CASE STUDY No. 2

TREND BRIEF
BOOKISH

FACTORY
HAIYAO ARTWARE

proposed product - specs

the brief

Michaels provided a proprietary Pantone color system for the trend. Core colors anchored the range; accent colors drove category differentiation across product types.

Michaels issued a Product Development Brief for Spring 2026 built around a trend they called "Bookish" — a cultural moment driven by the rise of book clubs, BookTok, and the growing consumer desire to build a curated reading life at home. The brief called for a 12.5ft décor counter spanning 95 SKUs across 20 product categories: everything from bookcases and reading lamps to apparel, stationery, candles, and novelty gifts. The counter needed to serve three distinct customer missions — outfit a book nook, host a book club, and gift the book lover. My role was to receive this brief, interpret it through the lens of our manufacturing capability at Haiyao, and develop a pitch range that could earn shelf space at one of the largest craft retailers in North America.

RETAILER
MICHAELS

Cute • feminine • fun
Adult - not childlike

Trend tone

customer missions

Book nook decor
Book club hosting
book lover gifting

All michaels stores nationwide

COUNTER SIZE

cute, trendy & cheeky.

95 skus

TOTAL sku ask

across 20 product categories

Spring 2026 floor set

Set Date

dec 2025

Materials specified

glass • ceramic • wood
resin • metal

This trend is

12.5 ft

color + artwork direction

Working from the brief and inspiration boards, I developed 10 product concepts for us to pitch to Michaels. Each concept was chosen to serve one of the three customer missions, fit within the Pantone color system, align with the "cheerful, trendy, cheeky" tone, and be manufacturable at a price point appropriate to the retail category. Every concept was delivered with full production specifications ready for factory review at Haiyao. Below are the specs for the some of the skus.

built to be made, not just designed.

Below are concepts that were chosen along with additional items that the team sampled.

the results

what this demonstrates

This case study shows the full product development loop — from brief intake and trend interpretation through category ideation, product design, spec writing, and retail pitch. Getting three SKUs picked up from a cold trend brief at Michaels required understanding not just what was culturally resonant, but what was manufacturable at the right cost, giftable at the right price point, and visually strong enough to compete for 12.5 feet of shelf space. That combination of creative instinct and commercial realism is what I bring to every brief.

retail product development

Trend brief response — Michaels / Haiyao / fall entertaining trend

RETAIL PITCH

retail pitch

product development

GLOBAL SOURCING

TREND BRIEF
Fall entertaining

FACTORY
HAIYAO ARTWARE

the brief

Working from the brief and inspiration boards, I developed 28 product concepts to pitch across three coordinated collections — Gracious Gathering, Intentional Abundance, and Reflected Romance. Each concept was scoped to serve at least one of the three customer missions, fit within the Pantone system Michaels specified, align with the trend tone for its collection, and be manufacturable at Haiyao at a price point appropriate to the retail category. Every concept was delivered with full production specifications ready for factory review. Below are the specs for some of the SKUs in each collection.

warm • layered • gracious
cross-aesthetic program

Trend tone

customer missions

Formal entertaining
Casual gathering
tablescape gifting

Set Date

gracious gathering

aug 2026

Materials specified

ceramic • terracotta • acacia resin • linen • marble
canvas & metal

RETAILER
MICHAELS

warm, layered & gracious

fall 2026 floor set

This trend is

specs

Michaels issued a Product Development Brief for Fall 2026 covering their full entertaining program — a four-trend assortment built to capture the season's hosting moments. The brief called for a multi-collection counter spanning ceramic serving, glassware, wood, linens, cutlery, paper goods, and accessories — roughly 99–127 SKUs across nine product categories. The program needed to serve three distinct customer missions: formal entertaining, casual gathering, and tablescape gifting. My role was to receive this brief, interpret three of the four assigned trends through the lens of our manufacturing capability at Haiyao, and develop a coordinated cross-trend pitch range for retail review.

Reflected romance

intentional abundance

color + artwork direction

Michaels provided three distinct trend directions for Fall '26 — each with its own Pantone palette, materials list, and mood board. I selected three of the four trends to develop, choosing the directions where Haiyao's manufacturing strengths — ceramic embossing, glazed terracotta, resin casting, gold metallics, and printed canvas — would translate the brief into commercially viable product without forcing a workaround on tooling.

proposed product