print Production • Budget & Timeline Management • Social Media • Photo Studio Management • Creative Design

Industries:
Retail Home Goods & Furniture • Interior Design • Lifestyle • Editorial • Music & Entertainment • E-commerce • Events • Publishing • Education • Technology • Advertising • Marketing • Consumer Products

A B2B lifestyle home furnishing brand, Classic Home (CH), doesn't have storefronts, so the sales team relies on marketing, photography, and design to ensure CH's products are accurate and attractive. I manage the marketing department's in-house creative team. Together, we photograph 1100+ new products and 50+ lifestyle images and produce 12 catalogs annually. We're also responsible for marketing collateral, print and digital advertisements, trade show materials, and website assets.

Highlighted responsibilities and achievements
• Manage, mentor, & inspire graphic designers, copywriters, photographers, photo editors, & freelancers
• Collaborate with stakeholders to ensure design and photo content is on strategy and meets deadlines
• Lead onsite art direction, including photographic pre- and post-production, styling, set design, & editing
• Identify challenges, establish process improvements, give strategic direction, and implement best practices
• Develop UI, look and feel, content, and branding for e-commerce website launch
• Create allocation, timelines, and workflows, and hire freelancers to ensure projects run smoothly

As the Creative Director of this online, home goods retail business, my job was to launch and grow the brand from the ground up, including identity, look and feel, and guidelines for marketing, social media, website, & packaging.

Highlighted responsibilities and achievements
• Directed and styled lifestyle photography and videos; shot and edited product photography for 60 SKUs
• Created look and feel for the website and managed upgrade to Shopify
• Improved e-commerce website resulting in a 138% increase in sales through branding, UX/UI, and imagery

CREATIVE DIRECTOR (CONTRACT)

As a consultant, I developed branding, marketing solutions, educational outreach materials, and digital design for small businesses, marketing, advertising, and PR agencies, performance arts nonprofits, and music venues and acts.

CLIENTS: Minnesota Orchestra, Shutterfly, Strausberg Group Advertising, Wicked + Advertising, Fastpay, New
Jersey Symphony Orchestra, The Dakota Jazz Club, Hot Dish Advertising, St. Mary's University, EMC Publishing

FOUNDER / OWNER

3M is an international company that produces more than 60K products per year. I worked with account managers, design, and UX teams to produce innovative creative solutions within the company.

Highlighted responsibilities and achievements
• Improved website UI, wireframes, and high-fidelity designs based on findings from user testing
• Built PowerPoint presentations, infographics, social media gifs, brochures, print/digital banners, emails
• Helped create international brand guidelines for distribution across 3M

DIGITAL DESIGNER

As part of the marketing team, I created 4-6 book covers and the accompanying interior layouts biannually for teachers, children, and teens based on editorial input, extensive market analysis, style of book, and audience.

Highlighted responsibilities and achievements
• Partnered with Creative Director to select illustrators and provide art direction for storyboards
• Redesigned monthly email newsletter, successfully increasing consumer engagement
• Created marketing posters, direct mail, and website landing pages for a variety of products

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

As a graphic designer, I created marketing campaigns for events across multiple platforms, including brochures, postcards, digital and outdoor signage, and the website.

Highlighted responsibilities and achievements
• Designed, built, and maintained Minnesota Orchestra's website
• Shot in-concert and backstage photography for social media
• Created emails, posters, ads, direct mail, event signage, educational materials, etc.

Colleen Rollins is a CREATIVE SERVICES MANAGER / SENIOR ART DIRECTOR at CLASSIC HOME in Long Beach, CA.

Colleen Rollins

Colleen Rollins

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Iowa State University