Top Promotions, Inc., a division of Industries for the Blind, Inc. - Milwaukee, has been in business in Middleton, WI since 1983. Starting as a screen print company, we added embroidery in the late 80's and promotional marketing in the mid 90's. Top Promotions has several divisions which offers us a well balanced approach to the marketplace. In 2010 we expanded our scope to include our retail division, Top Apparel, selling licensed and non-licensed decorated apparel into the retail marketplace with customers ranging from small local shops to large national retailers. As a division of Industries for the Blind, Inc. - Milwaukee (IB), our mission is to provide employment opportunities to blind and visually impaired individuals. Becoming a division of IB has also provided the resources to expand our presence in the marketplace with offices in both Middleton (Madison area) and Hartland (Milwaukee area). This position can be located in either Middleton, WI or Hartland, WI.
Top Promotions is seeking an accomplished Retail Art Director to become a key contributor of our newest division, Top Apparel. This role requires a superb eye for style, visual composition and attention to detail, as well as an exceptional talent for understanding fashion trends. With over 30 years in the textile decorating industry, Top Promotions is further diversifying our customer base with our Top Apparel Retail Sales Division, established in 2010. A successful candidate must be a good communicator with a positive attitude and the ability to handle multiple projects at one time.
Responsibilities Include:
- Actively participating in line development by working hand-in-hand with our Director of Product Development, Sales Team and Customers to design all aspects of our retail lines for textiles with embellishment (Screen Print, Embroidery, Applique, etc.).
- Provide direction for color and art development to a small art staff as well as act as the main department artist in creating graphics for lines.
- Maintain knowledge of current fashion trends and color schemes, predicting and designing into trends, colors and graphics that fit into each line's positioning statement.
- Advise on garment selection and development.
- Attend major customer meetings and follow-up on that meeting with creative concepts for line develoment.
- Assign art to staff, as well as complete own artwork, monitoring art progress to assure development is on track.
- Manage workflow of requested artwork in and out of the department, assigning timelines and schedules to complete line development in advance of the retail art calendar.
- Monitor departmental art budget allocating and tracking resources throughout the year.
- Work with the screen production department on sampling and quality control of graphics
There will be some day travel between Middleton and Hartland offices as well as limited travel (some overnight) to customer meetings.