“The best part about this job is trying all the pastries,” jokes Erica Gibson with a grin. While the Art Director of Bottega Louie says this in jest, she does openly admit her delight in getting to sample the foods and pastries from time to time. This perk alone is enough to make any foodie envious, and as I sit in the restaurant consuming a heavenly stack of lemon ricotta pancakes at breakfast with Gibson and the rest of The Dieline team, I, too, can only imagine how wonderful it would be to work there. After exiting the restaurant portion of the space, I scan the gourmet market to find mouthwatering pastries that are too beautiful to be real: a princess cake in a dreamy lavender hue, cheesecake with perfectly placed raspberries, a dome-shaped torte with gold flakes on top, and countless other treats. It seems undeniable — working at Bottega Louie is certainly the sweet life.

The desserts here are edible pieces of art, flawlessly constructed to please the eyes and baked to satisfy the sweet tooth. But looking beyond the delicious food, Gibson’s job entails all facets of the brand and the products, from new pastry packaging to Bottega Louie’s overall image to new products like pasta and bottles of olive oil. “You’ve got to keep your eye on a lot of different things,” she states, showing us around her workspace, a small office situated across the street from the bustling restaurant and market. “The job entails much more than just packaging design. What may come as a surprise is that I am also responsible for our inventory management and purchasing of over 300 SKUs, all brand photography, social media, ecommerce, promotional materials, and I manage a team of three. We also have about 5-12 product or packaging developments in the works at all times. There are times when I wish I was designing more, but the variety of my job keeps things exciting.”

Gibson’s office bursts with creative, fun spaces, including a large inspiration board packed with images, a work table to fine-tune packaging details for upcoming projects, and backdrops and lighting for photo shoots. As we get the grand tour of her space, she leads us to a small nook with shelving on three sides that houses endless product inspiration and previous Bottega Louie packaging. Gibson grabs a cake box and assembles it, demonstrating not only the ease of use for the employee in the market but the event that is opening a Bottega Louie pastry — complete with ribbons, hidden magnets, and a delightful reveal. “It’s all the little surprises. We just want the experience to keep going and going until you get to the product.”