BRIEF
Kicks USA was a urban footwear and apparel retail with over 200 locations in the tri-state area. Kicks was bought out by a German company named Snipes and is now Snipes USA.
I worked at Kicks USA as a graphic designer and photographer, where I was initially hired to improve their lifestyle imagery. However, I soon took on additional responsibilities such as leading a redesign of their lifestyle influencer program, revising their social media and brand guidelines, overseeing art direction for web banners and social media posts, and redesigning and creating new content for the company blog. I also proposed and implemented new features such as an outdoor multicolor wall for photoshoots and a lounge and photo studio. I rebranded the company's YouTube channel and launched three new series. After the company was acquired, I worked with the new ownership to maintain consistent branding across all platforms.
CHALLENGE
Taking on multiple roles was a challenging but valuable experience. I stepped up and took on responsibilities such as creative direction for social media graphics, photography, mood boarding, and more as there was no designated creative director or art director. Through this, I gained a lot of knowledge and experience.
DATE
FEB 2014 - 2019
TOOLS
Photoshop, Illustrator, Procreate, After Effects, Lightroom
ROLES
Art director, Designer, Illustrator, Photographer, Social media manager
INFLUENCER PROGRAM REBRAND
When I took on this project, they didn't have a real logo so I took what they had and turned it into this below and the team liked it. I then went ahead and created an influencer card, box and grab bag for events.
SOCIAL MEDIA
When I first began managing our social media presence, it relied heavily on generic stock imagery. To make it more relatable to customers, I started taking my own lifestyle photos for new products and creating animated posts and stories on Instagram. I used some of my new imagery and made a proposal deck and showed the company what the strategy could be. This strategy led to a significant improvement in the appearance of our social media and website, and we saw a growth in our Instagram followers from 70k to 101k within a few months.
SOCIAL MEDIA REBRAND PROPOSAL
PHOTOGRAPHY
MULTICOLOR WALL
This is the multicolor wall proposal and outcome. After this proposal was shown and the idea was thrown around for a month or two, it was finally approved only under the condition that we made it a company bonding experience and have everyone come out and help paint the wall. The turn out was amazing along with all the photos we were able to get with this wall now an option for us to use.
After we got the greenlight for this project. We all came together and the whole company came out to help paint the wall. Here are some photoshoots utilizing the wall.
KICKS USA DNA REBRAND
I redesigned the DNA section of the brand deck as it was not understandable and not relevant to the company. I consulted with other teams but no one could provide an explanation. I transformed the DNA into "Kicks Camo" which is more relatable to the urban streetwear community. The team and owner liked the new design and we implemented it in new products, which were first sent out in our influencer program.
BLOG REDESIGN
PRODUCT VIDEOS
YOUTUBE SERIES
