I inherited a newly formed team that was using three different project tracking tools (JIRA, Basecamp, and PivotalTracker) and no formalized workflow for facilitating requests from numerous departments. 

To streamline and efficiently tackle the workload, I focused on developing a system that could handle requests with a wide-ranging placements and requirements; transitioned the team to one project tracking tool; and started mapping out what an optimal workflow would look like to produce materials for licensed content.

After lots of experimenting and adapting to the growing needs of the company, we currently use a combination of Google Forms, in-person kick-off meetings, and Breeze to ingest, plan, track, design, discuss, and deliver a variety of creative assets.

Role : Systems, Project Management

For brand integrity and to empower all teams in the company, I provided basic style guides and source assets to other departments and made them accessible to partners.

For the Design teams, I created Adobe CC Libraries for brand colors, logos, and marketing icons to ensure we were all using the same elements. Updates would be pushed out through this system and communicated to the team when changes were made.

Role : Systems
Icons : Binh Hoang

With a simulcast model for our content business, it meant that every quarter we acquire new titles to the existing catalog. Before being available on the service – sometimes up to an hour after airing on Japanese broadcast – all the show assets had to be delivered with Licensor approval.

I developed a status tracker (Google Sheets), new inbound/outbound communication chain, and Photoshop template that corresponds with how titles are ranked. This was developed closely with the Content Managers and our Marketing team. 

The system and tools reduced the workload on the design team, allowed us to respond to requests much quicker, keep everyone in the loop on status, and increase the number of deliverables. We refine the process with each passing season.

New shows per season : 40-60
Assets needed per show : 4-15
Assets per season : 160-900

Role : Systems, Project Management, Photoshop Template

This was a first attempt to standardize a “house style” in regards to brand design. In the past, a design was very dependent on the Designer assigned to the campaign or project.

We started with a comprehensive review of past materials and wanted to start fresh with a holistic approach with all known placements and use cases. Then built a base layout and type structure for different styles of copy and elements.

Taking visual cues from anime and manga with speed-line bursts and halftones, we built a modular background. The existing color palette was refined and expanded on to improve on its flexibility and begin to define how the brand presented itself.

Role : Art Director

Postcard : George Sarvis
Video Bumper (still) : Arlan Smith
Paid Media Set : Mason Koo

Why do we any of this? For the kids.

In the past, we’ve partnered with artists for limited run tees. This collection was our first attempt at a range of apparel and other soft goods, specifically targeting our fans and community. 

We went live with our “basic” and “Hime pattern” sets and kept several other ideas in the pipeline so the Rights & Ecom team had more designs to work with to build out their release calendar or for special offerings.

Role : Art Director

Designers : John Ducusin, Ashley Seo, George Sarvis, Audrey Jardin, and Aliana Rood

To provide better context to Licensors on how the assets will be used and how their properties are being promoted, we started building Approval Decks.

These examples show placements for xbox & playstation, convention needs, and an English logo version for a title.

We plan to create a “universal” deck for all known use cases to support designers with a more robust tool.

Role : Art Director

The communication strategy for emails was being developed so it was an exciting time to experiment and test a number of different strategies, layouts, and processes.

Besides the basic onboarding series for Free and Premium members, we found the combination of seasonal highlight, show-specific, and generic templates allowed us to adequately promote many of the titles, increase viewership, and improve show discovery.

Role : Art Director, Messaging, Photoshop Templates

Background illustrations for Seasonal emails : George Sarvis

Our goal was to create a modular system with usable components for rapid iteration. The assets should be flexible and adaptable to all the various media formats and placements required.

We refined from last year and focused on solutions that matured the visual language, increased visual consistency and improved production schedules.

We were able to loop in more departments and teams during this process to ensure all expectations and use cases were aligned.

Role : Art Director
Designer : Ashley Seo