Happy Meet the Maker Monday! This week we want to introduce you to the happiest soul in the office, Scotty Gray. Scotty always comes to work with the biggest smile on his face and his positivity is seriously infectious! Scotty is our Package designer and his office is a pretend play heaven! There are dresses, hair clips and temporary tattoos everywhere. Watch a look at the video linked below to see a sneak peak.
Hi everyone, Lindsay here again! We’re here at Great Pretenders head office with Scotty! He’s going to tell us a little bit about his role here
Take it away Scotty!
Scotty: Hey guys! I hope you are all doing well here during these crazy times! My name is Scotty Gray and I am the Packaging Designer here are Creative Education (Great Pretenders). My general duties are making sure that packaging goes out on time, that it goes out for the purchase orders and new products. I have recently got in on doing some of the advertising for Amazon, working with our European team and growing what I do here! I have been working in the position for about 10 months now and I’m looking kind of step up a little bit with this project!
Lindsay: Can you show us an example of what is behind packaging design?
Scotty: Yeah, sure! With packaging there is a few different steps. It starts with our network database that Lukas manages. I go over that to look at the warnings and such that I include on the back of our products here, you’ll see the barcodes and different things like that. after that we send the artwork to the factory, and they will send us digital proofs, then we like to get a sample in so we can look over and make sure that the quality is great. After that it is ready to rock! We approve it and then we are good to go live with the product!
Lindsay: What is your favourite graphic design contribution that you have made?
Scotty: My favourite graphic contribution that I’ve made is an opportunity that has come from quarantine! I’m working on Amazon advertising with our European team. It is similar to web design, when something gets sold, you feel like you have a little more to do with the sale! You see the products translate into money for the company and it is a good feeling!
Lindsay: We hear that you are a bit of a wordsmith! You’ve been known for that around the office. Has that been something you have always been good with?
Scotty: Yeah! Growing up I would say I was probably a 70s student, but in English for whatever reason I would always get graded high 80s. Gym, Art and English for whatever reason were all I could really muster up in high school.
Lindsay: Hahaha same with me! How have you been finding working from home?
Scotty: Working from home has been really good productivity wise. You can get stuff done much more efficiently! But the social aspect is not great! I think anybody would agree that they like to see their friends and coworkers. It gets kind of old sitting in your room all day working, so it’s really nice to see people!
Lindsay: Yeah! It’s good we’re here today chit chatting!
Scotty: Absolutely!
Lindsay: As a graphic designer would you choose a Mac or PC?
Scotty: I would probably pick Mac. I use both, but I find the Macs have been a bit faster than PCs.
Lindsay: Can you tell us a story about your childhood? Maybe how you used your imagination as a kid?
Scotty: There is one thing that stick out in my head about growing up! We have an OHL here in Sarnia called the Sarnia Sting. I was a big hockey fan growing up! I think I came out with a hockey stick in my hand. We used to have this tent in my house, and I remember the Sarnia Sting used to come out of this big ginormous bee when they would come out on the ice before their games. I thought that was the coolest thing growing up! So I would use this tent we had at home and I would come out dressed up as a hockey player and get my parents to flicker the lights to some crazy techno music and I was ready for the NHL!
Lindsay: What is your favourite Great Pretenders costume?
Scotty: My favourite Great Pretenders costumes would be anything Colour-in! I think the personalization aspect for any customer is awesome! I think any kid can spend an hours worth of time and have a blast doing it too! I also think the EVA products we sell are really underrated! They are made with really high quality EVA, its really soft and there’s almost always a really cool design on it too!
Lindsay: Oh, I wonder who is responsible for that? ;)
Scotty: Double whammy!
Lindsay: If you could have one super power, what would it be?
Scotty: I would probably want to fly! I think having another perspective on the world would be really cool!
Lindsay: Why do you think packaging is important?
Scotty: I think packaging is important because it shows the customers all of the legal information that goes into a product, first and foremost. Something like the product warnings, those are things that customers need to know right away!
Lindsay: Especially for kids toys too!
Scotty: Absolutely! Especially small parts, long cords etc. On the other hand, I think packaging is really important because it sets a mood for the product right off the bat. Before the customer even picks it up, the first thing they see is the packaging and they are more likely to buy something that has a cool graphic on the box, vs. something that is bland. So that is where my job kicks in! It is my duty to make sure that things look good to go out!
Lindsay: That’s awesome! Thank you for chatting with us today Scotty! And thank you everyone for watching. We will see you next week!
View some of Scotty's favourite Great Pretenders products below!
