Paul Rasid Resume

Paul Rasid
paul_rasid@hotmail.com

Tide-mark Publishing – Windsor, CT – Publisher of calendars, books and stationery
Art Director and Product Development Manager

Art Director – Published over 100 calendar titles and dated items annually. Responsible for creative design and selecting images for publication, developed licensing relations, fundraising and custom imprint programs, created ads, mailings, catalogs and sales materials. Oversaw book production, developed a series of travel books, The Lighthouse Companion, for several NE coastal states. Developed book/DVD combination offering, handling both the book and DVD production.
Product Development – Developed a line of 48 title Deluxe Boxed Blank Note Cards, handled image licensing, box design and construction, and printing. Generated the support documents for; catalogs, direct mail pieces, ads, and packaging. Proposed concepts of attainable products, weighing its viability in the marketplace coat-tailing on existing sales and distribution channels, located new opportunities for product placement, sourced vendors for components and services, specked out quotes for printing and components, built proto-types for products and displays, provided vendors with detail and conceptual drawings, and expanded offerings of existing products. Documents were created in Adobe In-Design CS.

CheckerBee Publishing – Middletown, CT – Publisher of The Collector’s Value Guides
Senior Management – Product Development Manager.

Production manager & product development for publisher of over 20 collectible titles annually. Responsibilities also included paper purchasing, press production, display design and management. Researched new titles and categories for the collectibles market. Presented proposals for co-op opportunities to viable collectible manufacturers. Developed new book lines outside of the collectibles market. This involved input for book design, designing and managing display print production, and the shipping needs. Tradeshow booth design and management for 20 shows yearly. Designed and made purchases for all phases for new product development and the development of the support and collateral materials needed to launch product including magazine ads for placement. Designed corrugated, plastic and wire displays, tooling for injection molding and aluminum extrusions, shipping box designs for product and displays. Worked in Quark and PhotoShop for press documents.

Developed Collectible State Quarters products. Sales of over 1 million units.
Developed bookmark line of 300 SKU’s with projected annual sales of $1.5M
Managed large print runs – 1.4 million Pokemon, 250K Subway World Series, Dale Earnhardt 250K.

Roxbury Twain Publishing – Suffield, CT – Publisher of Bookmarks
Creative Director – Product Development

Handled creative development and production for publishing of the Bookmark line, several children’s books, catalogs and sales/collateral materials. Developed new bookmark designs for the mass, bookstore and educational markets. Prepared documents for press and oversaw production through to fulfillment. Normal production involved offset and plastic print management, lamination and die cutting. Worked with licensed properties in custom order development. Custom orders included product design, display concepts and production, and ship-out packaging. Art directed outside vendors and designers. Submitted proposals that included concepts and prototypes for major corporations; Celestial Seasonings, Frisky, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, and Scholastic. Created retail motivational programs for Franklin Quest/Covey and an in-house presentation for Fleet Bank. Set up company UPC coding and warehouse labeling system. Documents for products, catalogs, sales and collateral materials were done in Quark and PhotoShop.

Paul Rasid Graphic Design – Chicopee, MA
Proprietor of Full-Service Design Studio

Produced work for Mestek Corporation, Monarch Direct, Smith & Wesson, Saucony Athletic Footwear, Spalding Sports Worldwide, Abdow (Big Boy) Corp., Coleco, Hasbro, Totsy Toys, Old Colony Envelope, Taylor Rental, Tampax, Lego, Cascade PSH Paper/Canada, Monarch Life, and several local retail accounts. Projects included; Weekly print ads, product development, advertising campaigns, sales meeting collateral, catalogues, retail package design, corporate news letters, brochures, product graphics, logos, ads for magazine and newsprint, direct mail programs, seasonal and holiday promotions.
GA Communications/Graphics Association – Springfield, MA – Full-Service Advertising Agency
Art Director

Art Director for a full-service advertising agency servicing retail and corporate accounts. Supervised five designers and free-lancers. Handled design, concepts, photo direction, and client contact. Agency’s major accounts: Sears/Craftsman Tools, Gerber Scientific, MassMutual Insurance, Hyde Tools, Norton Abrasives, and local manufacturing and retail businesses.

Coleco – West Hartford, CT – Toy Manufacturer
Senior Graphic Designer

Designed packaging for Cabbage Patch Dolls and Big Wheel Ride-On toys. Prepared pre-press materials for printing, handled product and child photography, model selections, developed graphics and package construction concepts, on site press approvals for offset and corrugated printing.

Hasbro – Pawtucket, RI – Toy Manufacturer
Senior Designer – Playskool

Project managed and designed the packaging for the newly acquired Playskool division. The purchase consisted of over 90+ products. Each item required exterior and interior package design, product and model photography, illustrations, pre-press management and final press approvals. This project also required the building of childproof sets for photography. Contributed to the new infant line with graphic and package designs, and with the execution of pre-press materials. Worked on the Joan Lunden celebrity endorsement TV commercials creating set designs and graphics.

Columbia Bicycle – Westfield, MA – Bicycle Manufacturer
Art Director

Created an in-house creative department with proto-typing and photography capabilities. Columbia wanted to enter the mass market, moving away from small shops. Built proto-types for mass market buyer presentations and provided sales of custom bike designs in photo and sell sheet formats. Designed the trade show booths and attended shows to meet component manufacturers for sampling and pricing. Handled advertising and collateral material needs for the company. Designed new concepts for exercise equipment. Member of the Senior Management Team for Production and Cost control.

Spalding Sports Worldwide – Chicopee, MA
Senior Designer for Licensing, Golf Ball, Golf Club, Sport and Leisure, Team, and Court Sports Divisions

Designed graphics for products and retail packaging for different divisions within Spalding. Produced catalogs, collateral and sales materials, set up and designed trade shows, photo direction and production of print materials. Worked with the corporate agency in the production of print materials for sales meetings and national campaigns. Worked with Human Resources on milestones award banquets. Traveled extensively for Spalding Licensing division for presentation of Spalding branding opportunities. Participated in R&D department brainstorming meetings and contributed nine patents to Spalding for golf, exercise, snow and team sport products.

Education
Art Institute of Boston – Fine Arts
Holyoke Community College – Associates Degree in Arts and Science
Springfield Technical Community College – Associates Degree in Graphic Design and Lithography

Computer Programs
Macintosh – In-Design, PageMaker, Quark, PhotoShop.
I have been on a PC platform for several years now.

Language Skills                        Outside Interests
Speak Dutch and a passable German.            Travel, art, making music and fly-fishing.