WORK EXPERIENCE
IMVU
DESIGN DIRECTOR, MARKETING 08/2019–12/2020
- Led a team of videographer, designers and freelancers to produce in-app visuals, images and videos for social and advertising/growth for avatar-based social platform with 7 million monthly active users
- Concepted and executed cause marketing campaigns. Pitched and led the design and marketing for IMVU’s, fundraising and education campaigns with ItGetsBetter, World Wildlife Fund, Care.org and the NAACP, resulting in over $150K donated in 2020. These campaigns were very successful in terms of brand affinity, embraced by the community, and enthusiastically regarded by the exec team
- Led promotion and created avatars for virtual music events Spirit World and Pabllo Vittar’s 111 Halloween Party, and Pride Event with trans activist and actor Angelica Ross
HIGHFIVE
CREATIVE DIRECTOR (FREELANCE) 10/2018–04/2019
- Adjusted brand positioning and guidelines; completed a variety of branding, presentation, social and web UI projects
ANITAB.ORG
CREATIVE DIRECTOR 04/2017–07/2018
- Rebranded and created identity system for nonprofit Anita Borg Institute for Women in Design to modernize, improve brand equity, reduce word clutter and sprawl of program marks, signify ongoing cultural and organizational changes in DEI and tech
- Directed the launch of the rebrand and tradeshow experience for the 2017 Grace Hopper Celebration, AnitaB.org’s annual event with 18,000 attendees. The new identity and branding met with resounding approval from the show audience and the nonprofit’s Board at GHC. From post-event surveys, Brand Awareness nearly tripled in 2017 from prior year
- Enhanced the technical/futurist and Zeitgeist-resonant look and feel of GHC 2018; concepted overall show celebration + anti-erasure theme, and negotiated activations that built on and improved from prior year, including a partnership with Women Who Draw
- Hired and mentored UI/UX designer and collaborated to introduce design-thinking process to the organization
- Helped conduct user research and build user personas to inform programming
OSMO
SENIOR DESIGNER 04/2016–05/2017
- Directed, wrote, assembled and voiced two parental-insight-based PBS Sponsorship broadcast ads; led creative engagement with agency on holiday broadcast product ad
- Concepted and designed product awareness and holiday campaigns with static and animated social media and HTML5 web ads; designed and revised with user data
- Designed retail displays that clarified product offering and worked on comprehensive packaging system redesign
CLOVER HEALTH
SENIOR VISUAL DESIGNER, MARKETING 07/2015–03/2016
- Developed and designed initial brand awareness campaign and plan offering deliverables — out of home, brochures, print and social — for successful first Open Enrollment
- Instrumental in hiring and onboarding the rest of the initial marketing team
- Researched member-experience with interviews, focus groups, call monitoring, finding and reading of emerging psychographic trends and econometric studies to improve messaging
SOL REPUBLIC
CREATIVE DIRECTOR 03/2014–03/2015
- Redesigned packaging system for brand blocking/consistency, higher perceived value and cost savings; updated lifestyle brand positioning for market strategy shift
- Art directed product, lifestyle and celebrity talent photoshoots
- Mentored a team of three graphic designers (+ freelance photographers/videographers), generating processes that allowed for strong work we were proud of, and increasing their confidence and skills in photography, photo editing, SketchUp and responsive web design
SPECK PRODUCTS
CREATIVE DIRECTOR (INITIALLY SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER) 10/2008–03/2014
- Designed Speck’s brand visual system, voice and initial “underdog” brand campaigns
- Directed total redesign of ecommerce site and product line photography
- Iterated and stewarded brand system, positioning and processes through major shifts with new insights from market or users: field testing, data analytics, personas, testimonials, and advocates
- Led brand and culture direction for field team and company events.
- Led a well-functioning and dedicated team of designers, photographers, videographer, copywriter and interns
MONSTER INC.
ART DIRECTOR (INITIALLY SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER) 09/2002–10/2008
- Designed and art directed packaging lines, point of purchasing displays, sales materials and environmental event graphics
DESIGN DES TROY LLC
PRINCIPAL & CO-FOUNDER 05/2006–PRESENT
- Design and client relations for boutique-design studio, specializing in branding and identity design, stationery, and custom wedding invitations
EDUCATION
RHODE ISLAND SCHOOL OF DESIGN
BACHELOR OF FINE ARTS WITH HONORS, GRAPHIC DESIGN 1997–2000
- President’s scholarship for Academic Excellence
- Meridian Printing Award for Creativity in Graphic Design
- Ken Kansas Scholarship for Excellence in Graphic Design
DEEP SPRINGS COLLEGE
1995–1997
- An intense, highly selective program with fewer than thirty students.
- Though Deep Springs does not grant degrees, its college curriculum is community-based, holistic, & ever-changing.
SKILLS & INTERESTS
TOOLS
- Expert at Adobe CC/CS Illustrator, InDesign and Photoshop
- Proficient in Sketch, Figma, XD, InVision, After Effects, Tableau, WordPress, HTML/CSS
INTERESTS & CONTINUED EDUCATION
- Classes at City College of San Francisco, Interaction Design Foundation, General Assembly and Stanford’s dSchool
Continued Study in Design thinking and UX, writing, data visualization, behavior design, letterpress, emergent culture, inclusion/accessibility, unbiasing and allyship
CONFERENCES
- Show design for Grace Hopper Celebration
- Design lead for multiple brands at CES
- Branding redesign and promotion design for TechIntersections
- Attended SXSWi, TYPO/SF, 500Startups WarmGun, Wisdom 2.0, GGSC Mindfulness & Wellbeing at Work Summit
This page was built for easy reading and ATS systems – if you’d prefer, here’s a printable version.
SELECTED SKILLS & APTITUDES
Branding
From visuals to voice and tone to marketing funnel-appropriate creative, for brand resonance and relevance with audience insights
Creative Direction
Ideation, direction, creative team growth, mentoring, motivation and management; working with outsourced and agency creative
Design Thinking/UX
My skills and knowledge of a user-insights based human-centered design practice are high. My design practice has mostly been in the “second diamond” of the double diamond model.
Experiential Design
From events and activations to packaging and point of purchase displays using behavior design principles and touchpoint-specific hierarchies and strategies
Copywriting
Naming, surprise/delight writing, brand voice and tone; I pair well with a skilled copywriter or (obviously, dear reader!) editor
Adobe Creative Suite/Cloud
Decades of expertise in Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Acrobat, Lightroom, proficient in After Effects, and XD
UI tools
Solid grasp of best practices and emerging trends. WordPress. Some experience with paper prototyping, Balsamiq, Figma, Sketch+Zeplin, Framer and Invision + HTML/CSS
Other
Google Ad Creator and SketchUp; art direction of photography and videography; letterpress and silkscreen; lettering and illustration; lots more