Petite Lemon for Shutterfly
Helping run the full design dream team: trend-spotters, typographers, illustrators, and letterers.
Hillary is the co-leader at Petite Lemon—a small but mighty creative studio that specializes in holiday and stationery design. We’re the behind-the-scenes magic behind top-selling photo cards and custom collections for brands you definitely know (hi, Shutterfly 👋).
Leading Petite Lemon’s design vision with heart, hustle, and an eye on what sells. With over 20 years in the industry, she merges trend forecasting, market insight, and hands-on design skills to craft high-performing designs for mass market brands.
KEY ROLES:
Co-Creative Director & Art Director
Design & Product Development (especially holiday & stationery!)
Trend Forecasting
Team & Project Management
Visual Storytelling + Styled Shoot Direction
From Moodboard to Mailbox
Project: Photo Card Collections for mass market retail
Creative Director + Creative Operations Strategist & Lead + Designer
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Led full-cycle creation of top-selling holiday photo cards—from trend research and sketches to final production.
Conducted in-depth competitive and market research to anticipate customer preferences and boost performance across categories.
Designed original cards that balance mass appeal with visual trend forward design—knowing precisely when to push trends and when to pull back for Mass America.
Directed custom photo shoots, coordinating with florists, photographers, and props to ensure every design is unique.
Reached out to and collaborated with a robust creative team—illustrators, lettering artists, and designers—matching the right person to the right project.
Took client feedback and applied it strategically across collections to ensure alignment with brand and sales goals.
Oversaw production handoff, ensuring every card delivered on design, message, and manufacturing readiness.
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A consistent portfolio of 100+ accepted designs per year across occasions including holiday, wedding, baby, and graduation—with hundreds of millions of units sold. Petite Lemon became Shutterfly’s #1 contracted designer, known for bringing a strategic, stylish, and high-performing creative perspective to their product lineup.
