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Freelance Design, Development and Production

Engineering & Production

<p>Experienced and versatile designer. Able to express and execute ideas and effectively work individually or as part of a team. Passionate about design aesthetics, branding, product development and implementation. Experienced in graphics, logos, product design, production and development for licensed apparel and accessories.</p>

•  Design and develop graphics for licensed sports and entertainment apparel, headwear and accessories. Produce team breakouts and technical specs for client apparel and headwear lines.

•  Design company logos / branding and catalogs. Boost online presence for businesses by 
website design / redesign and increase client presence on social media.

•  Design and partner with Creative Director, Merchandisers, Developers and Production for NHL, NFL, MLS, Inline, Hot Market (MLS Cup and NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs and Championship) and Event lines (NHL Stadium Series, NHL All-Star and Winter Classic) for retail, wholesale and online Mens, Womens and Youth headwear and accessories.

•   Create initial product technical specs (tech packs) and monitor hand off to Developers and Production. Work with Developers to inspect product samples to ensure accuracy and quality.

•  Research emerging trends, new fabrics and techniques to incorporate into new product lines.


Sr. Designer, Headwear and Accessories 

•  Designed for apparel, headwear and accessories for Mens, Womens, Youth, and Toddler NHL merchandise.

•  Designed for NHL Hot Market, Event lines, and for general retail, as well as specific stores including: Old Time Sports company store, Bob’s Sporting Goods, Lids, Shop.NHL.com, Madison Square Garden retail store, etc.

•  Researched new fabrics and production processes to utilize and negotiated pricing with factories to ensure profit margins.

•  Designed and assembled catalogs and sell sheets for headwear and apparel lines.


Sr. Designer / Product Developer

•  Partnered with Merchandiser and Developer to design graphics for NHL, NBA, NCAA, CFL, Hot Market (NBA Finals and Championship, Super Bowl, Stanley Cup, NCAA Final Four) Sideline, Player Name and Number for retail headwear.

•  Extensively researched market trends, including travel to colleges, and sporting events. Monitored the competition. Forecasted next trends and styles to incorporate into future merchandise. Travelled to source fabrics and vintage apparel, i.e. for NFL Sixties retro lifestyle headwear line. Determined types of hats, fabrics, and graphic applications utilized in conjunction with the Developer. Created detailed technical specs.

•  Designed catalogs, collateral, posters, and banners to promote product lines.


Headwear Designer

•  Designed tour and retail graphics for apparel, headwear and merchandise for the Allman Brothers, Good Charlotte, Foo Fighters, Tool, Tori Amos, Eagles, and other musicians and bands.

•  Designed and produced graphics and merchandise utilized by the band Tool for 2002 concert tour which were so successful they were marketed in retail outlets, and continue to be sold at present. 

•  Collaborated with Web Developer to provide each band’s online retail store on feamerch.com 
and individual UI tailored to their image.


Designer, In-House and Freelance

Designer, New Products Group, 1996-1999
•  Designer of apparel and accessories graphics for NHL, MLB, NBA, NFL, NCAA, MLS and various licensees. Created and researched new printing processes, apparel concepts and apparel lines as part of a four designer team working with a Merchandiser and Developer. Researched current and past apparel market trends, fabrics and color palettes. 

Production Supervisor, 1994-1996
Lead Production Artist, 1992-1994
Production Artist, 1991-1992

•  Created customized production films for approved designs for all teams in the NHL, MLB, NBA, NFL, and NCAA.

•  Identified and assisted in fixing errors and more efficient ways to run the production art process.

•  Led production art team on new design film production. Checked and approved completed films and sample print runs for all designs in the apparel line.

•  Trained new production staff, tracked jobs, resolved production issues for approved designs.

•  Effectively transitioned to computer graphics by becoming proficient in Illustrator and Photoshop.



Designer, Production Supervisor, Production Artist

Find out detailed information about John G. Kotis, Freelance Design, Development and Production in Salem, Massachusetts

John G. Kotis: Freelance Design, Development and Production in Salem, Massachusetts

John G. Kotis