Tim Wallis
I have led at every phase of the creative design process, from building advanced concepts, storytelling and creating color and material palettes, leading design teams and seeing product through to commercialisation, to advising on how design can shape marketing stories and strategies.
The creative design process is integral to the product creation process. It focuses strategy and creates the framework for clarity of ownership and deliverables. From design-led creative vision, brief handoff to palette creation, allowing designers to design is at the forefront of my process.
By encouraging designers to take their own paths, to explore, play, be inspired and to inspire others, I instill creative ownership in their expertise while managing the team to ensure they arrive at the same destination with a compelling and cohesive design aesthetic.
CREATIVE DESIGN PROCESS
Creative Vision Direction
A season starts with a Creative Vision Direction. I identify and build strong creative vision directions based on priority initiatives for the Brand and their brand values, taking into consideration macro trends and consumer insights while collaborating with cross-functional partners in Product Management, Merchandising and Marketing.
Creative Vision Direction sets the point where seasonal design research should end, but not the pathway to it. By encouraging designers to take their own paths, to explore, play, be inspired and to inspire others, I instill creative ownership in their expertise while managing the team to ensure they arrive at the same destination with a compelling and cohesive design aesthetic.
Creative Vision Direction Process
Identify creative direction alignment direction, based on priority initiatives for the Brand. Must always tie back to brand values and direction.
Develop creative direction that ties back directly to the Brand initiatives direction. Importantly, this aligns the design team aesthetically for the year.
CMF Design team research time / input to Creative Direction. Each team member researches their particular expertise (color, print, finish, blocking) and comes back with ideas, inspiration, concepts, anything they want to share.
Merchandising / PM input brief here: WHAT are the Retail and Consumer Moments they’re targeting throughout the year? WHO are the consumers? The Creative Direction connects with Consumer Direction, which is driven by Merchandising / PM, when CMF are provided that brief.
CMF concept design - Collection Stories and Palettes. What the different Collections look like, feel like, smell like, sound like, based off Merch/PM brief. Identify how concepts within the Story can be divided between Collections and connect to global seasonally-relevancy. Once established, palettes (color, finish, materials), key CMF stories and print design exploration can begin, in a focused design direction.
Human Centric Trend Design
Human centric trend design connects us to a world that haven’t got to yet. It bridges product and the brand to the people who use it, through strategic use of color and materials, storytelling and user-centric solutions.
I work with a wide range of trend forecasting agencies and color suppliers, identifying global macro trends and culture shifts in our markets. Trends are applied to the brand filter, developed into seasonal concepts and to color, print and material strategies, identifying future product needs and opportunities.
I excel in storytelling. In crafting a narrative that connects the consumer to the product and the inspiration behind it, whether that’s showing them something they’ve never seen before or drawing lines between ideas that resonate with them on an emotional level.
Palette Creation
Global palette creation matters because color and material are often the first read. I create color strategies and palette architectures at global sport and lifestyle companies, designing with a truly global perspective.
Using advanced color theory and an analytical approach to palette creation, I design palettes with deliberate and planned structure and flow through the season. I work cross functionally with teams to align on must-use colors, telling the global stories that will have the biggest impact on the consumers, whilst offering choice for widest possible consumer and channel segmentations.
I design with a 10ft 1ft 1in approach, considering the impact of design at every stage of consumer engagement.
Palette Creation Process
Establish clear lifecycles and palette architecture strategy, working with Product Management and Merchandising teams to determine color strategy opportunities. Identify carry-over colors / prints / finishes (PM / Commercial owned, to provide brief).
Begin Global palette work, pulling color standards and building up a large, unstructured seasonal palette with options
Identify neutral palette, brand colors and seasonal neutrals
Create Palette architecture outline for Collection and GBU / segmentation needs
Refine Global palette and begin to establish broad subpalettes for each Collection / Capsules, identifying potential flow colors between Collections
Initial color name creation
Refine Collection subpalettes, identifying flow colors
Identify key color(s) for all Collections / GBUs
Color name finalization
Establish color combinations for Annual (bridge) palettes
Illustrator and Keyshot Swatch / Symbol library creation
Palette creation in PLM system
Design application Core / Annual / Collection – Round 1
Cross-functional Collaboration and Review Cadence
No matter the scale of business, considered design briefs and a review cadence with clearly defined milestones and expecations are essential to the success of the seasonal deliverables. Brief creation is a collaborative process, and allows all parties to bring their expertise and feel ownership of the deliverables.
I have established leading roles in Design, building out collaborative structures and establishing clearly defined boundaries of ownership and deliverables for the Design team by consulting and engaging with key partners at critical moments in the calendar.
Establishing a Creative Vision Direction and collaborative seasonal design concepting, in partnership with a clear design review cadence, creates stability and clarity for the design team.
PROJECTS
APPLIED COLOR ©
As founder and creative director of Applied Color ©, I worked with a wide range of global clients on color design projects, collaborating on brief creation, building out advanced concepts and bringing them to life, brand language identity, creative vision storytelling, and color and material palettes.
Creative Direction
GRUNDÉNS
Delivered a strong creative narrative for each collection that meets the business needs of each market segment, establishing a clear point of view on how commercial and recreational fishing palettes interact. Design a new, consolidated neutrals palette.
Creative Direction, Palette Creation
IDEO + BROOKS RUNNING
Collaborated with IDEO to develop a new apparel line for Brooks Running, deep diving into consumer mindsets around their running wardrobes and color preferences. Using the insights I created a palette strategy for the PureProject Collection that still spoke to Brooks' core consumers but elevated the brand in the running market.
Consumer Insights, Palette Strategy
