I’m a print designer, digital (UI/UX) designer, and art director based in Washington, D.C. I love bringing stories to life through good design.
Product Design Case Studies:
CBP’s Business Connection
ROLE: UX/UI Designer
My original role on this project was to do maintenance work, but I quickly jumped in to do updates that transformed the website into what it is today. My work focused on making updates utilizing U.S. Web Design Standards (USWDS) and branding guidelines to help streamline the design and improve usability on the website. Some items I updated include, but are not limited to, updating the navigation, step indicators and the look and usability of tables.
I also worked with developers to overcome the design challenges of ServiceNow to help the website fulfill its mission and look like the mock-ups provided by the design team.
Technical Reference Model (TRM)
ROLE: UX/UI Designer
I was tasked with improving CBP’s Technical Reference Model (TRM), a website that government employees and contractors use to search for hardware, software or mobile devices to see if they are approved for government use. Users ran into frustrations ranging from how to search for items to clearly seeing if an item was approved or not.
I worked with the development team and product owner to tackle these challenges that users face.
My work in experimental storytelling:
What Politicos Are Reading
This Summer
ROLE: UX/UI Designer and Art Director
Politico asked individuals what they showcase on their bookshelf and what they read on the beach.
I worked with a developer to create a delightful and interactive experience for the reader where they could “choose their own adventure,” between ‘zoom’ mode and beach mode. Then, once the reader chose, they had the option to toggle between the two modes in the story without losing their spot. We also worked on a horizontal scroll to mimic what it’s like to scan a bookshelf.
To further tie together the experience and make it more custom, I worked with illustrator Jordan Kay, who created two illustrations and a set of 12 icons that reflected each mode.
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The New Women of Congress
ROLE: UI/UX Designer
After every congressional election since 2018, POLITICO highlights the new women joining the House of Representatives. In 2021, more women joined the House than ever before. I collaborated with a developer and photo editor for this story, where we drew and improved upon the first edition of this story from early 2019.
I wanted this story to have an organizing principle to it. To do this, we displayed all the women at the top of the story so the reader could see them all. Then, we organized them between political party. By animating the photos in, we reflected each woman stepping into the political spotlight. Though there were a few women we did not photograph, we worked on an approach that made their quotes equally important.
The final product delivered a visually striking introduction to these new women of congress.
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The Children of 9/11 are About to Vote
ROLE: Digital Designer and Art Director
As part of POLITICO Magazine’s “The Friday Cover” series, Garrett Graff chronicled the lives of individuals born on 9/11/2001 across seven chapters touching on 9/11, mass shootings, and the pandemic.
I aimed to illustrate the lasting "shadow of 9/11" in the visuals. Collaborating with illustrator Marina Muun, we produced evocative illustrations that invited readers to reflect on personal histories.
For the build, I coded elements using HTML and CSS. I emphasized illustrations by emphasizing chapter headers, reminiscent of book openings . I crafted a sidebar for reader orientation and applied a fade-in effect with javascript to create a fade-in effect to distinguish this from other work on the site.
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President Biden's First 100 Days in D.C.
ROLE: UX/UI Designer and Design editor
Photographer Stephen Voss documented daily life in Washington, D.C. during Biden’s first 100 days. Through his photography, readers saw not only how D.C. was changing under a Biden presidency, but also how it was reawakening from the pandemic.
I worked with a developer on typography, color, spacing and design to make sure the photos were the star of the show. I also worked closely with the photo editor to make photo selects that helped create thoughtful rhythm and pacing so the reader could take in each picture without feeling overwhelmed.
Everything You Wanted to Know About Cannabis...
Role: UX/UI Designer and Art Director
This was a part of POLITICO’s “The Agenda” issue that focused exclusively on Cannabis and Cannabis policy. The editor wanted to launch a guide to Cannabis for readers not familiar with the topic.
For this piece, I was inspired by the decorative elements of old almanacs and worked with illustrator Lorenzo Petrantoni to achieve this. I pulled out individual elements from this piece to pull into the overall story.
I worked with a developer on the build. I wanted the reader to feel like they had control over their experience and opted to utilize a click and reveal for questions. Time is important for the reader, so when the answer was revealed, I made sure the first sentence of the answer was bolded.
Newspaper + Magazine Design
From my work for daily newspapers and weekly magazines, I experimented with my designs and constantly tried new approaches. Because of this, my work in print design has been pivotal toward my overall growth as a designer and art director. My work in print design is the foundation for all my other design and art direction work. It’s taught me to think of the audience first and how to create new, dynamic experiences for them from a static medium.
Art Direction I’ve Worked On:
My main job as an art director was to capture the tone and topic of the project visually to draw users in.
For the process, I started by working with stakeholders to nail down the tone of the project and the topic it’s centered upon. From there, I researched illustrators that fit the tone of the story and compiled a list of who would be best suited for the project. Then, I wrote up a creative brief that included an overview of the project, its tone, general conceptual ideas I had and what pieces from their work I liked and why. After settling on a budget and timeline, I worked with the illustrator through revisions, incorporating stakeholders and my feedback, until execution of a final illustration. Most illustrations I worked on were created on a three week or less timeline.
From 2015-2021, I had the privilege of working with dozens of illustrators on a variety of topics. I received recognition for my work by the Society for News Design, including a a Silver Medal for my work in 2020.
NEWSROOM ILLUSTRATION WORK
Illustrations I’ve Created:
This is a collection of illustrations I conceptualized and created using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. Most of these illustrations were created on a short timeline of three days or less.
