Education
Oregon State University - Cascades
Bachelors of Science - Outdoor Product Design
Oregon State College of Engineering
Graduating Class 2026
-
Pursuing my Essential Skills in Adobe Illustrator Certification
Skills
Adobe Suite - Illustrator, Lightroom, Photoshop
Figma/Storyboarding
WGSN/Pantone Connect
Stealth Color/Color Characterization
Dye Sublimation Printing
Creative Problem Solving
Material Selection
Digital Sketching/Iterating
Teamwork
Adaptable/Quick Thinking
Contact
Will Forslund
willforslund@gmail.com
willforslund.com
Professional Experience
Blackstrap Inc. - Color Design Intern
Reported to: Nick Brown, Art Director
January 2025 - February 2025
COLOR INTRO - Re-calibrated the Epson production printers for dye sublimation printing. Managed print calibration and characterizations for fabric printing utilizing Blackstrap’s state-of-the-art software, Stealth color management. Ran color tests to ensure accurate color performance and optimization of printers for fabric printing.
PANTONE INTRO - Introduced to Pantone TCX color books and Pantone Connect for fabric color selection. Worked on lab dips, exhaust dyeing, and color selection for products based on color forecasting research.
PRODUCT TEAM MEETINGS - Took part in weekly production meetings with the product team. These included the review of product color selections, prototype reviews, product category plans, go-to-market strategy, production processes, and learned more about the internal structure of a product team.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT INTRO - Gained an introduction to the product team, tech packs, product conception, and product creation. Learned to build print plate patterns and files for repeatable patterns for all-directional printing in roll-to-roll production.
COLOR FORECASTING - Participated in researching color forecasts and research from online subscription provider WGSN, an industry leader in color forecasting.
PRODUCT PRODUCTION - Took part in the production process of dye sublimation print production for fabric printing. Printed samples, swatches, and production fabric, and reviewed them in controlled lighting conditions for color matching and accuracy. Reviewed color with a spectrometer for color management and replication.
Final Project - Created a in-depth color brief for Blackstrap’s FW 2026 collection, including color stories, pattern creation, and more.
Blackstrap Inc. - Product Designer (Capstone)
Reported to: Jason Valdez, VP
September 2025 - April 2026
COMMUNICATION - I oversaw every communication channel for the project, including overseas communication with the factory, communication with our sponsor, within our group, and with our professors. Managing different time zones, languages, and work/life schedules was an amazing experience, and taught me how much everything relies on concise, clear messages.
MARKET RESEARCH - We were tasked with overhauling BlackStrap’s facewear line, to see if there was a new niche or evolving market they were not hitting. After conducting surveys, doing boots-on-the-ground research at the mountain, and hours of trend analysis, we concluded that there were three different products/modifications BlackStrap could make to improve their product line.
PRODUCT TEAM MEETINGS - I scheduled and led team meetings with my team from OSU and the BlackStrap product design team. These were every two weeks, and helped make sure that BlackStrap was up to date with our progress, and allowed us to use them as mentors to see what we were working on, and make sure we were still on track.
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT - We had narrowed out project down to two different products, and began working on them. This included fabric research, sourcing, and testing, as well as techpack creation, which were used to send to a factory to create samples for our final presentation.
COLOR DESIGN- For this project I created a comprehensive color brief, and array of patterns for our two new products. They were tailored specifically for each product, and their respective use cases, demographics, and styles.
Final Product - Presented our sponsor with a factory ready production sample, and techpacks needed for mass-producing the products.