Hi, I’m Allie.
Passionate, multi-disciplinary design leader with over 12 years of experience shaping beloved IP at Mattel on American Girl’s product design team, delivering purpose-led, consumer-centric design solutions that are innovative, insightful, and brand-right.
Collaborates seamlessly with cross-functional partners to bring aspirational product, retail experiences and new concepts to life—showcasing contributions through pitch decks, style guides, product art, and toy, apparel, and consumer products design and management.
Key highlights:
Spearheaded creation and launch of Signature Studio, an innovative apparel customization experience rolled out in three flagship retail locations within six months, earning me American Girl’s Shining Star Award for business impact.
Designed compelling pitch decks, design concepts and style guides for high-profile, buzz-worthy collaborations, including Crocs, Disney, GAP, Williams Sonoma and other Fortune 500 brands.
Led the creative expansion of new product lines and partnerships targeting nostalgic millennial audiences, enhancing brand relevance and market reach, including Stoney Clover Lane and Posh Peanut partnerships in apparel and lifestyle categories.
Drove creative development and aesthetic direction of new segments (Welliewishers, World by Us) and core segments (Historical Characters, Girl of the Year) through moodboards, research, style guides, art toolboxes, and marketing assets.
Managed product art and graphics across American Girl’s entire portfolio of hardgoods and softgoods—concept through production—while leading a team of up to three designers.
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Product Designer
Specializing in product art, kidswear, brand collaborations, and consumer products, I thrive at blue-sky ideation as well as fast-paced, complex problem solving—delivering bold, consumer-focused solutions from concept to completion.
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Graphic Artist
I have an overflowing toolbox of tricks and skills: illustration, graphics, patterns, concept renderings, moodboards, pitch decks, templates, style guides, image editing, logos, production ready files, packaging dielines, and typography, to name a few.
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Brand & Experience Designer
I translate complex ideas into clear, compelling visuals. I create style guides rich with authenticity and storytelling that capture a brand’s essence, the emotions it evokes, the promises it makes and delivers, and every unique and memorable detail along the way.
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Collaborator & Leader
I work seamlessly on cross-functional teams, design teams and with external partners. I genuinely love to mentor, listen, facilitate, lead and inspire others. I am here to accomplish big tasks, get things done, and find clarity amid ambiguity.
Recommendations
Christina Schick
Vice President Brand,
Product & Content
American Girl
“I had the absolute pleasure of working with Allie at American Girl, and she quickly became one of those rare talents you hope to work with again.
Allie’s design instincts are spot-on. She brought a fresh, thoughtful approach to product design—always grounded in a deep understanding of our brand and audience. Her work was not only beautiful but purposeful, helping bring new life to core product lines and licensed extensions.
She also has an incredible knack for visual storytelling. Her presentations were consistently best-in-class—clear, compelling, and visually stunning. Whether presenting internally or externally, Allie knew how to make ideas resonate.
One of her biggest contributions was developing our first-ever licensing guides—something we’d talked about for years but never executed until Allie stepped in. She built them from scratch, and they quickly became a vital resource for partners and teams across the organization.
On top of all that, Allie is just a joy to work with—collaborative, proactive, and always positive. I can’t recommend her highly enough.”
Erin McMillan
Director, Brand Strategies & Partnerships
American Girl
“Allie is a wonderful designer, and business partner. She understands the objective and dives right in. She's also great at bringing alternative ideas, and driving the conversation forward in a meaningful way. Allie would be a wonderful asset to any company looking for a fresh design perspective.”
Lora Brown
Senior Product Development Associate
American Girl
“It was a genuine pleasure working with Allie at Mattel and American Girl. As Product Developer for the American Girl Cafe, souvenirs, and brand collaborations, I saw firsthand her incredible talent as a designer.
Allie consistently impressed me with her fresh concepts and design solutions - especially when we were cost challenged. She took on cost challenges and always found a creative design solution to the problem. She has a great eye for detail and a true commitment to perfecting her work, which always led to high-quality outcomes with well thought out strategy behind it. Beyond her skills, Allie's strong work ethic made her a joy to have on the team! I would wholeheartedly recommend her!”
Steve DeSpirito
Principal Designer
American Girl
“I had the pleasure of working with Allie for over a decade at American Girl, and she’s hands-down one of the most creative and inspiring people I’ve worked with. Allie brings a rare combination of design talent, strategic thinking, and an endlessly positive attitude - even in the most high-pressure situations.
She has a true gift for expressing ideas in visual form - always finding fresh, on-brand ways to bring color, materials, and finishes to life. Her mood boards alone are legendary: beautifully curated, full of insight, and always capturing the exact essence of a project before anyone else could articulate it. Whether she was leading collaborations with partners like Williams Sonoma, or creating toolkits and style guides that brought new character worlds to life, Allie always brought both vision and precision.
What I’ve always admired most is how she stays so calm and upbeat no matter what’s going on. Deadlines, pivots, pressure - Allie handled it all with a smile and a fresh idea. Her creativity and problem-solving helped move so many projects forward, and her leadership and mentorship were a huge asset to our team.
If you’re looking for a creative partner who brings not just serious design skill, but great energy, fresh thinking, and a collaborative spirit - Allie’s the one you want with you from concept to completion!”
Resume
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B.F.A. IN GRAPHIC DESIGN
Iowa State University
College of Design
May 2005, Graduated with HonorsROME PROGRAM
Study Abroad, Rome, Italy
Fall Semester 2004 -
STAFF PRODUCT DESIGNER
American Girl
Sept 2023 – March 2025Licensed Partnerships & Collabs (GAP, Disney, Barbie)
Consumer Products style guides & product design
Retail Events, Experiences & Souvenir product design
Lead product art, graphics and toolboxes across brands
PRODUCT DESIGN MANAGER
American Girl
March 2021 – Sept 2023Lead product art & packaging teams
Sub-brand & Character style guides and toolboxes
New concept visuals and partnership pitch decks
LEAD PRODUCT DESIGNER
American Girl
March 2015 – 2021Lead team of 2-3 product art designers
Sub-brand & Character style guides and toolboxes
Manage & design Retail Events & Experiences
SENIOR DESIGNER
American Girl
Sept. 2012 – March 2015Design and illustrate product art & graphics across all brands, including print, apparel, toy & packaging
Design Retail Events, including crafts and doll product
Lead design and development of “Signature Studio” garment printing experience in flagship retail stores
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DEVELOPMENT & COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR
EarthCorps, Seattle, WA
May 2011 – July 2012Global center for applied environmental leadership and community based restoration
Responsible for all communications, social media, photography, alumni relations, fundraising, event planning, and 2012 rebrand.
AMERICORPS CORPSMEMBER & CREW LEADER
EarthCorps, Seattle, WA
2008 – 2010Trained, mentored and supervised crews of international young adults in environmental restoration & volunteer management
ART DIRECTOR
Salem Publishing, Nashville, TN
May 2005 – Jan. 2008Art direction and design of six monthly magazines, supervision of two associate designers
Exhibition and marketing design
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AMERICAN GIRL SHINING STAR AWARD
Top honor from leadership to recognize work ethic and innovative project leadership of “Signature Studio” retail experience, 2015
EVANGELICAL PRESS ASSOCIATION
Publication Redesign, Second Place
Preaching Magazine, 2008 -
VOLUNTEER ART DOCENT
Kenmore Elementary School
Kenmore, WA
2023 – PresentBASE 2 SPACE
Fred Hutch Cancer Research Fundraiser
Climbed the 832 open-air stairs of Seattle's space needle
September 2018MATTEL/MICROSOFT INNOVATION BRAINSTORM
Collaborative tech brainstorm participant and finalist
El Segundo, CA, Fall 2016KRISTA FOUNDATION FOR GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP
Grant recipient, colleague and graphic designer
Seattle, WA, 2008 – 2012 -
SOFTWARE & PROGRAMS
Adobe Creative Suite
Microsoft Office Suite
Workfront
Midjourney AI
Keynote
PLM/AgileLEADERSHIP SKILLS
Product management
People management
Volunteer management
Team building
Art direction
Brainstorm sessions
Mentoring & coaching
Collaboration & communicationDESIGN SKILLS
Product & toy design
Apparel design
Prints, patterns & textile design
Graphic design & branding
Illustration
Magazine & book publishing
Retail events & experiences
Crafts design
Photo editing
Packaging design
Trend research
Technology & innovation
Sublimation printing
Style guide creation
Consumer products