Hi, I'm John. I like to consider myself a hybrid designer who can concept and design with both visuals and UX strategy. I enjoy creating simple but effective solutions that create the least amount of friction for users and customers. Often, I find myself building a lot of something out of nothing. For the majority of my career thus far, I've worked within the advertising realm of design, focusing my energies on brand extension, experiences and execution, while keeping the end-user (both client and customer) at the core of every decision.
EXPERIENCE
Senior Visual Designer
Global Overview
December 2020 – Current
Within the design studio at Global Overview, I help our clients grow their visual presence on Amazon. From shoppable brand stores, to product detail pages, to campaign advertising across all digital channels, I touch every aspect of a brand’s e-commerce strategy within the Amazon shopping experience while partnering with our internal retail, marketing partners, and content specialists to create custom, on-brand visual solutions.
I was a part of the beginning of Global Overview’s design studio, where I took the lead for the redesign of the company. I am a lead for the team that handles all design requests, focusing on scalability and efficiency as our team and portfolio continues to expand. Currently, I am leading, teaching and art directing an off-shore contracting team that supports our team through scaling design asset deliverables.
Art Director
Superside
April 2019 – October 2019
I was an US-based art director for a remote global startup design agency based in Oslo, Norway. I collaborated with fellow art directors, designers and account managers through project budgeting, client relations, project kickoff, and execution across a variety of global clients and industries. Projects for our clients included rebranding, website design, presentation design, and advertising/marketing design. I represented the design team in meetings with clients and account managers, and worked remotely with the core design team in Norway to help strategize opportunities to grow our client list. I was the lead designer and art director on projects for premium clients, and art director and project reviewer for remaining client projects that were supported by our global design team.
Senior Visual Designer – Amazon Music
Amazon.com
Sept 2017 – April 2019
I was the design lead for Amazon Music's expansion into Canada, 15 Central and South America countries, and 20 European countries. I also led the design launch for the expansion into Australia and New Zealand, along with being a part of the design team for the US market. I was the design lead point for implementing Amazon Music’s campaigns into our global marketing by creating scalable solutions for all campaign materials (web and print), visuals for the desktop and mobile apps, landing pages, and visual integration into the larger Amazon ecosphere (site, Echo devices, tablets). I worked directly with the UX team to better our tools, conduct research, and support product launches.
I served as the direct point of contact and lead for the global Paid Marketing Advertising team, working with account and product managers to create new ad packages, support A/B tests, and create templates for the global design teams to drive efficiency. I was the design lead for Amazon Music’s largest marketing campaigns, including Amazon Prime Day and Winter Holidays.
Other projects include working with our Label Relations teams to create specialty packages to promote artists through unique landing pages, social media campaigns, and marketing traffic drivers.
Interactive Designer – Advertising User Experience & Design
Amazon.com
Sept 2014 – Sept 2017
I created strategic and customer-centric digital executions and campaigns for our advertising clients on all Amazon's e-commerce advertising platforms: Fire tablet, Fire TV, desktop, and mobile. I worked with a large variety of clients and account managers, from Fitbit to ADIDAS to Milk-Bone dog treats. I was the sole designer for our largest advertising client, Newell Brands. Through proposed design concepts to successful campaigns, I helped grow the Amazon.com advertising budgets of my exclusive clients from $10k annual spending to $2M+ annual spends, while creating 4000+ digital ad units across 200+ additional clients. This was accomplished with ongoing collaboration with 35+ internal account managers and 7 web developers. As a team lead, I also provided internal design reviews and mentorship for junior team members in Seattle and Costa Rica.
Graphic Designer
ESPN
Sept 2009 – Sept 2014
At ESPN, I worked across multiple channels and properties to create custom digital advertising packages, onsite graphics (static and animated), and digital and print editorial pieces. I owned the ESPN Radio sweepstakes platform, where I was able to break outside of a 5-year-old web template to create custom landing pages – building the CSS/HTML from scratch – for each of our advertising partners, working exclusively with our account management team for sponsors such as Bud Light, Werner Ladders, 1-800-FLOWERS, Subway, Shell, and Bass Pro Shops. I was also the lead design support for the ESPN Local properties in Dallas, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles.
Visual Designer
eMusic
July 2005 – June 2009
Created onsite graphics and advertisements for eMusic.com, an independent music MP3 subscription service. I was able to create graphics and Flash banners for some of my favorite artists and record labels, including Radiohead, The White Stripes, Dischord Records, and Sub Pop.
Production Designer
Maris, West & Baker
June 2004 – Feb 2005
Working mostly in print as a visual and production designer, I was able to work on big and small campaigns and collateral for agency clients across Mississippi, including the Mississippi Tourism and Visitors Bureau and the Mississippi Department of Health.
EDUCATION
Mississippi State University
Bachelor of Fine Arts – Graphic Design, 2004