Karl Paluka
I'm a digital asset management, creative operations, and project management professional with 20+ years of experience supporting high-volume creative production, digital commerce, licensed apparel, and workflow transformation. My work centers on asset lifecycle management, process optimization, vendor coordination, testing, issue resolution, and measurable improvements in speed, accuracy, and asset reuse.
Web Image Workflow Automation
Helped design and improve a company-wide workflow that replaced repetitive image production with a reusable, trackable, and validation-driven digital asset process connecting creative operations, IT, production data, repositories, customers, and outside vendors.
The redesigned workflow eliminated repeated production of the same asset across multiple customer orders. By creating each image once and reusing it across an average of 5–6 orders, the process significantly reduced duplicate production while improving speed, consistency, and asset reuse.
Experience
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Web Image Specialist / Digital Image OperationsBranded Custom Sportswear • 2023–Present
- Manage and support digital image workflows serving major retail and collegiate apparel channels.
- Support more than 90,000 image requests annually and daily production volume exceeding 400 images.
- Helped redesign the workflow so each digital asset is created once and reused across an average of 5–6 orders, eliminating duplicate production and saving an estimated $144K–$150K annually.
- Partner with IT to define requirements, test system behavior, troubleshoot defects, and improve workflow logic.
- Develop exception reporting and identify failures involving assets, data, workflow status, naming, colors, photography, and repository availability.
- Coordinate issue resolution across Digital Imaging, Art Production, Licensing, Sales, Account Services, Photography, IT, and outside vendors.
- Help establish validation rules that prevent incomplete or incorrect requests from moving downstream.
Manager, Embroidery & Headwear Production ArtBranded Custom Sportswear • 2010–2024
- Managed a team of approximately six employees across high-volume licensed apparel production art workflows.
- Directed workload, priorities, training, troubleshooting, quality, production deadlines, and cross-department coordination.
- Served as an escalation point for artwork, workflow, production, order, and system issues.
- Led a major paperless workflow transition completed in approximately four days while production continued.
- Worked closely with IT and operational stakeholders on process improvements, testing, documentation, and implementation.
Web ConsultantSelf-Employed • 2005–2010
- Provided website development, content management, technical support, and digital consulting services.
- Implemented and maintained PHP-based content management systems.
- Managed client requirements, timelines, deliverables, troubleshooting, content organization, and web administration.
Licensing AdministratorGear for Sports • 2000–2005
- Supported licensing administration, product data, order workflows, reporting, quality assurance, and vendor coordination.
- Worked with Oracle Retail and BIS reporting tools in a licensed apparel environment.
- Helped identify and resolve data and operational issues affecting merchandise processes.
Digital Asset Management
I work across the entire asset lifecycle—from source files and metadata through workflow status, repositories, production, vendor delivery, and customer-facing output.
Asset Lifecycle
Production artwork, product photography, PDFs, web images, art boards, repositories, customer files, and downstream delivery.
Metadata & Naming
Naming standards, IDs, customer requirements, workflow status, data associations, and validation.
Repository Management
Box, Dropbox, Files.com, internal repositories, asset availability, linking, and troubleshooting.
Quality Control
Missing assets, duplicates, incorrect naming, invalid data, incomplete workflow states, and exception analysis.
Vendor Handoffs
Coordinate files, production requirements, status, missing assets, and resolution with outside production partners.
Business Impact
Use asset reuse, automation, validation, and exception management to reduce duplicate production, control vendor cost, and improve turnaround.
Project Management
My project work usually lives where people, systems, business rules, vendors, and production deadlines all collide.
Requirements
Translate operational problems into clear workflow needs, rules, and expected system behavior.
Cross-Functional Coordination
Connect IT, Creative, Licensing, Sales, Account Services, Photography, Production, and vendors.
Testing & QA
Test functionality, find edge cases, document defects, validate fixes, and confirm workflows work in real production.
Process Improvement
Identify bottlenecks, reduce manual work, improve visibility, simplify handoffs, and eliminate preventable errors.
Change Implementation
Support rollout, documentation, training, adoption, and ongoing refinement after launch.
Issue Resolution
Trace complex problems across data, systems, repositories, business rules, and human process.
Skills & Systems
A practical mix of operations, creative workflow, systems, data validation, project work, and technical troubleshooting.
Education
Business, digital marketing, and cybersecurity training support the mix of management, systems thinking, and digital operations throughout my career.
University of Kansas
Bachelor of Business Administration
Graduated 2000
University of Kansas
Digital Marketing Boot Camp
2021–2022
Coding Dojo
Ethical Hacking Boot Camp
2023–2024
Let’s Talk
Interested in digital asset management, creative operations, project management, workflow, or process improvement opportunities.