Design Systems
When Blackhawk Network acquired CashStar, the design team was in charge of over a dozen white label products - all with different styles and designs and requirements. It became challenging to manage so many products and components within each product, that I created a design system that would regulate and integrate all of our consumer products. The design system applies to the white-label digital and physical gift card products that have yet to be styled to match a brand.
Questbook
A mobile and web application that allows game masters to share in-game initiatives with players. The game master has her own unique view with notes and drafts that the players cannot access until those entries are published. Players receive push notifications when a quest or objective has been updated. Design Thinking One of the selling points of the Questbook app over others that offer similar quest tracking or note taking abilities for campaigns is that the game master has the ability to skin the campaign for the players as well as him/herself. This means that a fantasy game could use the "Fantasy" theme (leftmost image) and a Fallout/Post-apocalyptic game could use the "Terminal" theme. Part of the appeal to a themed instance of Questbook is that it adds to the immersive feel that many game masters strive for.
Minnow
Minnow was a start up venture based out of Portland, OR with developers in Portland, ME with an objective to change how professionals experience their meals. Users could login in their Minnow account, order lunch, and pick it up in one of various climate-controlled pods located around the city. The app would notify the user when their food was ready as well as provide promotional content and rewards for frequent buyers. The work that I produced for the Minnow team included a full mobile app design for users as well as a marketing site. The team was incredibly responsive to the designs and was an absolute dream to work with. The startup has since changed its business model and launch date/location.
Giftcards.com
Giftcards.com is one of the various products owned by BlackHawk Network. In the start of 2021, I proposed and presented a new concept for the website. This design included ideas that were brand new to the company - such as custom combining multiple brands onto one gift card, scheduling gift cards to be sent annually, and reminders to send gift cards on special holidays, anniversaries or birthdays. The Task Giftcards.com approached the design team to redesign their website that had become outdated and no longer relevant to the current gift card market. After a couple of design strategy sessions, we determined that customers who visit Giftcards.com no longer need to be sold on buying a gift card. The focus was no longer on why you should buy a gift card, it was on what kind of gift card you should buy. My solutions were very category-forward. I wanted consumers to have an easy entry into the gift card options that were available by category, occasion, even the recipient's hobbies. The redesign is still in progress as of September 2021. Process My work with Giftcards.com went through many iterations. A few of the notable ideas that I presented to the team included a flow that focused on
Outward Bound
Working for Outward Bound was one of the most rewarding experiences of my career. I absolutely loved the people that I worked with, the mission behind the company, and the brand itself. I had complete design autonomy over the materials that I was producing and worked with a stellar team to redesign the website. While this work was done many years ago, I’m still so excited by the energy and story behind each of the materials. I produced mainly printed works for Outward Bound. These works included posters, course brochures, promotional content, cookbooks, stickers, and invitations. I worked closely with and reported to the Marketing Director to create these documents - as well as working directly with the printing companies. I was heavily involved in the proofing process and also traveled to career fairs to distribute our products as well!