Senior Packaging Designer - Costumes & Accessories (New York City Metropolitan Area)

Branding, Packaging & Retail Development

Position Summary

Do you have a passion for Halloween, costumes, fashion, accessories, pop culture, fantasy, and horror? Do you binge-watch the latest series for inspiration and find yourself noticing the packaging, branding, and merchandising before anyone else? Are your closets filled with masks, wings, hats, wigs, and dress-up pieces? Then CultureFly might be the place for you. Come join the swarm!

CultureFly is seeking a highly creative, strategic, and hands-on Senior Packaging Designer to join our Costumes & Accessories Product team . This role will lead the creative development and execution of packaging, branding, and retail presentation across costume and accessory collections.

The Senior Packaging Designer will work closely with Product Development, Design, Merchandising, Sales, and overseas manufacturing partners to bring new product collections to market. The role spans the full packaging process—from initial brand concepts and packaging architecture through dielines, production artwork, prototypes, retailer presentations, factory execution, and final production.

A key focus of this position is creating packaging systems that are visually compelling and highly recognizable at retail while also clearly communicating product features, included components, costume sizing, fit, and product differentiation .

This position requires a designer who can think beyond an individual package and develop a complete visual system that works cohesively across costumes, wigs, masks, wings, headwear, jewelry, hosiery, and other costume accessories , as well as across different package sizes and retail merchandising formats.

Responsibilities

• Lead packaging design and development from initial creative concept through final production , balancing brand identity, consumer experience, shelf impact, functionality, cost, and manufacturability.
• Develop new brand identities, packaging style guides, and visual systems , including typography, color palettes, graphic elements, iconography, photography direction, packaging architecture, and brand standards.
• Translate approved brand direction into a scalable packaging system that can be consistently applied across multiple costume and accessory categories, price points, package sizes, and product formats.
• Design packaging specifically around the unique needs of the costume business, including clear communication of costume size ranges, product components, included/not-included accessories, product features, fit information, and front/back/side panel hierarchy .
• Develop packaging for a wide range of formats, including folding cartons, window boxes, hanging packages, header cards, inserts, belly bands, bags, accessory packaging, rigid packaging, and other specialty structures .
• Develop retail merchandising solutions including PDQs, counter displays, floor displays, sidekicks, and other in-store presentation vehicles .
• Explore innovative packaging structures, opening experiences, materials, finishes, and graphic treatments that differentiate CultureFly products and create strong retail presence.
• Create and maintain accurate dielines, production-ready mechanicals, packaging specifications, artwork files, and vendor documentation .
• Develop high-quality 3D renderings, digital mockups, prototypes, physical comps, packaging boards, and retailer presentation materials .
• Partner closely with the Costumes & Accessories Product team to understand each product's construction, components, size range, intended consumer, price point, and merchandising strategy before developing the packaging solution.
• Work directly with overseas factories, packaging suppliers, and vendors to communicate artwork and structural requirements, review factory submissions, troubleshoot production issues, and maintain approved design intent.
• Review and approve factory artwork, color proofs, print proofs, packaging prototypes, engineering samples, pre-production samples, and final production packaging for graphic, structural, and color accuracy.
• Evaluate creative packaging solutions, printing methods, garment bags, insert cards, backer cards, header cards, costume bag solutions to achieve the desired aesthetic while meeting cost and production requirements.
• Ensure packaging artwork accommodates required UPC placement, legal copy, warnings, country-of-origin information, retailer requirements, sizing information, and other required packaging content , in partnership with the appropriate internal teams and retail partners.
• Maintain consistency across large seasonal assortments so that individual products feel unique while remaining part of a recognizable and cohesive collection.
• Collaborate on packaging photography and styling direction , including model imagery, product presentation, costume styling, accessories, poses, backgrounds, and image hierarchy as required by the packaging concept.
• Present packaging concepts internally and externally, clearly communicating the creative rationale, consumer experience, retail impact, and production considerations behind the design.
• Manage multiple concurrent packaging programs, revisions, and production deadlines in a fast-paced seasonal product-development environment .
• Stay current with trends across Halloween, fashion, beauty, entertainment, pop culture, packaging, retail, toys, collectibles, and licensed consumer products , translating relevant trends into commercially viable packaging ideas.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Graphic Design, Packaging Design, Industrial Design, Product Design , or a related discipline.
• 5+ years of professional packaging and brand design experience , preferably within costumes, fashion accessories, beauty, toys, collectibles, licensed consumer products, or other highly visual retail categories.
• Strong portfolio demonstrating packaging design, brand identity development, packaging systems, structural thinking, typography, production execution, and retail merchandising .
• Proven ability to create a brand identity and translate it into a cohesive, scalable packaging system across multiple SKUs, product categories, and package formats .
• Advanced understanding of packaging construction, dielines, print production, materials, substrates, finishes, and manufacturing processes .
• Strong understanding of how packaging needs to communicate costume sizing, fit, product components, features, and accessory inclusions clearly and consistently.
• Experience developing packaging across multiple size ranges, including adult, plus, children's, and one-size accessory programs , where applicable.
• Ability to balance strong creative ideas with cost, manufacturability, retailer requirements, production timelines, and commercial objectives .
• Experience communicating and working with overseas factories, packaging suppliers, and production partners is strongly preferred.
• Excellent organizational skills and exceptional attention to detail, particularly when managing large SKU counts and multiple packaging variations within a collection .
• Excellent communication and presentation skills with the ability to confidently present creative concepts and explain design rationale.
• Ability to manage multiple projects, priorities, and deadlines simultaneously while maintaining accuracy and design consistency.
• Expert proficiency in Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign.
• Strong experience creating production-ready packaging mechanicals and dielines .
• Experience creating 3D packaging renderings, mockups, prototypes, and presentation materials .
• Working knowledge of packaging materials and processes including paperboard, corrugate, PET and other clear substrates, plastics, vacuum forming, EVA, rigid boxes, and specialty substrates and finishes .
• Strong understanding of color management, Pantone specifications, print processes, proofing, and production quality control .
• Experience with mass-market retail packaging and retailer-specific packaging requirements is strongly preferred.
• Experience within Halloween, costumes, accessories, fashion, beauty, licensed entertainment, or adjacent lifestyle categories is a plus.