Beverage

Technical Note: This entire automated pipeline was engineered years before Generative AI. It relies purely on advanced vector scripting, strict data logic, and a deep, foundational mastery of the pre-press trade.

Client: Monster Energy & Hansen's Beverages

Role: Senior Graphic Designer & Production Lead

Managing high-volume, large-format physical packaging—specifically primary packaging, secondary kraft shippers, and retail POP displays—for a global CPG portfolio comes with massive logistical bottlenecks. Historically, a simple multi-flavor brand rollout required a five-person production team manually updating complex dielines, applying strict color separations, and building mechanicals over several days. This manual repetition not only slowed down time-to-market but drastically increased the risk of version-control errors during final press checks.

Rather than simply trying to design faster, I recognized the need for a systemic overhaul of the pre-press architecture. I transitioned the team away from manual, one-off drafting and built a streamlined, data-driven vector pipeline.

By structurally linking core brand assets to master template dielines, I created a self-updating system for large-format setup files. This meant that a single structural or regulatory update would automatically propagate across all necessary SKUs and package sizes, ensuring absolute color consistency and perfect technical execution for external commercial print vendors.

This workflow optimization fundamentally changed the department's output. By automating the primary and secondary packaging pipeline, I successfully condensed what was previously a 5-person, multi-day manual production cycle into a single-user automated workflow. Final, flawless, vendor-ready production files for a 5-SKU rollout could now be generated and handed off in under 15 minutes.

Workflow Note: Built on logic, not prompts. This zero-friction pipeline operates entirely independent of AI, driven instead by custom scripting, rigid folder hierarchies, and systemic design architecture.

Client: Eagle Community Credit Union

Role: Marketing & Communications Design Lead

In the highly regulated financial sector, marketing campaigns require 100% accuracy. Disclosures, interest rates, and legal copy must be perfectly synchronized across a massive library of deliverables. During a major omnichannel campaign, I inherited a workflow where video segments and supporting graphic assets—across various aspect ratios and media sizes—were structurally siloed. If a branding or compliance update was required, it meant manually opening, updating, and re-rendering dozens of individual sequences. This repetitive process was highly susceptible to version-control errors and caused severe bottlenecks in final rendering workflows.

To eliminate these bottlenecks and protect the institution from compliance risks, I completely re-architected the project files from the ground up. I transitioned the department away from static, disjointed files and built a streamlined, self-updating master template system.

By strategically nesting video segments and dynamically linking all supporting visual assets to a single "source of truth" master file, I created an autonomous updating pipeline. A single adjustment to a disclosure, color grade, or lower-third would now instantly and accurately propagate across all mediums, channel sizes, and social media dimensions.

This systemic adjustment created a much safer, 100% accurate exporting process that completely eliminated the risk of mismatched regulatory information across our marketing channels. By understanding how to properly optimize and nest video segments, the final rendering workflow ran significantly faster, allowing the marketing team to deploy complex, multi-channel video campaigns with absolute confidence and a fraction of the manual labor.

Workflow Note: Built on logic, not prompts. This zero-friction pipeline operates entirely independent of AI, driven instead by custom scripting, rigid folder hierarchies, and systemic design architecture.

Client: Eagle Community Credit Union 

Role: Marketing & Communications Design Lead

To support in-branch marketing, the credit union required a constant, high-volume rotation of 14-second digital screen commercials. Because these spots frequently featured changing interest rates, shifting promotional bonuses, and strict compliance disclosures, manually building and relinking assets for every new video was a massive drain on creative resources. The department needed a way to produce these short-form commercials at scale without sacrificing brand consistency or risking regulatory typos during the editing process.

To solve this, I stopped treating each video as a separate project and instead engineered a systemic, folder-based template architecture. I designed a master video project file that acted as a structural skeleton, utilizing strict relative file paths and standardized naming conventions.

Instead of manually importing and placing media on a timeline, the workflow was reduced to a simple "drop-and-link" system. Once a designer created the new raw assets (backgrounds, copy, disclosures) and dropped them into the designated campaign folder alongside the master template, the project file would automatically ingest, link, and populate the entire 14-second commercial upon opening.

This pipeline transformed digital signage production from a labor-intensive editing task into an automated assembly line. By eliminating the need to manually assemble timelines, the only remaining step for the creative team was simply opening the file and exporting it to the required screen dimensions and formats. This zero-friction workflow slashed production time from hours to minutes, allowing the credit union to rapidly deploy compliance-approved rate changes and promotions across all branches with absolute technical accuracy.