Natalie DeVito
Fashion Institute of Technology
Explore my other projects to see a selection of work created during my time at FIT, showcasing hands-on experience in fashion, buying, merchandising, and magazine journalism. These projects reflect both academic insight and creative execution, including my original concept, Dance Dialogues, a prototype that merges movement and media. Click the links to dive deeper into each project.
Passion Projects
Original Concept:
Dance Dialogues
A magazine prototype that merges movement and media.
Dance Dialogues speaks directly to young dancers, dance educators, and enthusiasts looking for more than just the next step or the latest trend. Unlike traditional dance publications that lean heavily into technique, career guidance, and industry news, Dance Dialogues opens the floor for deeper, necessary conversations—ones about the emotional, psychological, and sociocultural layers that inform how and why we dance. Through interviews, essays, reviews, and storytelling, we highlight themes of identity, body politics, resilience, creativity, and personal vulnerability. Dance Dialogues isn’t just a magazine. It’s a movement, toward expression over perfection, conversation over competition, and community over conformity.
Elevating Hot Take Dough: Culture-Driven Marketing Series
🎄"Sugarcoat It" Campaign Development
I developed "Sugarcoat It," a brand-wide holiday series proposal for Hot Take Dough, the cookie company founded by two sisters. This mock campaign is designed to position their product as the "emotional snack companion of the season" by embracing the duality and chaos of the holidays (sentimental + unhinged, cozy + overwhelmed).
This project demonstrates my ability in marketing and trend analysis by:
-
Establishing a Core Tone: Defining a "warm, witty, and emotionally self-aware" tone that celebrates the full spectrum of "winter girlhood" , from the "festive maximalist" to the girl "just proud she remembered to drink water."
-
Aligning with Brand Values: Mirroring the Hot Take Dough founders' spirit of providing quality, comfort, and simplicity by telling consumers they are "allowed to feel a lot and enjoy something sweet."
-
Developing Multi-Format Execution Ideas: Creating 11 distinct, trend-aware content strategies (for reels, carousels, and
-
UGC) such as "The Sugarcoat Ritual," "Cold Weather, Hot Takes" commentary, and the UGC prompt "What I'm Sugarcoating" Confessions.
-
Mapping a Product Launch: Outlining an activation plan for the new "Sugarcoat Cookie," including a Soft Tease, a Founder-led Reveal, and a Community Share phase.
The series leans into the idea that "the holidays are messy so we're leaning in" and uses the concept of 'sugarcoating' as a playful and relatable emotional defense mechanism.
🔥"Hot Girl Snack Theory" Campaign
This series positions the act of snacking as a form of "emotional anthropology," connecting cookie cravings to modern "girlhood" experiences and personality.
This project demonstrates my ability in marketing and trend analysis by:
-
Establishing a Cultural Hook: Utilizing a trend-forward, humorous concept to explore snack behavior as personality, using the core philosophy that "Not everything needs to be good for you to be good for your soul".
-
Creating Relatable Content Pillars: Developing concepts that link cookie cravings to universal experiences like "Dating cycles," "Seasonal identity reinventions," and "Whole Foods aisle existentialism at 8:52pm."
-
Developing Executable Social Media Formats: Creating high-shareability content ideas such as "What Your Bake Time Says About You," "Cookie Dough Astrology" , and intimate "Sisters' Snack Roundtable" debates.
-
Cementing Brand-as-Culture: Designing a series that is intended to cement Hot Take Dough as a recognizable cultural entity, "not just cookies," through a consistent, recognizable tone.
The goal of the series is to provide humor, girlhood, and emotional anthropology through content that is highly relatable and screenshot-able.
📱TikTok Growth Strategy & Content Architecture
This strategy was designed to move their brand beyond product demonstration into a cultural conversation, guided by the principle: "Expanding the conversation, one cookie (and hot take) at a time."
This project demonstrates my ability in marketing and trend analysis by:
-
Establishing Cultural Alignment: Identifying successful CPG brands on TikTok (like Graza, Oat Haus, and Feastables) and deriving actionable insights to position Hot Take Dough as a personality-driven, "more than food, it's a feeling" brand.
-
Creating Foundational Content Pillars: Architecting three core, repeatable content pillars:
-
"Hot Takes in the Kitchen" (Opinion-driven commentary and humor)
-
"Dough It Yourself" (Cinematic, ASMR-style, craving-inducing visuals)
-
"Behind the Bake" (Founder-led content showcasing brand hustle and chaos)
-
-
Developing Executable Series Concepts: Generating specific, trend-ready series ideas within each pillar, such as "Bake & Debate," "Hot Take Confessional," and "The Dough Diaries."
-
Mapping Influencer Strategy: Curating a list of aligned creators whose existing tone—mixing humor, authenticity, and "delulu but grounded" energy—perfectly matches the Hot Take Dough brand voice for partnership opportunities.
The strategy focuses on building emotional connection and shareability by turning snack content into highly relatable, interactive culture.
🤝Collabs, Co-Branded Projects, and Giveaways Strategy
I focused on strategic partnerships that align with Hot Take Dough's "cool girl" brand identity and elevate the product beyond a simple pantry item.
This project demonstrates my ability in marketing and trend analysis by:
-
Identifying High-Value Brand Partners: Proposing three distinct collaboration concepts with brands that share Hot Take Dough's witty, aesthetic, and culturally fluent positioning:
-
"Cookies & Cold Brew Club" with Chamberlain Coffee : Targeting the "snack that fuels the chat" with an emotionally-driven pairing.
-
"Scoop & Bake" Summer Drop with Cosmic Bliss : Positioning the product for easy, premium summer use by noting "Cool girls don't scoop from scratch".
-
"Bake Recess" Mini Fridge Collab with Recess : Connecting the cookie dough to a message of stress relief and self-care, encouraging consumers to "Take a breather. Bake something better".
-
-
Creating Trend-Driven Concepts: The proposed collaborations are not simply product bundles but are given culturally relevant themes that reflect modern lifestyle trends (e.g., self-care, on-the-go luxury, and aesthetic food pairings).
-
Elevating Brand Presence: The strategy aims to expand Hot Take Dough's reach and cement its status as a lifestyle brand by association with other "it-girl" or culturally savvy CPG products.
Academic Projects
All work done at the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT)
Here is a curated collection of the business, marketing, and fashion projects I developed during my time at FIT — work created both independently and alongside incredibly talented teams. This page showcases my analytical approach to strategy, branding, and creative problem-solving, with pieces ranging from campaign insights to trend analysis and concept development.
The two pinned projects at the top highlight my strongest design-focused work, while the full gallery offers a deeper look into the strategic thinking, research, and creative direction behind my academic portfolio.
You can explore the full collection through the link below.
Beyond the Page: Visual Portfolio
Art has always been another strong passion of mine—an extension of the same storytelling instinct that fuels my love for journalism, writing, and literature. Whether through paint, ink, or collage, I explore narrative in visual form, letting emotion, color, and texture speak where words pause. This collection is a glimpse into the way I see, feel, and interpret the world beyond the page.
