The Corrine company is a manufacturer and importer of First Communion dresses and accessories, Baptism apparel and accessories, godparent gifts, unique baby gifts, wedding accessories, and an extensive line of Irish themed items. They work with many high volume retail outlets in many markets, such as: giftware, department stores, childrens wear, bridal, flower, religious, Irish shops and online stores.
Photographed by Dorothy Shi
My responsibilities also included handling all the photography of products. I handled all of the arrangements, from choosing the photographer, the models, the hairdresser and the makeup artist, to making sure all of the product samples were there and shot. A few of the years, I flew out to New York while other years, I stayed local working with local photographers and children. On some of the years, I was also was the photographer as well.
Corrine Communion and Baby & Wedding Catalogs
After all the photographs were done, it was time to create catalogs. Corrine lines could be typically broken into two separate catalogs; Communion along with Baby and Wedding. The Communion catalog was done every year, while the Baby and Wedding catalog was done every other year. I usually tried to design the two separate catalogs to compliment each other. In addition, I also had to create CD disks that I could send out to the customers who sold our product online via drop ship. I would take the product photographs, most products had multiple photographs that never made it into catalog (ex: Communion dress front, back, close-up shot) and save them in web ready jpg’s for the CD. I handled getting all of the catalogs and CD’s ready and would do a mass mailing to all of our customers. Some samples of our drop ship customers included:
2014 Corrine Communion catalog
2013 Corrine Communion catalog
2013 Corrine Baby & Wedding Catalog
2012 Corrine Christening & Communion catalog
2011 Corrine Communion catalog
2010 Corrine Communion catalog
2010 Corrine Baby & Wedding catalog
2009 Corrine Communion catalog
Over the course of the nine plus years working for Corrine, I redesigned the packaging two times. The first time I redesigned the packaging, it was meant to be read more easily while keeping the existing monochromatic color scheme from the pervious packaging. The decision to use the exiting color scheme was made because some of the packaging was done in a bulk run at a commercial printer there was a lot of it left to use. The transition from old to new packaging had to blend. We started to print this redesigned packaging in house to control cost and print on as a needed basis. It also gave us the freedom to add new products if we wanted. After a few years of printing in house, the packaging was redesigned a second time with the challenge to reduce cost and again retain limited color choices so packaging would blend. I achieved this objective in my design by going more minimalistic and using less ink, and at the same time, creating a higher end look.
Corrine baby bib redesign shown in Irish and regular styles from original (left) to current (right)
Corrine baby bib quality control making sure inside tag has logo and in proper position.
Corrine hankie redesign shown in regular and Irish styles from original (back) to current (front)
Corrine current design shown on chapel veils and caps.
Communion dress D4276 design
In addition to designing the packaging, I also created some of the products themselves; girl’s Communion dresses, Baptismal gowns and outfits, and the embroidered appliques, which were used on a multitude of outfits. I worked with companies overseas, so keeping the language barrier in mind, the best practice I found for expressing my ideas was to photoshop how we wanted the items to look. I sent over my ideas, then I would receive a sample of the product. I would take photographs of the sample as I received it. Then I would determine if any changes were to be made, and if so, make the changes and photograph the altered item. I had to take these photos and create a before and after guide that communicated changes visually. New samples would arrive that would be used for catalog photo shoots.
Corrine CPSIA compliant with Children's Product Certificate given by a CPSC accredited laboratory for each component
In 2008, The Consumer Product Safety Commission started enforcing the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA), which stated that children’s products that are designed or intended primarily for use by children 12 years of age or younger cannot contain greater than 100 ppm (0.01 percent) of total lead content in any accessible component part of the children’s product. A lot of the beads, cabochons, zippers and other embellishments on communion dresses, veils and headpieces had to be tested as a combined surface and substrate. I had to make sure that all of our products complied with all applicable children’s product safety rules; were tested for compliance by a CPSC-accepted accredited laboratory, had a written Children’s Product Certificate that provides evidence of the product’s compliance. As a result, some items had to be discontinued and other product samples never made it into production.
Corrrine ad in Earnshaws Magazine
The customers who didn’t have a rep usually found Corrine by the advertising in the retailers children’s market magazines such as Hudson’s Childrenswear Review, Baby & Kids, and Earnshaws. I handled the contract, designing the ads and the occasional press release with photographs for articles mentioning our product.
Corrine ads in various publications
Corrine emails sent to customers.
For existing customers, I sent emails of new merchandise, upcoming catalogs, sale merchandise, buying specials and postcard reminders of upcoming Communion season
Corrine Communion season reminder postcards
I designed the website eight years ago. It acts primarily as a place where our retailers can go and see pdf’s of our catalog and as a link to websites and stores carrying our product. Redesign has been hindered by time and financial constraints.
I have also been in charge of customer service; answering the phone, selling and entering orders, pulling, packing, shipping and invoicing orders. I also handle the posting of payments, collection of past dues and handling any other customer service issue that may come up.
