A modular site that allows users to order doughnuts online as a startup grows. Starlight Doughnut Lab is currently only renting kitchen space, so all orders must be custom, and require a lead time of 2 weeks, but the Instagram followers still need a way to order.

After working on the identity and brand for SDL, I created the website in Wordpress, starting the design with a wireframe in Miro. Business stakeholders were interviewed about priorities for the site, and a clear hierarchy emerged. The user journey started on Instagram, where SDL has a large following. When users are particularly enticed by a photo of the doughnuts, we wanted them to click through to a brand experience that would allow them to order easily.

The site was designed with the mobile experience in mind, the click-through to order is in the first frame they see, locked up with the logo. If they continue scrolling, options to buy doughnuts at local partnerships or information about when they can visit a storefront come up next. If users get through enough lovely doughnuts, they are prompted to order again before seeing some Instagram posts.

The imagery follows the Starlight Doughnut Lab brand, invoking exploration of flavors, and experimenting in the kitchen with out-of-this-world backgrounds juxtaposed with beautiful doughnuts. Subtle space patterns make up the background of the site.

Even though ordering was the #1 priority, the business wasn’t ready for a turn-key solution like Shopify or WooCommerce, so a custom form was developed. Starlight makes artisanal doughnuts with local, seasonal ingredients, and the amiable nature of their head chef was key to the brand. So, the form mirrors that friendly nature by adopting a conversational style while gathering information from customers and gently reminding them of the two weeks’ notice needed on orders.

The business also does pop-up shops with other local restaurants, so a calendar of events was the second priority for the site. Pop-ups and other sales are listed cleanly on the site, integrated with google calendars for the business.

The responsive site is currently being developed on Wordpress. Links back to Instagram, deeper dives into the flavors, and an about page describing the chef’s journey into doughnuts were all tertiary goals for the website, so links were included to allow curious visitors to explore, but not featured prominently.

This was an early, transformative experience for me as a designer. Working on a global brand in an agency environment taught me how to tie storytelling to design choices meaningfully.

Even when making small purchases, we tell ourselves a story about why a brand fits our particular lifestyle. 5 gum was created for the masculine market, giving users the ability to start a conversation outside a club or make an offer to a date without the health hazards of smoking. It offers the ritual of unwrapping a gift more than simply having a piece of gum to chew.

Because 5 gum wants its customers to relate its brand with luxury, the visual language I worked with included metallic inks and embossing on dark colors to signify the packaging was as expensive as gum packaging gets. This also kept the design cohesive while introducing new tactile experiences to the consumer as the gum was unwrapped.

This particular flavor introduced effervescent carbonation to the 5 gum line. I worked within the existing branding standards to create a package concept that reflects the unique taste sensations the gum would present. Photoshop was used to create the smoke effect, creating a primal connection to fire and the air we breathe. Illustrator was used to create the “bubbles” that echo fingerprints throughout the design - leaving a trail that promises carbonation as the gum is chewed.

Following some success at developing a mood deck in tandem with an outside agency, I was put in charge of finalizing, codifying and developing the brand as the in-house senior designer. Over the course of a year, I went from participating in the agencies’ branding & messaging exercises to creating the final brand elements and giving feedback on the identity pieces.

The core of the messaging focused on making ConstructConnect’s software products more relatable, with its mission and vision reflecting a desire for customer success. Because customer research favored an “everyman” approach, we eventually landed on “Before You Build” as a relatable slogan for our pre-construction product.

A significant structural re-organization took place, and the outside agency was removed before we had finalized the brand.

I lead the team in defining the remaining elements that communicated the brand. We refined the mission, vision, and purpose statement again, and I created the core visual elements that helped evoke our “tough tech” theme.

Company leadership declined a completely redesigned logo, but the UX team and I collaborated on several proposed changes to the current logo that would result in better readability in different situations. I completed the final proportions for the improved logo and defined guidelines for logo use. I unified our color palette (10 brand colors from the ~40 product colors being referenced) and defined proportional color and texture use. I codified our existing font choices choices and defined typographic styles, differentiating between print and digital instances. A junior designer implemented the traditional identity suite (letterhead, business cards, PowerPoint template etc) with my direction and feedback.

You can view the full brand guide here.

The artwork I created for the brand guide was met with wide approval, and re-used in novel ways. For example, my text treatment of our purpose statement replaced the desktop background for the company’s ~1000 employees. Backgrounds for the brand guide were converted to title PowerPoint slides on a “secret menu” (for power users who promised not to abuse the template).

Moving forward, I helped the training team create materials that communicated the “brand basics” and complete a “brand ambassador” training session. The visual elements of the brand were made strong enough that employees in adjacent communications positions could make materials with minimal direction. I was able to focus on the more complex projects (explainer videos, trade show experiences) and create templates for video presentations and other dev intensive needs.

As part of a call to rebrand Pepsi's natural cola line, I created a concepts that focused on a bubbly, fun feeling that would still work with Pepsi’s minimal brand identity. I started with a sketch that used contrasting circular elements to convey the enormity of carbonation, and turned it into a design ready for an initial pitch to Pepsi, along with another designer's concept that had the "bubbles" growing more gradually across the packaging. Color variations were also considered.

To help boost seasonal sales, Puffs tissue puts out special boxes at the beginning of each school year for the classroom donation pools. I helped identify trends in children's’ products and then developed packaging based on the most popular trends of the summer.  The turn around was fairly quick, and while I did both the concept and execution of the turquoise “Guitar Hero” box myself, I was working as part of a team who developed some of concepts I had come up with, like the orange “text bubble” box, and allowed me to refine others’ concepts, like the purple “buttons” box. All three shown were chosen for use in stores.

In designing one of my most successful campaigns for Boleros Dance Club, I learned the very important lesson that showing a feeling can take precedence over the facts. After 2 years of working with the comparatively static poses of the actual dances the club taught; I pushed (for the fourth or fifth time) for a ballet type pose because it evoked in me the feelings I had when dancing, even if I've never looked quite so energetic. Paired with a simple call to action, and matter of fact offers; it soon became clear that many other customers had these aspirational feelings as well.

Starting with what the dance studio felt it owned in terms of branding (the stock dance vector and the color red) I provided a new identity, style guide and marketing strategy that helped drive the business to its high point in the summer of 2014. Because we were working under an extremely limited budget, I created a logo that could work as a frame in some instances, or as an interesting stand-alone intro to a scheduling app or on doors. Most advertising was Facebook oriented, but needed to work in black and white quarter page ads as well, so I pressed for clean images and minimal "call to action" type text so they could have as much impact as possible. Stock dance photography is either expensive or of poor quality, so I enhanced vector art for some campaigns, but pushed for, and eventually art directed a photo shoot that would give us high quality images of the actual staff in active poses, which enhanced the professional appeal of the advertising.