Mashable
Overview
My path to becoming one of Mashable's first employees began with a partnership between my startup, AdCamo, and the then-small blog. After reaching out to offer design assistance, I started as a freelance designer, which quickly led to a full-time role and eventually becoming the founding Art Director.
My Role
Branding & Identity Design, Event Design, Illustration, Marketing Design, Prototyping, User Research, UX/UI Design, Cross-Platform Design, Presentations, Design Leadership
Design in a Startup Environment
As the sole designer in Mashable's early startup days, I embraced the fast-paced, all-hands-on-deck environment. I was deeply committed to establishing the company's visual identity and user experience, which often involved working nights and weekends to meet tight deadlines. This experience instilled in me a strong sense of ownership and the ability to thrive in a demanding, yet highly rewarding, startup setting. My contributions spanned UX/UI design, illustration, logo and brand development, marketing materials, and event design.
Results
• Mashable swept early Webby, Bloggie, and Open Web Awards for blogging
• Led in mobile news innovation with early iPad/iPhone app development
• Implemented responsive design for Mashable, a first for major media at the time
• Established Mashable as a leader in infographics for digital journalism, influencing online media's visual presentation of complex information
Mashable Follow
As social sharing via platforms like Digg, StumbleUpon, and Twitter gained momentum around 2009-2010, Mashable aimed to innovate with "Mashable Follow." This feature offered an integrated social sharing and content discovery experience within Mashable itself, aiming to keep users engaged on the platform and compete with the growing influence of external sharing sites.
Designing a Social Sharing Platform
• Designed the complete UI/UX for sharing, discovering, and following content
• Created personalized content recommendations to enhance user engagement
• Designed an internal following system for users and authors, fostering community
• Created badges to incentivize engagement and reward user activity
• Improved content sharing by an estimated 15-25%
• Increased user engagement metrics by an estimated 10-20%
• Boosted user activity and participation by an estimated 8-12%
• Pioneered early social design integration, influencing other media sites
Branding & Events
A recurring design challenge for Mashable's annual events, sponsorships, and award websites was to create fresh, unique branding and designs each year, while still adhering to evolving brand guidelines. This selection of work showcases my solutions, encompassing concept development, logo design, messaging, and final execution
