Melissa Otis← All work

02Life is Good · 2014–2018

Spreading Optimism, One Design at a Time

Best year in 27 years

Art Director, Consumer Goods at Life is Good

Overview

I directed graphic design across every product category for Life is Good — apparel, accessories, home, and seasonal lines — for Life is good, a nationally distributed lifestyle brand generating roughly $100 million in annual revenue. Reporting directly to the Founders, I led design teams building large-scale graphic apparel assortments across men's, women's, kids', dogs', and home collections each season.

Alongside the day-to-day design work, I partnered with executive leadership to help define strategic direction for the brand's apparel collections, including an early print-on-demand initiative that added a genuinely new, scalable revenue stream to the business.

I managed and mentored the design and production art teams, building a collaborative, high-quality creative culture, and worked closely with international vendors in Peru and Honduras to ensure design integrity carried all the way through to the finished product.

Life is Good — image 1Life is Good — image 2Life is Good — image 3Life is Good — image 4Life is Good — image 5Life is Good — image 6Life is Good — image 7Life is Good — image 8Life is Good — image 9Life is Good — image 10Life is Good — image 11Life is Good — image 12

Spreading Optimism, One Design at a Time

Sam, a senior graphic designer on my team, walks through his process bringing Life is Good's graphics to life. As Art Director, I led creative across partnerships from Dunkin' to Aly Raisman, Garth Brooks, and National Geographic, etc — all in service of one idea: spreading the power of optimism.

Life is Good — Spreading Optimism, One Design at a Time — image 1Life is Good — Spreading Optimism, One Design at a Time — image 2Life is Good — Spreading Optimism, One Design at a Time — image 3Life is Good — Spreading Optimism, One Design at a Time — image 4Life is Good — Spreading Optimism, One Design at a Time — image 5

Life is Good · 2017–2018

Betting on the Future: Direct-to-Garment

2017 was when DTG printing moved from a question to a real bet — I was part of the team that leased our first machines and built out the function from scratch, helping shape how it would actually work and making sure the product matched our standards throughout. DTG also powered our B2B "name drop" programs for small local shops. By 2020, it drove Life is Good's best year in 27 years; today, a 500,000 sq ft facility runs 12 machines printing 14,000 units/day.

Life is Good — Betting on the Future: Direct-to-Garment — image 1Life is Good — Betting on the Future: Direct-to-Garment — image 2Life is Good — Betting on the Future: Direct-to-Garment — image 3Life is Good — Betting on the Future: Direct-to-Garment — image 4Life is Good — Betting on the Future: Direct-to-Garment — image 5Life is Good — Betting on the Future: Direct-to-Garment — image 6Life is Good — Betting on the Future: Direct-to-Garment — image 7Life is Good — Betting on the Future: Direct-to-Garment — image 8

Packaging

Life is Good — Packaging — image 1Life is Good — Packaging — image 2

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