From websites for small businesses all the way to themes and digital advertising assets used nationally by major brands, I feel comfortable designing intuitive, user-friendly, and conceptually-strong sites. Not only that, but whether I’m dealing with short turnaround timelines or the strict compliance requirements of the major automotive brands, I know how to get the job done—even if it requires sleepless nights, more coffee than a person should consume, and serious plant neglect.

From .ca to shining .ca: Nationwide themes for VW, Ford, & FCA

Armed with thick books—well, long PDFs—of strict brand compliance, along with unique specifications for each project, creating the themes used for major automotive manufacturers Volkswagen, Ford, and FCA Canada-wide was a serious undertaking. As Senior Designer I was responsible for designing website themes that met all brand compliance guidelines, as well as overseeing the work of other designers. In order to streamline the process (I do love efficiency), I created my own PDFs that thoroughly laid out the specifications of each of the brands’ guidelines. I also held meetings with the various departments to go over these guidelines, ensuring all departments stayed within the rules set out by each brand. 

Generally, these projects were pitched with very little heads-up, and then executed on just as short a timeline. 

<div class="image-grid"> <div class="image"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/600f96ac41927111eb4a3f6d/601a3c27abc05e24d9192ea7_Desktop%20HD%20copy.jpg" alt="Landing Page Design for the 2021 Ford F150"></div><div class="image"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/600f96ac41927111eb4a3f6d/601a547bf52e31c294b6426a_bronco-layout.jpg" alt="Landing Page Design for the 2021 Ford Bronco"></div><div class="image"><img src="https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/600f96ac41927111eb4a3f6d/601a514252654a4a12fe07a5_vw-dark-theme.png" alt="Home Page design for a Volkswagen dealership"></div></div>

Would an ad by any other name (PPC, DigAd, SEM) sell as well?

In addition to designing the themes for these OEM websites, I was also an integral part of overseeing the digital advertising efforts at Strathcom. As the office’s captain of compliance (an authority on acquiescence if you will, a prodigious professional when it comes to deference to detail, even), I was tasked with reviewing the ads produced by the Junior Designers to ensure they were compliant with what the brands wanted—as well as meeting the high standards we set for our department internally.

In living colour

With all the rules and regulations in place, these major companies were more concerned with brand image than UX—hard to believe, I know! So while every site I design is done with UX in mind, sometimes it takes a backseat to other aspects of the project. Thankfully I was given the reins to redesign the Strathcom Media website as I saw fit, though, I’m a little blue we weren’t given the green light to actually relaunch the new look website. That type of thing might leave other designers seeing red, but it doesn’t make me any less proud of the design concept, in which the four different coloured bars of the Strathcom logo corresponded to a different aspect of the business. By colour-coding the information, users would be given a visual cue as to the specific service they were looking into. Similar to how I was able to create a new workflow within the constraints of our CRM, I was able to build off of Strathcom’s current branding to design a more streamlined, user-friendly experience for our clients.