Creative Director, Apparel Graphics & Product Artwork
Florida, NY (Remote)
Posted 1 month ago
Job Description
At Lakeshirts, we make resort apparel that reminds people where they've been. The tee they picked up on vacation. The hoodie they wore on a cool lake morning. The shirt that stays in rotation long after the trip is over.
If you've ever pulled a favorite shirt out of a drawer and thought, "Yep, this one still hits," there's a good chance we had something to do with it.
The Blue 84 Resort line is built around destinations people love and memories they want to take home with them. Our job is to turn those places, experiences, and stories into apparel people actually want to wear.
We're looking for a Creative Director to help lead and execute the creative vision for the Blue 84 Resort business and shape the future of the artwork that appears on thousands of products sold across North America.
THE ROLEThis is a hands-on creative leadership role focused on apparel graphics, product artwork, decoration techniques, and seasonal trend direction.
You'll help lead and execute the creative vision for the Blue 84 Resort business, guiding the artistic direction behind the products that bring destinations and memories to life. Working closely with Regional Art Directors, graphic artists, Sales teams, and customers, you'll ensure creative work aligns with market trends, customer needs, and business objectives.
This role combines creative vision, team leadership, and commercial partnership. You'll stay closely connected to the creative process by reviewing artwork, providing artistic direction, coaching talent, identifying emerging trends, and making final creative decisions that help drive product success.
You'll also work directly with customers through trade shows, customer visits, and ongoing collaboration to understand retail trends, market opportunities, and evolving consumer preferences.
This is not a marketing, advertising, digital content, social media, or corporate branding role. This position is focused on creative leadership for apparel graphics and product artwork within the resort apparel industry.
This role is based in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota (preferred), with some travel required.
WHAT YOU'LL DO- Help lead and execute the creative vision for the Blue 84 Resort business, shaping apparel graphics, product artwork, and seasonal creative direction.
- Lead and develop a team of Regional Art Directors and graphic artists through clear direction, coaching, feedback, and creative accountability.
- Direct artwork development and final creative approvals across a variety of decoration techniques, ensuring quality, consistency, and production readiness.
- Translate customer insights, sales trends, market opportunities, and competitive intelligence into commercially successful creative direction.
- Partner with customers, Sales teams, and cross-functional partners through trade shows, customer visits, and ongoing collaboration to stay connected to the market.
- Drive execution against catalog deadlines, seasonal launches, and business priorities while continuously improving creative processes and workflows.
- A distinctive Resort aesthetic that resonates with customers and consumers.
- Strong seasonal direction informed by market trends and customer insights.
- High-quality artwork delivered consistently, efficiently, and ready for production.
- A creative team that is aligned, engaged, and continually improving.
- Strong partnerships that translate into commercially successful products.
- 7-10+ years of creative leadership experience within apparel graphics, resort merchandise, licensed apparel, lifestyle brands, or related consumer product categories.
- Deep knowledge of apparel graphics, decoration techniques, trend direction, and graphic product development.
- Proven ability to lead product artwork from concept through production while balancing creativity, quality, timelines, and commercial results.
- Strong understanding of seasonal trend development, retail merchandising, customer preferences, and market dynamics.
- Experience leading creative teams through coaching, collaboration, and accountability.
- Strong organizational and planning skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities, deadlines, and cross-functional relationships.
- Experience with screen printing, embroidery, specialty decoration techniques, and apparel embellishments is highly desirable.
- Portfolio strongly encouraged and should include examples of apparel graphics, resort merchandise, licensed products, lifestyle graphics, or related consumer product artwork.
- A team-first mindset with no interest in big egos.
We're especially interested in candidates with experience in:
- Resort, destination, or souvenir apparel
- Lifestyle, outdoor, or recreational apparel brands
- Decorated apparel manufacturing or graphic consumer products
Lakeshirts offers a fun, creative, and team-driven culture where employees are empowered to grow and thrive. We provide competitive pay with daily pay options, comprehensive insurance benefits, up to 22 paid days off in the first year, profit sharing, a 401(k) plan, a relaxed dress code, unique perks like an onsite cafeteria, dogs at work, and more.
The wage range for this position is $100,000-$125,000 annually, depending on experience and qualifications, with flexibility for exceptional experience.
OUR CULTURE IS ONE-OF-A-KIND AND TRULY SETS US APART.We are proud of our humble beginnings and non-corporate style. We offer a unique atmosphere unlike any other manufacturer. We work hard to be the best and seek committed individuals who will help move our company forward while embracing our values and culture.
Lakeshirts | Blue 84 is one of the largest privately owned screen-printing manufacturers in the United States, producing and distributing apparel for the Resort and Licensed channels. We employ more than 1,000 people across multiple locations and proudly produce more than 35,000 garments each day.
Life's Better in a T-Shirt. It Really Is.
Lakeshirts
Lakeshirts is a custom apparel decorating company that started in our owner’s parents’ basement in 1984. We have since grown to an $200 million+ company in a 275,000 square foot facility. Our production floor includes 48 automatic screenprint presses, 32 multi-head embroidery machines, six 60-foot laser appliqué bridges, three sublimation presses, and a number of dogs running around the place. Lakeshirts sales continue to grow, as does its profitability, due to the hard work and continuous improvement efforts of its 500+ employees and over 60 nation-wide reps. Lakeshirts provides decorated apparel to thousands of customers in the resort and college markets, being a preferred choice to customers based on its breadth of great designs, great garments in its inventory, and reliable and responsive delivery. With more than 40 artists on our staff, we create thousands of pieces of art each year, giving each customer a unique look. We have over 100 bodystyles in stock, and each one comes in a multitude of colors, totaling more than 1,000,000 pieces in our inventory.This is all done in a culture that reflects respect, community, and fun. Our culture is second-to-none and must be experienced to be truly understood. If you happen to be in the lakes area, we invite you to stop in and see for yourself. We always enjoy visits, and we’re proud to show off the community that we’ve called “home” for all of our lives. And if you happen to bring along a Milk Bone or two with you, we know you’ll make some very quick and deep friendships.Life’s Better in a T-shirt
Salaries
Posted range
$100K/yr – $125K/yr
Taken straight from the job posting.
Links
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