Greg Kaats

Senior Designer and Art Direction for the IQAir Group AG in Goldach, St Gallen | Bodensee Switzerland.
The IQAir Group is a global technology leader in the field of air purification systems. Our customers include environmental authorities, schools, medical facilities, Fortune 500 companies, embassies and health conscious individuals in over 60 countries. Designing and creating Corporate identity, Product branding and Packaging for all related IQAir® and HealthPro® brand applications. New product launches including but not limited to packaging, manuals, presentations and brochures for international markets including China and the USA. Collaboration in interdisciplinary design projects and their implementation, ensuring and development of all CI guidelines target group-specific visualization. Consultation and design for Shop in Shop and Experience Centers Retail POS across China. Technical cooperation with external service providers by monitoring the proper and timely execution of the transferred projects worldwide.

International Art Director & Designer for the VETICA Group AG in Luzern Switzerland.
Vetica is an international brand and design agency with talents in strategic development, branding and product design with offices in Hamburg, Taipei and Hong Kong. Art direction & graphic design for strategy & brand marketing support worldwide including but not limited to; Corporate identity & branding guidelines, vehicle branding, signage, marketing brochures, web related design and graphics support. GUI guideline design and screen layouts for machine interfaces. English copy writing for internal and external clients. Packaging design, development and brand applications for retail, industrial and B2B commercial projects. Packaging and Identity design cost analysis, estimates, implementation and development from initial concept design to final execution.

Principal Art Director & Packaging Designer for the BODUM® Design Group consisting of PI-Design, Bodum® AG & Bodum USA inc., in Triengen Switzerland. BODUM®ʼs global consumer home kitchen and electronic products are sold in 55 countries worldwide. Art direction for packaging and all communication aspects of marketing support including; corporate identity, advertising, web banners, shop signage, promotional materials and products. Generated designs for all retail packaging, related sales literature and instructions for use. Check & establish production procedures, cost analysis and development of mock-ups across vendors in Europe and China. Monitor, develop and maintain packaging standards. Review sample requests and approvals. Photography art direction and in-house photography & retouching. Manage all exterior vendor teams of photographers and printers.

Global consumer product and electronic retail packaging for MacBooks, iPods & iPhones in Apple, Best Buy & Target retail environments. Art direction and creative concept development, strategic thinking, presentation and planning for new and existing packaging across the entire product line. Packaging engineering and structural design. Photography direction and preparation. Determining objectives, budget, and guidelines from concept to final execution. Managed a print team of designers and freelance production artists, copy writers and proofreaders.

Consumer products and electronic retail packaging for MacBooks, iPods, iPhones & iPad. Production team management for large-scale just in time packaging projects. Established production protocols and staffing to meet Apple's launch of new products. Rapid delivery of new and revised product line mechanicals. Communicate with printing facilities in China and coordinate print scheduling to meet product delivery. Develop new packaging solutions and maintain brand consistency.

Production of new brand packaging lines for: Haagen Dazs, Dreyers & Edys Ice Cream, Blue Diamond, Cascadian Farm, Contadina, Del Monte Fruit Cups, Juicy Juice J-Max, Nestle – Nesquik, Nestea, Confections and Pet Care (Purina brand merger), ConAgra – Slim Jim, Clorox - Glad Bags, General Mills, Green Giant, Old El Paso, Freemark Abby Vineyards and Guittard Chocolate. Apply and develop new design to existing and new packaging templates. Lead production team for large-scale production projects. Assisted management in coordinating assignments to production artists and independent contractors. Due diligence for new and existing packaging and design adaptations to ensure brand cohesiveness and identity. Through knowledge of pre-press production for offset and flexo printing well as vehicle signage. Understanding and interpretation of NLEA & government packaging regulations.