Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Casestudygallery
Careeraccomplishments
Timeline
Generic

Vivian Villamin Evans

Beaverton,USA

Summary

I am a design professional specializing in colors, materials, trends, and graphic design, with over 20 years of experience in global product creation and design marketing. I have collaborated with notable brands such as Nike, Apple, and Sharpie, developing product aesthetics for categories including footwear, apparel, bags, cases, accessories, consumer electronics and appliances, home décor, outdoor and recreational products, and writing instruments. I use Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Keynote daily and work closely with product marketing, industrial design, CAD/3D modeling, product development, engineering, sourcing, model shops, and fabricators to create products that people love.

Overview

21
21
years of professional experience

Work History

Founder, CMF Design and Development Expert

The CMF Expert, LLC
02.2019 - Current
  • As a corporate consultant, I specialize in CMF (Color, Material, Finish) design and graphic design
  • My projects involve design strategy and inspiration, color material finish palettes, trend narratives and storytelling, naming, concept design, colorways, CMF variations, rendering visual line plans, large-format graphics, apparel graphics, presentation design, and client presentations
  • All deliverables were created using Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Keynote, and use AI for some projects
  • Hired industrial designers and engineers to create 3D product data for appearance models and production tooling
  • Evaluating color matches using a light booth and standardized lighting, achieving a tolerance of 0.5 to 0.8 on all color matches
  • To expedite color matching, I use spectrophotometers and the L
  • A
  • B
  • Values system
  • Joined a project for a design incubator partway through and managed color workstreams
  • The scope of work included color design, sourcing raw materials, color matching and development, and technical reviews for a new product innovation during the pandemic
  • Our success led to an acquisition by Procter & Gamble (P&G)
  • Designed apparel graphics for a color guard uniform and large-format vinyl graphics for the marching band’s football field props as a volunteer for Mountainside High School
  • I am designing production-ready graphic artwork, colorways, pricing step-up strategies, branding, and packaging for my private label products, which include apparel, accessories, and home goods décor and their packaging
  • For my content creation projects, I produce how-to videos and a CMF textbook using Premiere Pro, QuickTime, Adobe Illustrator, and Photoshop
  • I designed my brand logo and thumbnails for my YouTube channel, and I wrote my scripts, titles, and descriptions
  • When I am not designing products, I deliver talks at universities and art colleges as a subject matter expert
  • I have guided multiple cohorts as an MFA thesis advisor, ultimately mentoring graduates who now work as CMF designers around the globe

Principal Designer

NEWELL BRANDS
04.2014 - 01.2018
  • I oversaw the Color, Material, and Finish (CMF) design team and project workflow at a centralized design center with a portfolio valued at around $6 billion
  • I resolved issues for multiple product divisions, ensuring that design workstreams ran efficiently and aligned with corporate initiatives
  • Additionally, I managed and hired CMF staff for design centers worldwide
  • I founded the Newell Brands Color Excellence program to enhance product quality through a partnership with X-Rite and Pantone for precise color matching
  • I developed a color-matching process and training program, shifting responsibilities from the design team to engineering
  • I also implemented color-matching training for manufacturing partners, conducted the Munsell color blindness test for various teams, and introduced spectrophotometers and light booths in key development centers in India and the U.S
  • As the Principal Color Materials Designer for the Industrial Design team, I developed mood boards to effectively communicate trend inspiration along with color and material finish palettes
  • These resources served as a guide for global design teams in creating top-tier products and packaging for well-known brands such as Sharpie, Prismacolor, Paper Mate, Coleman, Contigo, Calphalon, Mr
  • Coffee, Rubbermaid, Sunbeam, Oster, Parker, and Waterman
  • Strategies, concepts, renderings, graphics, and presentations were designed using Keynote, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and KeyShot software
  • Traveled between Asia and Europe to present design concepts, approve samples, conduct market research, attend trade shows, train teams, and assist with color-matching issues at manufacturing facilities
  • Awards: Axiom; Design Mastery; Highest-Rated Employee

Senior Designer, Global CMF & Trend

BELKIN INTERNATIONAL
09.2006 - 08.2010
  • I oversaw CMF and trend direction for the #1 case brand in the United States and was responsible for all CMF design at Belkin
  • I delivered color palettes, material selection, and graphic art direction for the Apple and Dell case accessory businesses, which reached sales of $100 million within two years
  • Presented retailer exclusives, inline concepts, and consumer research to senior buyers at retailers such as Apple, Target, AT&T, and Walmart
  • First to introduce laser-etched product graphics to the iPhone case market
  • Although I did not have a managerial title, I was responsible for regularly hiring and training design contractors and interns to help produce seasonal stories, colorways, product graphics, spec sheets, tech packs, CES trade show booth graphics, and sales presentations
  • Created and managed a materials library containing different grades of technical, fashion, and sustainable leathers; nylons; polymers; heathered and felted materials; woven textiles and cords; buttons; fasteners; zippers; Lycra/Spandex; cotton; blended fibers; silicone; hotmelt/stitchless; microinjection; and sustainable options
  • Accelerated speed-to-market processes guaranteed that Belkin brought on-trend colors and graphics to market before anyone else by creating custom color targets with model shops and design centers in the U.S
  • And then deploying them to the in-house development team in Asia, traveling to Asia to approve colored materials and construction samples factories
  • Awards: iF International, Color and Style Advisor to Target Inc
  • And for Best Buy

Senior Designer, Footwear Color Material Design

OAKLEY, INC
08.2005 - 06.2006
  • Sole designer for Oakley’s footwear category
  • Responsibilities include trend research, color material finish design, graphic design, presentation design, and seasonal strategies for multiple footwear categories
  • Selected colors and materials for Oakley’s entire footwear business
  • Created concept visualizations, line plans, merchandising assortments, and sales presentations using Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and Keynote
  • Presented the line plan to distributors at global sales meetings
  • Responsible for the footwear materials library setup and maintenance
  • Met with global materials suppliers on a seasonal basis to update the library
  • Materials include premium leathers, technical textiles, fireproof suedes, heathered and felted materials, regrind materials, Cordura ballistic nylon, and laminated or coated materials
  • Collaborated with a 3-D model shop, footwear cobblers, and apparel sample sewers
  • Reviewed CAD files with industrial design teams to finalize component CMF, product graphics, and materials selections
  • Development trips to China for sample reviews and implementing changes

Product Development Manager, NikeiD (now Nike By You)

Nike Inc.
05.2004 - 09.2004
  • As a Color and Trend Manager, I led the development of seasonal color stories and colorways for approximately 150 SKUs, including global inline products, special make-ups (SMUs), limited editions, and regional exclusives
  • My responsibilities included trend research, creating the color materials strategy, graphic design of colorways, visual line plans, and presentations, presenting work at management reviews and sales meetings, coordinating with suppliers, evaluating and approving color standards, spec sheets, and samples, then reviewing/approving product photography for catalogs
  • I used Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop daily to create graphic designs, color palettes, colorways, and visual line plans
  • Hired and art-directed full-time employee and contractor to design color, material, and finish variations and graphic art for wrist-based wearables and fashion watches
  • Invited to work with Nike's Trend Director and the color committee to define the Spring 2005 corporate color palette
  • We met with trend services, gathered market data, and sourced design samples
  • Together, we developed the corporate trend narrative, color palette, and color standards for designing Nike products globally
  • Awards: Received “Excels” employee rating for two consecutive years, Red Dot Best of the Best, Good Design, IDSA Silver, and Alberto Salazar for NikeiD, as well as Best of Show at Nike Design Day

Education

Bachelor of Science - Graphic Communications

California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, CA

Skills

  • Creative Direction
  • Strategic planning
  • Team leadership

Casestudygallery

https://www.thecmfexpert.com/projects

Careeraccomplishments

  • Projects in which I played a significant role won awards from Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt National Design, Red Dot Best of Best, Good Design, IDEA Silver, Good Housekeeping, Time Magazine’s Best Inventions, and Allure Magazine's Best of Beauty.
  • Pioneer in the Wearable Technology industry by creating design and merchandising strategies for the first and second-generation Nike Speed/Distance and Heart Rate Monitoring devices.
  • Pioneer in the Apple iPod, iPhone, and iPad case market and helped Belkin become the #1 case brand in the U.S.
  • Design and development work for the Paper Mate Gel Pen contributed to sales exceeding the forecast by 500%—one unit was produced every 1.25 seconds.
  • Interviewed by Elle, Vogue, Marie Claire, Allure, and InStyle magazine Beauty Editors, and my work was highlighted in WGSN trend reports. Projects were published in the NY Times, in 'Disruptive Pattern Material - An Encyclopedia of Camouflage,' global magazines, and trend-hunting websites.
  • Appointed Color & Trend Advisor to Target Inc.’s Sr. CE Buyer and Color Captain.
  • Pantone invited me to speak as a color expert.

Timeline

Founder, CMF Design and Development Expert

The CMF Expert, LLC
02.2019 - Current

Principal Designer

NEWELL BRANDS
04.2014 - 01.2018

Senior Designer, Global CMF & Trend

BELKIN INTERNATIONAL
09.2006 - 08.2010

Senior Designer, Footwear Color Material Design

OAKLEY, INC
08.2005 - 06.2006

Product Development Manager, NikeiD (now Nike By You)

Nike Inc.
05.2004 - 09.2004

Bachelor of Science - Graphic Communications

California Polytechnic State University

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Vivian Villamin Evans