Current Role

Creative Director, Artist and Owner, re:mused studio 
remusedstudio.com

Retail
Tailored Brands, Inc./
Men's Wearhouse, Inc.
Shutterfly
Gap, Inc.
Karen Neuburger

Advertising
Duncan/Channon
Haggin Marketing
Arc Worldwide

Design
re:mused studio
Machiatto Design
Marcus Associates
Celery Design Collaborative
Fine Design Group
Alterpop

WORK HISTORY

Creative Director, Artist & Owner- re:mused studio
Jan 2021-present : San Francisco, CA

re:mused studio was relaunched in early 2021 as the creative practice of multi-disciplinary artist and designer, Larissa Waters. Evolving from fine art originals and prints into the expansive world of surface pattern design, the studio is now Larissa’s full time focus with an emphasis on botanical-inspired stationery and gifts that offer a unique and coordinating approach to a range of products from double-sided gift wrap and greeting cards to notepads and tea towels. Blending hand drawn illustrations with watercolors and gouache, the work is released in pattern collections influenced by nature's palette and rooted in a love of historical styles.
The studio emphasizes thoughtfully designed and sourced products that are sold both direct to consumer at local events and online at remusedstudio.com, as well as through a growing wholesale business to shops all over the US. Choosing local and eco-friendly manufacturers and supplies whenever possible, is core to the studio's values. Connecting with community, empowering women and giving back a portion of proceeds throughout the year are also crucial to how re:mused studio functions.
Outside of re:mused studio’s own products, Larissa is putting her decades of experience in design and creative direction to work on forming collaborations and licensing partnerships with brands across industries such as wall paper, stationery, textiles and packaging.

Creative Director- Men’s Wearhouse & Moores Marketing
Tailored Brands Inc. Feb 2022-April 2024 : Fremont & Dublin, CA

From my proven track record on Jos. A. Bank, I was elevated to lead and mentor the internal creative team of designers, art directors and copywriters both on-site and remotely to produce omni-channel branding and promotional content for the flagship band Men’s Wearhouse and it’s Canadian brand, Moores. Reporting directly to the CBO and later to the VP of Creative, I also drove creative development for all internal deliverables and partnered with all outside agencies for broadcast, paid social and other creative channel needs. Working closely with our Brand, Production, Performance and other cross-functional business partners to plan and implement our content strategy and campaigns across all channels while leading with the customer’s needs and insights. A few notable wins include:

– Adapting a virtual creative asset planning and tracking system across both brands with multiple business and merchandising partners to streamline process by aligning more easily on the path to market.
– Leading the team through concept and creation of an impactful campaign to elevate the fundraising efforts for the brand’s support of multiple Veteran organizations. Through highlighting four stories across four different organizations in our “Threads of Valor” campaign, the company raised over $10 million since 2022 through customer donations alone, with an additional $2 million provided by Tailored Brands.
– Launching a new private label brand collection with photography, graphic identity systems, store visuals and video campaigns.
– Vetting agency pitches for a new broadcast campaign and partnering with the chosen agency on messaging and visual approaches that integrated into omni-channel strategic moments throughout the brand’s marketing.
– Acknowledged with the marketing organization’s “legendary shears” award after creating and implementing a measurable Level of Effort creative management tool to better track and forecast bandwidth within the creative team. This helped in breaking the misguided and often inaccurate hours tracking approach that did not fit well within in-house non-billable marketing teams and leaves little nuance to the work tracking. Scope plan, scope creep, project complexity, and oversight for management helped us better visualize the data to back up what creative management and project managers were anecdotally sharing with leadership. The system allowed for establishing a baseline of realistic expected output per day and week and gave insights into the effects of forces outside of the creative team’s control on the flow of the work so we could better partner across the organization.

Creative Director- Joseph A. Bank Marketing
Tailored Brands Inc. May 2019-February 2022: Fremont, CA

I lead and mentored an internal creative team of designers, art directors and copywriters both on-site and remotely to produce omni-channel branding and promotional content for the Joseph A. Bank menswear brand. Reporting directly to the Brand Vice President and CMO, I also oversaw creative development with all outside agencies for broadcast, paid social, brand activations and other creative channel needs. I partnered closely with our Brand Manager and cross-functional business partners to plan and implement our content strategy and campaigns across all channels while leading with the customer’s needs and insights. A few notable wins include:

– Pivoted (almost) overnight our internal process, execution, content production and brand storytelling to adjust to a rapidly changing retail environment through a global pandemic and a company restructuring. Contributed to consistent positive growth in revenue coming out of the restructure. Increased efficiency and speed-to-market, strengthened cross-functional collaboration and evolved a more playful and approachable brand voice and tone to meet our customer where they were at. 
– Oversaw campaigns that produced increased aided and unaided brand awareness, ad recognition and linkage, new-to-file customers, as well as qualitative increases.
– Successfully took in-house a 52-page seasonal printed catalog and brand campaign photoshoot, recouping agency fees and elevating the overall look and feel, as well as driving brand storytelling. 
– Acknowledged with the organization’s leadership award after shifting the mindset and approach to Breast Cancer Awareness month from a “pink-washed” product sales tool to a company-wide campaign putting humans and their stories first. 

Senior Creative Lead- Marketing
Tailored Brands Inc./The Men's Wearhouse, Inc. May 2014-April 2019 : Fremont, CA

This role at TBI functioned as a liaison between the evolving brands and their expression through marketing, including higher level strategic brand persona development, content marketing, and cross-channel integration and deployment. As a leader and manager of the integrated cross functional creative development team, I drove creative concepts for seasonal campaigns across brands and channels from concept to completion. I led photography art direction and design exploration with a goal to connect and resonate with customers to build brand awareness and ultimately increase conversion. I worked closely with our Creative Director to develop store window graphics, promotional signage and collateral, as well as lead an outside agency through development of a new printed catalog concept and seasonal photo campaign (began to transition in-house in late 2018). Online, I was responsible for all editorial projects, including look books, gift guides and visual guidance from concept and merch selection to design and art direction. I managed the e-commerce catalog product photography, working closely with both the stylists and merchants to help achieve the brand’s business objectives through development of creative standards and best practices. I consulted with our in-house photo studio for online digital asset management and database tool development. When the company acquired the Joseph A. Bank brand, I was put in charge of forming and leading a new creative team dedicated to its re-branding and elevation across all channels. 

In addition to my official role, I assumed much of the responsibilities of the former Creative Director for eCommerce while we were looking to hire our new cross-channel Creative Director on board. This involved overseeing CD responsibilities for the MW Tuxedo Rental and K&G Stores brands and support for Men’s Wearhouse and Moores where needed, including strategy development and deployment, creative reviews and approvals, and coordination with offline channels. I’m also work with our newly restructured Creative Services Management team to help balance the team’s workload and help provide personnel support, assist in staffing needs, and continually work towards additional process improvements.

Creative Lead - eCommerce Design & Visual Merchandising
The Men's Wearhouse, Inc. 4/12-4/14 : (SF) Fremont, CA

Lead on all online special projects, including look books, gift guides and visual guidance from concept and merch selection to design and art direction. Liaison between the evolving brands and their expression through inspirational interactive marketing online, including higher level strategic brand persona development, content marketing, and cross-channel integration and deployment. Also responsible for model casting and photo art direction for all brands across online media, both catalog and editorial, as well as consulting with our in-house photo studio for online digital asset management and model database tool development.

Senior Designer - eCommerce
The Men's Wearhouse, Inc. 5/10-4/12 : San Francisco, CA

Design across three brands for on site assets, email and online marketing. Worked with the creative director to implement strategies to elevate the brands' online presence and help the transition into a more e-commerce supported business. Overhauled the on site graphics for menswearhouse.com while a larger e-commerce site was being developed. Updated the online photography process and visual direction to better showcase the quality of the product and attract a broader customer base.

Designer - Duncan/Channon, Inc. 11/07-6/09 : San Francisco, CA

Designer for an award-winning branding, advertising and design agency. Work included design and art direction on print advertisements, collateral design, packaging, signage, identity, design for interactive and POS for clients in the wine industry, real estate, retail, medical and non-profit arenas. Clients included Jackson Family Wines, Constellation Wines, Diageo Chateau & Estate Wines, Credo Mobile, Tishman Speyer, Sanita Clogs, Sega, Surescripts, and WHY (formerly World Hunger Year).

FREELANCE

Re:Mused Studio 6/09-present : San Francisco, CA
I formed Re:Mused Studio in 2009 to work on a variety of design projects for a diverse client base. From branding and identity, to web design and photography, clients include many Bay Area musicians, a jewelry designer, interior designer, professional photographers, an Ayurvedic health practitioner and the occasional bride and groom.

Shutterfly 1/10-present : Redwood City, CA
Designer for the marketing and merchandising department of one of the online leaders in photo prints, gifts, storage and sharing. Projects have included email marketing, website landing pages and web store merchandising images. Responsibilities have also focused on lifestyle photo shoots in both preproduction planning and on the shoots themselves.

Macchiatto Design 8/09-1/10 : San Francisco, CA
Packaging for a major redesign for natural foods company Barbara’s Bakery, as well as wine label concept design for a new Napa Valley wine brand.

Gap, Inc. (Banana Republic) 7/09-8/09 : San Francisco, CA
Design and production assistance for Banana Republic’s Store Operations department. Responsibilities included work on their internal seasonal product catalogs for apparel and jewelry, employee training brochures, newsletters, and assisting with product photo shoots.

Duncan/Channon, Inc. 9/07-11/07 : San Francisco, CA
Designer for an award-winning branding, advertising and design agency. Work included collateral design, packaging, signage, identity, and POS. Clients included Fosters, Constellation Wines and Tishman Speyer.

KN Ltd. (Karen Neuburger) 2007 : San Rafael, CA
Graphic design for a retail apparel & accessories company, specializing in women’s sleepwear. Work included redesigning landing pages and other web elements, home page updates and email newsletters, as well as assisting the Graphic Design Manager with a variety of print and packaging projects.

Celery Design Collaborative 2007 : Berkeley, CA
Graphic Design for a studio specializing in green design and sustainability.

Arc Worldwide 2007 : San Francisco, CA
Graphic Design for an advertising agency assisting on projects for Symantec and Visa.

Haggin Marketing 2006-07 : Mill Valley, CA
Graphic Design for monthly catalog and direct mail pieces for Dell. Production on various direct marketing projects for Alpha Broder, American Express, Amazon.com, Safeway, Cintas, and California State Automobile Association.

Fine Design Group 2006, 2007 : San Francisco, CA
Graphic Design for a design studio on print and web development projects for luxury real estate developments, a management solutions company, a venture capital company, and others.

Marcus Associates 2005-06 : San Anselmo, CA
Graphic Designer for a branding, identity and design consultant. Work included identity design and development, brochures and advertisements, website design, and miscellaneous collateral.

EDUCATION

California College of the Arts (California College of Arts and Crafts)

BFA in Graphic Design with Distinction

SOFTWARE PROFICIENCY

Advanced: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Sketch, word processing

Intermediate: Capture One, Quark XPress, PowerPoint, HTML, Dreamweaver

Basic: Flash (with some ActionScripting), Adobe AfterEffects, Adobe Premiere, Final Cut Pro, Excel