Now doing business as Awesome Giant

Marie is a passionate and focused Creative Director putting her extensive background of interactive design and user experience out there for the good of creative teams everywhere.

• She has a proven track record of successfully translating clients’ visions and goals into powerful and attractive branded design and exceptionally effective user-centric features
   
• Her unique expertise in visual design, UX & UI design, strategy, web development, and targeted business goals gives her a thorough and intricate knowledge across the entire project lifecycle
   
• She’s able to successfully resolve design and UI challenges with effectively executed resolutions
   
• Marie successfully manages in-house design teams to ensure high quality, smooth workflow and strict deadlines are met with professionalism and creative finesse.
   
• Client collaborations include: ACLU, Alaska Airlines, Amazon.com, The Boeing Company, Classmates.com, The Cobalt Group, Idearc SuperPages, Microsoft, PopCap Games and numerous Start-ups

Core Competencies

• UX & UI design
• UX strategy & planning
• Mobile App Visual & UX Design
• iPhone, iPad & Android experience
• Wireframe creation
• Prototype development
• Hand-code CSS, XHTML, JavaScript, AJAX
• Art direction, mentoring & teambuilding
• Usability & analytics analysis
• Drupal CMS configuration & setup
• Drupal custom theming
• Project management
• Troubleshooting & problem solving

Technical Background

• OS: Mac, Windows, Linux, UNIX
• Tools: Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, ImageReady, Illustrator, InDesign, Flash, Fireworks, Dreamweaver), OmniGraffle, Balsamiq
• Development: CSS, XHTML, AJAX, JavaScript, PHP, MySQL, Drupal, SVN/version control

Professional Experience

UX CONSULTANT, Awesome Giant | Seattle, WA | 1996 - Present
Consultant focused on UX design & strategy, brand development, and mobile apps

• Provide visual design and user experience expertise to businesses and agencies nationwide
• Work with numerous start-ups defining the brand, creative direction, and product UX
• Provide full UX analysis and reports to improve usability and conversion
• Provide front and back-end development services, collaborating with in-house dev teams
• Successfully collaborated with in-house design teams for clients including Amazon.com, Dex Knows, Idearc SuperPages, PopCap Games, and many more

CREATIVE DIRECTOR, Doyenz, Inc. | Bellevue, WA | 2010 - Present
Doyenz is a start-up that provides cloud-based disaster recovery services for managed service providers

• Lead the creative vision, user experience and web development
• Spearheaded & executed on full rebrand and corporate site redesign
• Conduct usability tests and presented a UX analysis report with optimization recommendations
• Assist marketing with all creative needs both online and offline
• Manage a team of contractors as well as provide hands-on contribution
• Manage web development; Architected recent website redesign in Drupal 6
   

FOUNDER, SparkleShelf.com | Seattle, WA | 2007 - 2009
Sparkle*Shelf was a vibrant social network and webzine for fashion and beauty addicts

• Sold sparkleshelf.com in August ‘09 to a Seattle start-up
• Successfully built a community of thousands of registered members, and unique visitors on a minimal budget
• Contributed entirely to the concept, design, development, and maintenance for the web property
• Responsible for full brand development, product design, and product development
• Managed an editorial team of 15 writers
• Analyzed stats and continually optimized features for conversion and usability

WEB ART DIRECTOR, PopCap Games | Seattle, WA | 2006 - 2007
PopCap Games is a leading casual games developer, releasing titles such as Bejeweled and Plants vs Zombies

• Established and managed the creative vision and user experience for PopCap.com
• Key stakeholder involved in strategic decisions affecting PopCap.com
• Built and established an in-house team of designers and front-end developers
• Provided art direction, strategic planning, innovative solutions for design challenges
• Lead a total site redesign and rebrand which greatly improved usability and contributed to an increase in download conversions
• Managed an ongoing effort to optimize site performance that lead to increased conversions
• Required familiarity with Web metrics data using Omniture, as well as knowledge of HCI and UI standards
• Responsible for team planning, budget, hiring, management, contractor management, resource allocation, scheduling, and mentoring

DIRECTOR OF UX & CREATIVE, CarDomain Network | Seattle, WA | 2006
CarDomain Network is the web’s largest community of car enthusiasts

• Lead the creative vision and user experience for the company’s online community and retail store
• Managed and art directed both online and offline creative
• Interfaced with multiple departments to accurately translate goals to the finished product
• Required a thorough understanding of the creative design process, UI (user interface) design, branding strategy and cross-departmental project management
• Managed a team of designers and developers, providing mentoring and team building
• Implemented a new working process and team strategy to increase efficiency and better allocation of resources 

DESIGN DIRECTOR, Donordigital | San Francisco, CA | 2004 - 2006
Donordigital is an agency that provides fundraising solutions for non-profits, advocacy and candidates

• Managed the design and development for all projects supporting offices in San Francisco and Washington D.C.
• Provided art direction and established the creative strategy for this agency
• Required a thorough understanding of all aspects of web design, programming, and Flash
• Required extensive knowledge of online marketing strategies and campaign creation
• Implemented a company wide project management process that increased efficiency of the project lifecycle
• Established, managed and mentored a team of designers, developers, and production staff
• Projects included marketing campaigns, interactive media and website designs for high profile clients such as ACLU, Amnesty International, The Human Rights Campaign, Humane Society and NARAL Pro-Choice America

SENIOR WEB DESIGNER, Classmates.com | Renton, WA | 2002 - 2004
Classmates.com is a service-oriented Website connecting people

• Served as lead designer and art director for a team of designers
• Interfaced daily with marketing, copywriters and developers to create visually engaging interfaces
• Lead designer for corporate website redesign initiative, and redesign of email products 

CO-FOUNDER & DIRECTOR, Ash White Multimedia LLC | Seattle, WA | 1999 -2002
Oversaw start-up of this creative agency specializing in online marketing and interaction design

•  Lead creative direction for all projects
• Managed team of designers and developers
• Received recognition as “Site of the Day” from Macromedia for interactive Flash site, ashwhite.com

Affiliations

AIGA, SIG CHI, SIG GRAPH

Education

BA in Painting 1996, University of Washington

 Download PDF resume

 Download WORD resume

Marie has enjoyed designing and developing full-featured, interactive Web sites for more than 15 years. She’s passionate about the challenge of creating excellent user experiences with stunning visuals, while meeting business & client goals.

She’s a valuable and highly sought-after resource for clients because:

• She crafts sites from initial concept to finished product.

• She’s talented in design, programming and strategy.

• She takes pride in delivering great service and outstanding design.

Her expertise is to transform your vision and objectives into an effective marketing tool for building your business and brand. Marie knows what works – for new brands, site redesigns and UX consultations.

She directs her own talented team of designers and developers or can act as Art Director for your in-house team.

Memberships include:

• AIGA professional association for design
   
• SIG CHI (Computer-Human Interaction)
   
• SIG GRAPH (Graphic Design)