FOSSIL Designer to Give Guest Lecture

Photo Submitted

Tim Hale

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Tim Hale, senior vice president of design management and marketing at FOSSIL Inc., will speak on campus at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 19, in room 213 of the Fine Arts Center.

As one of the original designers for FOSSIL's startup in suburban Dallas in the 1980s, Hale was instrumental in setting up the in-house design team that created the early vintage posters and tin packages that helped establish FOSSIL's image. The company, which is best known for making watches, has thrived in fashion design, manufacturing and retailing.

Hale has worked in every facet of FOSSIL's design department during his more than two decades with the company. He has designed watch faces, selected color trends for packaging and assisted in every part of store design, including displays, furniture cases, store fixtures and counter-tops.

The company has around 150 designers and includes a large graphics department, in-house architects and an extensive photo studio and staff. Based primarily at corporate headquarters in Dallas suburb Richardson, Tex., FOSSIL's in-house creative team designs sunglasses, watches, handbags, belts, jewelry and more that consistently generate more than $1 billion in annual sales. It also produces all design elements of the FOSSIL presentation, including every poster, photo shoot and store interior.

Hale keeps new ideas flowing through FOSSIL's paid internship program, which has attracted students and recent graduates from regional universities for more than a decade and often leads to full-time hires.

A native Texan, Hale attended Baylor University and graduated in 1984 with a bachelor of fine arts in communication design. In 1987 he joined FOSSIL to establish and lead the in-house design department, where he still serves as the senior vice president of design management. Selections of his packaging work for FOSSIL have been included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Architecture and Design in Chicago.

Hale's design work has been published frequently in magazines including Graphis, Graphic Design, USA and Step by Step. He has been recognized by the American Institute of Graphic Artists (AIGA) and the New York Art Directors Club and has appeared as a speaker on behalf of Strathmore Paper, AIGA, Art Director's Club of Houston and the Design Management Institute.

He has also served as a competition juror for the ID Magazine Design Annual, Type Directors Club of New York and the Communication Arts Magazine Design Annual.