Laurent Newman: Art Director | Photo Retoucher | Visual Designer in Lakewood, CA
Work experience

Buttercloth
Art Director | Photo Retoucher | Visual Designer | 10/2021 - Current
• Ideate and design print, digital and social branded content, assets, and experiences across owned and paid channels.
• Plan and direct photoshoots that deliver against project goals (products / live models / studio and off-site lifestyle).
• In charge of photo-retouching, compositing, color-correcting high-volume photography for e-comm, social media, digital and print catalogs.
• Maintain imagery on Shopify-based DTC store, updating with new products and corporate announcements.
• Manage freelance designers’ projects, workflows and monitor quality output.
Self-Employed
Graphic Designer | Art Director | 04/2018 - 10/2021
• Designed and produced a variety of digital creative deliverables such as Style Guides, Visual presentations, Packaging Designs, Merchandising Renderings, Social Media Visuals, Surface Designs for Interior Decoration.
• Developed engaging marketing and promotional advertisements to generate sales revenue and grow customer base.
• Walmart
• Zag Entertainment
• Moose Toys
• Gaumont Animations
ThinkGeek
Director of Product Design | 04/2016 - 04/2018
• Head of Design team responsible for R&D of all licensed and proprietary products ($80M business)
• Concepted, designed, sketched, prototyped (including managing art-to-product, sample creation, fit sessions, and electronic breadboards, where applicable), delivered and presented trend-right consumer centric product lines that featured market-leading innovations and great price/value for each tier of the value pyramid.
• Created in-house Packaging Department and eliminated offshore subcontracting, resulting in cost reduction in product manufacturing of more than 30% over 3 years.
• Oversaw and trained multidisciplinary team of 8 comprised of designers and engineers.
• Supervised several projects simultaneously, maintaining profitability of each and consistently exceeding design expectations.
Artissimo Designs, LLC
Creative Director | Sr. Creative Artist | 02/2011 - 04/2016
01/2013 - 01/2016
• Creative Director responsible for developing Artissimo's entire line of wall-decor product ($120M business)
• Managed team of 5 designers
01/2011 - 01/2013
• Art Director of a new Sports & Entertainment division of licensed wall decor products that generated over $20 million in sales in 2 years.
• Licenses included NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, NCAA, mulitple Disney properties, Sanrio, Pixar
Mattel
Freelance Art Director | 04/2009 - 10/2010
Mattel:
• Team leader responsible for the design of 7 style guides for Mattel's premier brands including Hot Wheels, Polly Pocket and Monster High.
• Led a global team of product developers across multiple categories, driving all aspects of the consumer product design process.
Disney Consumer Products, Glendale, CA
Design Manager | Senior Designer | 04/2006 - 04/2009
• Directed design of 20 style-guides for Disney consumer products.
• Managed the development of all creative assets and third-party consumer products worldwide.
• Reviewed design submissions from licensees and participated in concept line review meetings to ensure a saleable product line.
• Traveled to production sites in Asia to ensure a high-quality product line.
• Increased DCP’s revenue from earned royalties by double-digit percentages in 2008, with growth across multiple product categories.