Charlotte Hamilton

Product & Graphic designer for a market leading children's toys and gifts company, developing products and packaging, usually focused on children's classic characters including Peter Rabbit, Paddington Bear, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Shaun The Sheep, Peppa Pig, Elmer, Miffy and more.

On the Product Development team. My primary responsibilities include:

Formulating Product and Design briefs.

Range planning with the Product Development and Marketing teams.

Producing sample sketches, designs and concepts.

Designing products and packaging, as well as any marketing materials such as adverts and catalogues.

Working with factories to create required product within budgets and deadlines.

Implementing agreed product designs into sample and costing stage.

Creating and managing new product specifications.

Sample reviewing, management and photography.

Approving products with property owners.

Working closely with Sales, Marketing and QC as well as helping to support all areas of the business.

The products I design are sold into Rainbow's vast retail clientele including Harrods, Boots, John Lewis, Debenhams, World Duty Free, Waterstones, Waitrose, Hamleys, Amazon, Toys R Us, Tesco, and Sainsburys.

I was a graphic and product designer for a market leading UK Home and Gift importing company based in North Cornwall, selling to independent gift shops, department stores and garden centres. I was a part of the in-house art and product development department. I was also involved in designing Print, E-Mail and online marketing strategies.

This role saw my designs sold in many independent shops, as well as nationals including Urban Outfitters and John Lewis.

The job role included:

Working with a buying team creating new and original designs which were incorporated in both new and existing product ranges.

Working on product branding and packaging.

Assisting with merchandising at in house shows and exhibitions.

Creating HTML E-mail newsletters for their database of customers.

Working on small catalogues and promotional leaflets.

Updating promotional sections within their e-commerce website.

Working on advertising campaigns – Printed as well as Online.

For a number of years in addition to my other roles and commitments I have worked freelance as a graphic and interior designer, and have designed a number of websites, graphics, brochures, brands/logos, and also commercial interiors, most notably The Core Juice Bar in Swindon.

After graduating I worked for a crowdfunding website. The role was flexible and involved a lot of marketing, writing, liasing with clients and journalists, and some in house graphic design. A mostly PR based role.

I worked as an intern at Selfridges as part of their Visual Merchandising team. The job was design based and involved a lot of CAD, for floorplans and visuals for various projects involving different areas of the department store. I also designed a unit for the Selfridges Selection food range, to be placed in their Food Hall, and some exhibition spaces within the store.