I joined the e-commerce startup Oubly in its very early stages. I designed for print and web, managed freelancers, collaborated with developers, curated content, wrote for the blog, and provided HTML/CSS support.
Graphic Design / UX/UI Design / Web Development
Balsamiq - HTML/CSS - InDesign - Illustrator - Photoshop
I designed and illustrated, QA'd and integrated hundreds of pieces of print design ranging from business cards to wedding stationery sets. I also prepared them in a way so that they were ready for web, print as well as the platform's technology.
I designed and worked with the development team to implement a module that users used to customize and order products. These orders then fed into the dashboard I designed where they were managed and sent to the printer for fulfillment.
I really wanted the user to have as much of a smile as possible if they happened on a 404 as well as conceptually communicate that we all make mistakes. Just fix it! Perhaps the most important event in relation to these pages was that due to positive feedback from a user test I was awarded a spicy Korean dinner.
I worked very closely with our development team to design and deploy an uploader module. This module would upload files and if prepared correctly would translate them to editable content on our e-commerce website. This was then translated to a format for the printing team when ordered and created.
I designed a dashboard enabling the team to manage orders and clients, set inventory, manipulate product types, and add and remove artwork. All of which would communicate between the startup team and the primary manufacturer which would print and create the final product. This was a huge project for me, was. a significant and refreshing change of pace and challenged my user interface design skills.
Drawing on our lightly established style guide, I translated them to the blog platform. Being that it was a new application of our styles, I was able to take a bit of liberty, but still tried to maintain a delicate yet playful look that echoed the branding we had underway.
With user-testing in mind, I was able to traverse the explore range of Oubly visual tones and user types. While all unified by a common design language, the deliverables could seem quite different allowing for a relatively controlled variety of user feedback.
To help push things along as the initial print asset push was so crucial to launch the platform, I created a simple automation script to help the team upload content with diminished human requirements.
I wrote a tutorial on font creation for the Oubly blog and I received a request to help create a font from a recently deceased family member's letter writing. This moved me greatly and I engaged it with vigor in the evenings. The result was a font that could be used to create letters evoking memories of this person.
My tasks were significantly more diverse than I had anticipated; I quickly learned to be nimble, to trust my team and that there is a quiet satisfaction in the grind. Lastly, that no matter the task, design thinking and concept are dear friends.
