Custom Ink
Company Overview
Custom Ink is a Virginia-based leader in custom apparel, helping people express identity and shared purpose through what they wear. Over 16+ years there, I grew into senior artist and team lead roles, balancing hands-on design with mentoring artists, shaping workflows, and partnering cross-functionally to deliver high-quality, scalable work. This role grounded my leadership in craft, collaboration, and building systems that support both people and impact.
Creative Operations & Workflow Leadership
Identifying the Bottleneck
As I grew into a team lead role, I began noticing clear patterns where time, quality, and creative energy were being lost in production workflows. Manual redraws and trace cleanup slowed turnaround and created inconsistencies, limiting the team’s ability to focus on higher-value creative problem solving and scale effectively.
Research
I led evaluation and comparison of vector tracing tools to identify solutions that could improve efficiency without compromising production standards. Using real production files, I compared output quality, cleanup time, and reliability, then synthesized findings into clear recommendations shared with senior leadership.
Outcome
The selected tool was adopted into the standard workflow, improving consistency, reducing turnaround time and freeing artists to focus on more meaningful creative work. This project reflects how my leadership developed through systems thinking, cross-team communication, and advocacy rooted in real operational needs.
This experience shaped how I approach creative leadership today, focusing on clarity, sustainability, and building systems that support people at scale.
CLINK! Happy Hour, 2019
Campaign Overview
I was asked to name and design the logo for Custom Ink’s internal Happy Hour initiative. The concept centered on connection and collaboration, playing on the word “link” while referencing the celebratory clink of glasses and the “ink” in Custom Ink. The result honored both the brand and its employees, known internally as Inkers.
Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop
Impact
Beyond the visual identity, this work supported internal culture by using brand expression to create moments of connection outside of daily production work. It demonstrated how thoughtful, on-brand decisions can strengthen morale, reinforce shared identity, and build community within an organization. It also showed how internal brand moments can reinforce connection, belonging, and shared culture.
Spring Peak Weeks Campaign, 2017
Campaign Overview
I illustrated artwork for Custom Ink’s internal Spring Peak Weeks campaign, a space-themed initiative designed to energize teams during the company’s busiest season. The astronaut illustration depicts the use of the pen tool, reflecting the daily work of the art teams, with Custom Ink’s mascot, Inky, featured on the suit.
Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop
Impact
The campaign reframed a high-pressure operational period into a shared creative narrative. By celebrating the behind-the-scenes work of the teams, the illustration helped foster pride, motivation, and a sense of shared purpose during peak production.
CVille Gives Campaign, 2015
Campaign Overview
I created the illustrated campaign design for Custom Ink’s CVille Gives initiative, a community-focused fundraising and awareness campaign supporting local nonprofits in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop
Impact
The artwork was designed to translate clearly across flyers, posters, and t-shirts, ensuring accessibility and warmth in every application. By pairing illustration with clear messaging, the campaign helped amplify nonprofit visibility, encourage participation, and support fundraising efforts, showing how design can reinforce brand values while driving real-world impact.
Internal Communication Design, 2022
Campaign Overview
I designed a series of branded Art and Design and Production Art banners for Custom Ink’s daily backlog emails. Using established brand colors, typography, and visual language, the goal was to bring clarity and consistency to highly functional internal communications.
Tools: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop
Impact
These banners acted as a visual anchor, helping teams quickly recognize context while adding a sense of creativity and connection to essential operational updates. This work reinforced the importance of brand stewardship at every level, including internal systems that teams rely on daily.
International Pilot Program, Prague, 2019
Program Overview
I coached and supported an initial pilot team of production artists in Prague as part of an international expansion initiative. The goal was to establish consistent quality standards, workflows, and communication practices while supporting a team working across cultural, linguistic, and geographic boundaries.
Impact
The initial pilot team of five artists grew more than threefold, including the development of four leaders. I supported this growth through hands-on coaching, workshops, and clear process documentation, helping establish shared standards and a sustainable creative workflow across the team.
This work required navigating language differences among artists from multiple European countries, each with varying levels of English fluency. I adapted how I communicated complex design concepts and production methods by relying on clear visuals, structured documentation, and demonstrations to ensure shared understanding.
I also accounted for practical differences such as non-US keyboard layouts and localized tools, adjusting workflows and training materials to be accessible and effective within the team’s working environment. Beyond technical execution, I focused on modeling and translating Custom Ink’s culture of collaboration, quality, and care, helping the team feel connected to the broader organization despite geographic distance.
This experience strengthened my ability to lead across cultures, translate complex ideas clearly, and build systems that support people with different backgrounds, tools, and ways of working.
Leadership Perspective
Across these projects, my responsibilities grew from execution into influence. I learned how to identify friction, communicate clearly with stakeholders, and guide creative decisions that supported both people and organizational goals. This progression shaped my approach to creative leadership today, grounded in empathy, clarity, and building systems that help teams thrive.
Interested in collaborating on a project?
Email me: sjmoecker@gmail.com
Email me: sjmoecker@gmail.com
I'd love to hear your idea!
