creative strategist & brand builder

Eric Holthaus | 209-345-8416 | holthauseric7@gmail.com

Hi, I’m Eric.

I’m new to Washington, and i’m seeking something new and fun to work on.

Here’s a bit about me…

18

Years OF CREATIVE WORK.

DOZENS

OF BRANDS BUILT.

0

CATS

(although one is always lurking around)

Key Skills:

  • Creative Strategy & Campaign Development

  • Brand Identity & Systems Design

  • E-commerce & Merch Strategy

  • Content Strategy & Social Media Direction

  • Marketing Design (Digital + Print)

  • Product Launch & Go-to-Market Execution

  • Cross-functional Team Leadership

  • Creative Operations & Workflow Systems

Key interests:

  • Photography (outdoor, product, street)

  • Apparel Design (printing & cut/sew)

  • Creating YouTube based content

  • Adventure & Exploration

  • Video Editing as of late

  • Travel

  • Touching grass…

MY STRENGTHS

BRAND IDENTITY

creative direction

content & story systems

product & experience design

Some household names I’ve had the opportunity to work with…

case studies:

next Level Merch

Created “Next Level Merch” to improve how creators approach merch.

Instead of just designing products, I built a system that combines product design, storefront setup, and launch strategy. The goal was to make merch feel intentional and repeatable—not random uploads.

Focused on aligning brand, content, and product into coordinated drops.

Think, fourthwall or teespring, but better…more hands on, more personal, more human.

Result: Helped creators launch more cohesive merch drops with stronger identity and more consistent sales.

user experience media

Led creative across branding, apparel, social content, and live-event visuals for a music and experience-driven brand.

The main challenge was translating an abstract concept into something visually clear and consistent. Focused on building a cohesive identity across digital content, merch, and live experiences.

Designed apparel, developed visual direction, and supported ongoing content and event promotion.

Now in our 5th year, we are adding additional events to our schedule, as well as developing evergreen YouTube based content.

Result: Established a recognizable visual identity and supported continued engagement across content, merch, and live events.

community all-stars

Led creative and operations for a multi-client program producing athletic calendar posters and ad systems for schools.

As the company grew, I focused on building scalable systems across design, production, and fulfillment. Standardized workflows while still allowing for customization across 100+ clients.

Oversaw campaign production, client relationships, and a large team of designers and interns.

I wore many hats here, and really grew my skillset.

Result: Scaled the program from 35 to 125+ clients while supporting 375+ annual deliverables through structured, repeatable systems.

thrive creative

I built Thrive Creative to be my creative projects vehicle. Here, I help brands and creators move beyond one-off design into more structured, scalable creative systems.

I’ve worked with 20+ clients across branding, merch, e-commerce, and content. Most came in with ideas but no clear direction, so I focused on building cohesive identities, aligning content with product, and creating repeatable launch workflows.

Handled everything from brand identity and apparel design to storefront setup and campaign rollout.

This is my baby, and always will be. But I’m not in a rush to book myself full.
I use this vehicle to work with the people I want to, on projects that interest me.

Result: Helped clients move from scattered efforts to more cohesive brand + product ecosystems, with consistent output and monetization through merch and content.

software/ tools

  • Adobe Creative Suite
    (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere, After Effects, Firefly, etc)

  • Notion, Salesforce CRM, Trello, custom built CRM systems

  • Squarespace, Shopify (E-commerce & Web Platforms)

  • Google Workspace

  • Canva, Affinity, and other design alternatives

  • Social & Ad Platforms (Meta, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch, Discord, TikTok)

here’s my resume

let’s grab a coffee and chat about your idea.

check out the rest of my site.

or check out what I get up to on my days off.
Hope to hear from you!