Resume:

Timothybrucato@gmail.com

Innovator with deep background that merges both creative and business. Unique way of thinking, and approaches problems from creative angles. Has worked on products in over 20 industries, and at both fortune 500 companies and startups. Innovative take on problems, and new approach to brands, as well as ability to maintain bread and butter foundations. Able to think big picture, as well as day to day. Has management background and an ability and desire to mentor.

Thinks strategy, brand identity, blue sky, large and small scale, line building, execution, and marketing in one. Can sketch, make full turn over documents, control art, create graphics and style guides, digital product mocks, patterns and prints, packaging graphics and dielines, and work with overseas

manufacturing.

EDUCATION:
Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of NY New York, NY
B.F.A., Toy Design, March 2015
B.F.A., Accessories Design, March 2013 

Minor., Art History, Costuming Concentration, March 2013 A.A.S., Fashion Design, March 2011
Master Millinery Course, Certificate, August 2008 

EXPERIENCE: PETCO

Dates Employed: Feb 2019-present

Rancho Bernardo, CA

Lead Toy Designer

Lead toy designer for dog and cat toys for Petco owned brands, as well as licensing. Guides toy strategy, manages freelancers, and art directs associate designers in the toy category.

Manages seasonal, inline, license, softlines, and hardlines for the toy category for all of Petco owned brands. Line builds, identifies creative business opportunity, designs collection, and art directs high level line vision. Creates and proposes strategic toy innovation strategies, as well as license opportunities proposals to upper management.

Creates tec packs, creates 3D CAD in Fusion 360, interfaces with overseas vendors, travels overseas to guide vendors and discover and identify tangible innovation opportunities. Creates overall line visions for presentation to upper management, presents concepts and validations, as well as guides team through to preproduction stage. Leads toy design aesthetic both internally and externally to vendors.

Creates fabric standards, approves color direction, and guides design assistants in concept and color execution. Works with the vendors and overseas partners to create new innovation hardlines materials, and guides overseas team on finding softlines fabric innovations.

EXPERIENCE: Wicked Cool Toys

June 2018 - 2019

Levittown, PA
Product Designer

Designed for the Easy Bake, Queasy Bake and Crayola lines. Creates all control turns, turn overs, concepts, revisions, and deco art.

Manages development overseas. Manages a team of freelancers, provides art direction and creative guidance. Deals directly with the factory.

Oversees the creation of all food compounds for the Easy Bake and Queasy Bake line.

EXPERIENCE: Hasbro

June 2017 - 2018

Pawtucket, RI
Brand Ambassador - Licensed Product Designer

Art directed, guided, and managed licensee in diverse business categories for franchise licenses at Hasbro. Owned specific categories of business, and was responsible to guide licensees to grow these categories.

Directed licensees based on overall branding vision, market trends, and Hasbro’s brand DNA. Pushed out assets based on strategy and contract rights, and correct timing of marketplace trends. Differentiated competitors product from each other, and ensured Hasbro’s brands were adequately represented in all areas of these categories without competitor product cannibalization.

Strategic planning of licensees lines, as well as which new areas of business Hasbro could go into. Brainstormed new ideas for both product lines, and license partners to go after.

Brand Ambassador and Outward face of Hasbro to accounts. Responsible for overseeing all creative direction and ensuring deadlines were met. Pushed licensees within their manufacturing perimeters to create the most true to brand and innovative product possible.

Managed licensees through all milestones of the design process including; line planning, concept, product art/screen art, packaging, control drawings, and PPS.

Created 3D components of Hasbro’s style guides, and worked with Hasbro's guide team to ensure information included is relevant and applicable to licensees needs.

EXPERIENCE: Gund, Enesco

June 2015 - 2017

Edison, NJ
Product Designer
Responsibilities included: In charge of designing new and innovative product that related to the Gund customer and branding.

Head designer for the Sesame Street, Grumpy Cat, Boo- the World’s Cutest Dog and Prissy and Pop licenses, designed products for the annual amazon.com holiday bear, Nordstrom’s annual Boo, Justice, Hammacher Schlemmer, and Shopko.

In charge of redesigning and implementing the January 2016 Gund and Baby Gund packaging during which time the company was rebranded, worked closely with counterparts overseas, brought product from concept to final approval, worked with licensors.

Designed best selling items for Gund, pitched new license opportunities, brought new technology ideas to Gund, worked on mechanized plush concepts, made mock-ups and edited samples, created pitch boards for new lines and ideas, specked colors and fabric, gave approvals on packaging and PPS design samples.

Directed and managed freelancers, cost reduced items to make a better profit margin. 

Gund, Enesco June - July 2014
Edison, NJ
Design Intern
Responsibilities included: Contributed to the design/development of approximately 15 original toy concepts and was responsible for getting samples made and corrected in China for consideration for 2016 line production, worked on Sesame Street license, brainstormed ideas,
sat in on marketing and finalization meetings, made presentation boards, attended board meetings to brainstorm for future products, made blue line revisions on samples sent from China, made call out sheets for own designs that were sampled in China, aided with packaging and display ideas for current product, went on market research missions, built packaging models. 

Accessories Street May – July 2012
New York, NY
Design Intern
Responsibilities included: Designing a subset of the company’s summer scarf collection; creating Tech Packs to be sent to manufacturers overseas, digitally re-coloring and indexing of prints to be manufactured, assembling print layouts, creating mood boards, and cataloging of incoming samples. 

SKILLS: 

Photoshop, Illustrator, Web PDM, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, SolidWorks
Sewing on industrial and home machine, Patternmaking for Women’s wear, Men’s and Women’s footwear, handbags. Millinery training. Fashion Illustration. Historical costume knowledge. 

HONORS & AWARDS: 

Australian Toy of the Year Award: Animated Unicorn, March 2017 Accessories Council, March 2013
1st place for Best Millinery, 2nd place for Best Portfolio, March 2013