For this viewbook, the team and I decided to approach content and design in a new way. Considering the teen demographic and how they consume information, we approached the process as though we were creating for the web. We used various content types, lengths, and writing perspectives. Students participated in the process and offered advice to incoming freshmen. We repurposed student blogs and stories, pulled from social media, and gathered career information. We also created a top-10 list, made infographics, and enlarged the physical scale for a more immersive experience.
The result was a single piece that captured the positivity, variety, and energy of the community, presented within a strong and clean new visual language—one that has since translated to other tactics and programs.
A five-piece brochure series and a class profile sheet are contained in the back cover pocket folder.
Michigan Ross holds yield events in various cities across the U.S. each year to celebrate admission, create community, and encourage matriculation into the program.
The design and material quality of the pieces promote the brand and school spirit with a level of refinement appropriate for a program of it's high national ranking.
4c Digital on an Indigo press with Ice Gold Curious Metallic card stock and envelopes.
Dividend is a 44-page publication created twice a year for Michigan Ross alumni. I designed and directed 12 issues, many corresponding articles for the web, the template for monthly emails, matching environmental graphics for our bicentennial celebration, and directed all photography and illustration.
The content includes school updates, faculty research and awards, alumni feature stories, cover story, Q&As, class notes, facts and figures, and other various article types.
Gold Award: Dividend Magazine, Edu Ad Awards
Merit: Dividend Magazine, Edu Ad Awards
To give your client a little TLC, sometimes you have to start with TNT. This company of engineers, architects, constructors and scientists had a website with over 100 primary navigation items, main content four levels down, static content overlap, and many broken links. Full demolition was required, and they needed to rebuild on a solid content management system.
The process of site remediation involved taking a full inventory: finding and filling gaps in content and assets, studying audiences, and nailing down marketing objectives.
To begin, I went through the current site organization and analyzed where content overlapped and functionally where their services overlapped. Diagramming this made the issues evident to the client and we were able to ideate on a new site structure, content strategy, and navigation strategy based on user and business objectives.
The findings rolled into how the site architecture was reimagined, functionality determined, and how the design took form—all integral pieces to a successful site redesign.
GLB&F CAMPAIGN
These internationally acclaimed IP law partners protect the rights of people with ideas and inventions, but they were being out-branded and out-advertised both here and abroad.
What they needed was a design refresh and messaging to match their character.
To begin, their wordmark was simplified and a new stationery system and corporate brochure were created. Their lawyers have varying expertise with different law bodies around the world, so features were created for each and positioned in the brochure's pocket folder and used online.
Inventors are their primary audience, so GLB&F's strong sense of ethics and desire to protect, paired with their great ability, led to the concept of chivalry.
Using this in an historical sense with iconic imagery, but applying a contemporary feel to the design, allows them to live in both spaces at once. The large imagery and simple type offers more visual impact and memorability, wherever in the world ads are placed.
To launch a furniture product system, designing promotional materials that fuel interest without cluttering the showroom is a must.
These designs allow products the space they need to shine while emphasizing the vibrant color options available within the furniture design system. Online, Haworth dealer web templates immerse users in a vast realm of possibilities with use of large environmental imagery.
The Reside/Beside/Belong furniture system is part of a larger system, Integrated Palette.
The Haworth Collection is a select group of high-end, Italian furniture designs that span 100 years of design innovation. Each piece has a high level of material quality, craftsmanship, and design sophistication, so the same had to be true of accompanying marketing materials.
The notecards use Cranes' highest quality letterpress sheet for its unmatched dimension, tooth, and quality. Four Polaroid transfer notebooks commemorate the Collection with their use of form, function and hand-made quality—a collection for the design collector.
Other materials included a $100/per unit swatch box for interior designers, spec sheets and sell sheets, and various promotional materials.
To promote sales and capture customer information, this Saucony sweepstakes engaged people in the store and online.
The core message developed was, "Try on to Triumph", a simple and effective solution that was both instructional and emotional.
In the store, customers were informed of the sweepstakes by large posters and "shoe danglers". When a customer tried on the Guide3, they and the store employee received gamecards with unique registration numbers—and an opportunity to win prizes online.
Following the Saucony brand standards, the large poster was established first and elements of the design were carried through to other pieces.
Campaign items included a large in-store display, a small poster for employee participation, perforated game cards with unique registration numbers, a shoe dangler, a :30 TV spot concept, and landing pages for customers and employees.
This 800+ page Drupal site was designed in collaboration with Behavior Design and the marketing team at Michigan Ross. The process took nearly two years and involved 100+ stakeholders to assemble and review content, provide information and feedback, design, develop, and determine governance.
My role in the process was team leader of the design build-out. I helped to establish the look/feel; plan the type, form, module, and navigation strategies; and populated pages.
In the years following launch, the team and I have worked to iterate and refine design elements and functionality, add modules as needed, and prepare for the next major evolution of design.
The IP Haworth product pavilion includes a series of office space design collections built with common and interchangeable dimension and material specifications.
The launch materials provided support for dealers around the world. In addition to creating the overall brand materials I worked with individual dealers to customize their environments and websites, and develop outdoor and print campaigns.
Shown here are displays, posters, and an interactive e-booklet for showroom product ordering.
C2 is a digital agency in Grand Rapids, MI. As Sr. Interaction Designer, my primary role was to realign their website with updated business objectives and industry standards.
The team and I began with a content and information architecture review to better understand how we were communicating — the information, the tone, and the organization. We did benchmarking and competitor analysis to assess brand positioning, and we analyzed our audiences.
With objectives and audiences refined, we shifted their content strategy and information architecture, determined interaction strategies and refreshed the visual design.
The result was a clean, responsive site that highlighted their competitive services and expertise in the fast-growing industry of interaction design.
Naturebox is a real innovator In the highly competitive and saturated snack food market. To help further their growth, I studied the current positioning and visual identity in search of ways to differentiate.
To do this, I walked the aisles of retailers, ordered competitor offerings, visited websites and signed up for emails. I considered a logo redesign and vetted various illustrative directions for their products. In short, I looked at innumerable ways to "box" nature to give this brand a life of its own.
Ultimately, their logo rationale held up, so I supported it with golden ratio forms from nature, a vibrant color palette, and wholesome and playful animal illustrations. Each element was explored and developed with care and rationale. Playful and vibrant characteristics, including a "Nutritionist Approved" smile on each package, relate the unique contents of each package.
Beyond the visual design, the idea that each character could be supported by unique, playful copy seemed like an interesting way to approach brand personality for online engagement. Sprouting from product naming, flavors and features, I created a voice and narrative for each, as well as the personality of a "Really Nice Nutritionist" and a product MC.
Lone Star Snack Mix:
(cue trail song)
We call it “Lone Star Snack Mix,” but we should have called it “You’ll Never Be Alone Star Snack Mix.”
That's right. Crack that bag, and don’t be surprised when four of your amigos show up with sleeping rolls, a mule, and a map of the Rio Grande’s lower canyons.
But go with it.
Be a friend.
Hit the open road, and bring your harmonicas.
This mesquite-seasoned mix of golden nuggets, almonds, cashews, and peanuts, is hardy as a cowpoke—with more chipotle kick than that mule of yours. Whoop-Ti-Ya!
Recently I resurrected my love of woodworking. I’ve scaled down. Rather than refinishing antique wooden boats I’m designing jewelry.
I started playing with exotic hardwoods and fell in love with the variety, the individual characteristics, putting them together in interesting ways. I learned to work with silver and started creating pieces I’d like to wear with the tools I had available. After creating a mass of work through exploration of the mediums I decided to go into business.
It’s been interesting working in business from ownership and eCommerce perspectives. I’m enjoying the entire process from business planning, navigating tax and data security compliance to UX/UI website creation, writing, packaging, advertising, and of course the iterative process in all regards.
The experience has increased my business knowledge base and skillset in ways that are very complimentary to my other skills. I continue to solve new challenges and refine the UX/UI. I’m currently working on the next iteration of site design and paid advertising campaigns to broaden my reach, and jewelry design possibilities are endless.
