US Display Group, 2014–2016. Corrugated POP displays — the branded cardboard fixtures anchoring retail end caps and checkout lines.
Dieline art, prepress, flatbed printing, large-format machine cutting, 3D rendering — six stages, not one.
Concept to dieline to print to cut to a prototype standing up on a retail floor.
US Display Group designs and manufactures corrugated POP (point-of-purchase) displays — the branded cardboard fixtures you see anchoring end caps and checkout lines in retail stores. My title was Graphic Designer, but the job was never that narrow.
I became the extra man of the prototype pipeline — the person who could step into whatever stage needed help. That meant building art directly onto engineering dielines, running prepress checks, operating the flatbed printer, cutting prototypes on a large-format cutting machine, and building 3D renderings so clients could see a display before it existed.
It was a different kind of design job — one where the work didn't stop at the file export. A design only succeeded if it also folded, glued, and stood up correctly on a retail floor.
“My title said Graphic Designer. My day-to-day said art, prepress, printing, and cutting — whatever the prototype needed next.”
Dieline Art Creation
Built print-ready artwork directly onto engineering dielines, aligning graphics to fold lines and cut edges.
Prepress
Checked files for print and structural accuracy before a design went to press or cutting.
Flatbed Printing
Ran flatbed printing for prototype and short-run displays, direct to corrugated substrate.
Machine Cutting
Operated a large-format cutting machine to cut prototypes to exact dieline specification.
3D Rendering
Built 3D visualizations so clients could see a display before it existed physically.
Prototyping, Generally
Stood in wherever the workflow needed an extra hand — start to finish, not one stage.
