Project Type: Branding

Lean Design for Startups

Lean Design for Startups

A startup for startups, Lean Design teaches entrepreneurs the importance of clarifying their message from day one and using their limited resources to their full potential.

Lean Design Hero

SERVICES
Product Validation, Branding, Identity, Website Design, Copywriting, Printed and Digital Marketing Collateral

PROJECT TYPE
Branding, Visual Identity Design, Website Design, Marketing Collateral, Educational Course Design

Lean Design for Startups is one of our Founder's favorite pet projects. After helping dozens of startups launch and iterate on their products, Kari saw how a lack of understanding about the creative process was costing entrepreneurs precious time and unnecessary heartache.

Kari developed the Lean Design™ brand and wrote, designed and organized the educational content from scratch. She is continually developing new materials to help entrepreneurs design their businesses and products to fit their lifestyle, personality and talents.

This growing collection of educational content is both an exercise in "eating your own dog food" as well as a service to ambitious tech-savvy entrepreneurs. Boiling down over a decade of branding and design expertise into bite-size exercises for the design-challenged has been an incredible experience that has strengthened Kari's love for the design process and its ability to serve people in practical and often life-changing ways.

Lean Design Logo
Lean Design Website
Lean Design Fix Layout
Lean Design Video Tutorial
Lean Design Bus Cards
Lean Design Citizen Guide
Lean Design Quiz 2
Lean Design Course Outline

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OgdenGlazer Legal

OgdenGlazer

OgdenGlazer Legal

A growing, down-to-earth legal team helps innovative companies protect their assets and maintain sanity in the rocky world of business.

OgdenGlazer Hero 2

SERVICES
Visual Identity Refresh, Digital Marketing Collateral

PROJECT TYPE
Visual Identity, Brand Extension

After a brief conversation with a member of the OgdenGlazer team, you know you can look forward to straightforward, "plain English" answers to even your most complicated legal questions. With a focus on the technology and food & beverage industries, this growing legal team understands the creative effort and sacrifice required to make these companies profitable. They take time to know their clients and guide them through protecting their intellectual property from day one.

Wanting to retain their existing logomark as much as possible, we worked together to fine-tune their eclectic image and extend their identity into a responsive website, business cards and presentation templates.

OgdenGlazer Feature
OgdenGlazer Logos BusCard
OgdenGlazer Presentation Light

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Digital Alchemy

Digital Alchemy

Digital Alchemy Hero

Role
Lead Product Designer

Scope of Work
User Research, iOS App Design, Prototyping, UX Design, UI Design, Visual Design, Interaction Design

Digital Alchemy uses the power of mobile technology to connect house hunters and homeowners with financial professionals. Polish the UX/UI for bank loan iOS app

Opportunity. Digital Alchemy is a white label financial product for real estate brokers and agents. It non-intrusively guides home owners and house hunters through each stage of the home financing process with in-depth information uncommonly found in tools for mass markets.

Approach. We worked with Digital Alchemy to create a sleek visual identity, with matching collateral and a white label app customized for each financial institution.

Outcome. The mark, formed by two sets of rising bars, create an "A" for Alchemy. Given the name, gold was an obvious choice for their primary brand color; it's contrasted nicely with a stately navy blue to give the brand a confident, professional foundation.

Digital Alchemy Logotype
Digital Alchemy Logomark White
DigitalAlchemy Pitch Deck
Digital Alchemy Signage
Digital Alchemy Website App Duo
DigitalAlchemy One Sheet White

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Little Green Light

Little Green Light

A cloud-based donor management platform provides nonprofits with simple, approachable tech tools to maximize fundraising efforts.

LGL Hero

SERVICES
Brand Strategy, Visual Identity Design Refresh, Website Design, Copywriting, Design, Illustration

PROJECT TYPE
Brand Refresh, Brand Expansion, Website Design, Marketing Collateral

After ten years in business, Little Green Light had gained outstanding recognition in the nonprofit world. To accelerate signups, they decided it was time to enlist outside help to express their fun personality and consolidate their message.

Working in-depth with the executive team, we pulled together their values and individual personalities into a simple, potent identity. We paid special attention to the user experience on their website to guide visitors through the product features and benefits, and removing obstacles to encourage user sign-ups.

We expanded their new identity across a variety of marketing collateral, including a custom responsive WordPress website, complete with humorous illustrations and eye-catching animations, as well as digital and printed collateral, including trade show exhibits, one sheets and online ads.

LGL Web Pages

LGL Migrate Data

LGL Logo wMark Lg

LGL Screen Illustrations

LGL Badges & Icons

LGL One Sheet

LGL Banner_Booth

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Ten Forward Consulting

Ten Forward Consulting

Ten Forward Consulting writes scalable custom software for medium and large enterprises.

SERVICES
Brand Strategy, Identity Design Refresh, Responsive Website Design, Illustration

PROJECT TYPE
Brand Launch, Website Design

Ten Forward is named after the lounge on Star Trek’s USS Enterprise, where the crew would come for sage advice and a drink. The advice was always simple, deep and candid—a vibe that rings true for Ten Forward's personable demeanor and acumen. Approachability can be a rare asset in the world of tech, so we emphasized this with a simple, familiar keyboard key.

To further the message of clever simplicity, we combined the 1 and 0 onto one key instead of on two separate keys. This was our way of saying, "Ten Forward's developers are so fast, they’re able to do the work in half the time of other shops.” Or, “we're so easy to work with, all you need to do is ‘push the button.’”

Seven months after their brand launch, Ten Forward added two new employees and continues to wow their growing list of local and national clientele.

10FW Mug Pattern

Staying in line with the Star Trek theme, we created a teleportation animation effect on the portraits of their team members for their website's About page.

10FW Animated Pics Team
10FW Icons

We developed a series of geometric icons to represent each of their areas of expertise. These provided a way to differentiate their offerings and gave an intangible service physicality to feel more like a tangible product for sale.

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CloudMunch App

CloudMunch App

An ambitious team developed a platform to tame the complex world of DevOps with their unifying web app, integrations and template tools.

Cloudmunch App Hero

SERVICES
UX Design, Illustration

PROJECT TYPE
Brand Expansion, Product Launch, Web Application

We worked with CloudMunch through multiple iterations of their marketing website and app platform. This included designing everything from their individual product icons to their multi-step onboarding process and illustrated product diagrams.

Because of the quick turnaround times for their product releases and their established image in the market, we didn't stray far from their original look and feel. We made gradual updates to their color palette, graphics and layouts, and consulted on their use of language and user experience to create a polished and simplified presentation for increased user adoption.

Within months of our work together, CloudMunch was able to be acquired by JFrog.

Cloudmunch Workspace

Cloudmunch Hub

Cloudmunch Dashboard

Cloudmunch Workspace Progress Tiles

Cloudmunch Templates

Cloudmunch UX Tiles

The CloudMunch application featured a Workspace, Integration Hub and Dashboard. We simplified their user interface and unified their color palette to create a clean, uncluttered work environment for developers.

Cloudmunch Dashboard

Cloudmunch Dashboard Modal

We illustrated custom icons to depict each of their products and distinct sections within their application.

Cloudmunch Product Buttons

Cloudmunch App Menu Icons

Cloudmunch Product Icons 1

CloudMunch_Hub_Icons

In addition to redesigning their user interface, we helped them streamline user onboarding.

CloudMunch Account Setup

We illustrated clear step-by-step visuals to help new users get started with their first project.

Cloudmunch App Setup

CloudMunch Website

See the work we did for the CloudMunch marketing website.

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Quietyme

Quietyme

Quietyme developed technology to resolve noise complaints before they even happen. Over the course of their rapid business development, we supported Quietyme's growth with copywriting, design and illustrations to position their brand as a real contender in three verticals.

SERVICES
Branding & Identity Design, Responsive Website Design, Collateral, Illustration

PROJECT TYPE
Brand Launch, Collateral Design, Website Design

Through two accelerators, and thanks to their dedicated founding team, Quietyme grew into a respected brand as the guardians of peace and quiet. We supported them from their very early stages while they were still distilling their ideas and designing their prototypes. Over the course of a few years, we supported the launch of their products in the healthcare, hospitality and property management verticals. Their "Internet of Things" includes a configurable web app, base station and sensors.

The concept of quiet and the glowing sensor lights became the focus of their visual identity. We set aside large areas of white space in their layouts to provide a calm space in contrast with the colorful gradients that mimic the glowing sensor lights. The friendly fonts and color combinations create an approachable image for this high-tech shushing system that helps organizations provide more peaceful environments and gain favor in their industries.

Quietyme Logo
Quietyme_Logo_Explanation

The logomark is the letter “Q” shaped by four walls of a room. Its shape is also similar to a chat icon to highlight the communicative nature of the device to building managers.

Quietyme Hardware

We drew their base station and sensors as realistic vector illustrations so they could be scaled to any size and be placed on any colored background throughout their collateral with total flexibility.

Quietyme Diagram

Each room is outfitted with a noise-detecting sensor that warns occupants when they get too loud. Breaches are reported in real-time to management to prevent complaints.

Quietyme icons
Quietyme Case Study Diagram_web_white
Quietyme_Team_2015_155_John1

"Few designers understand and support business the way Kari does. We trust her with our most important projects, from our logo design to our investor pitch decks, and we lean on her professional guidance for our brand. She created materials that impress all of our clients, even the ones that currently work with the GE's and Samsungs of the world."

John Bialk, Founder & CEO
Quietyme Presentation
Quietyme Website Verticals Desktop
Quietyme_Poster_01_Rectangle
Quietyme Brochures
Quietyme_Team_2015_155_John1

"We’ve seen the wisdom in working with someone who understands branding and startups from the beginning. Kari makes it easy to work quickly and effectively. She is our go-to person in many matters not even directly related to design. She has never let us down."

John Bialk, Founder & CEO

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Redox

Redox

This rapidly growing health data integration company is on a mission to improve healthcare experiences by powering a lean, developer-friendly platform.

Redox Hero@2x

SERVICES
Brand Strategy, Visual Identity Design, Website Design, Website Development, Product Design, Product Development, Print Design, Marketing Collateral, Advertisement Design, Illustration

PROJECT TYPE
Branding, Marketing, Website Design & Development, Product Design & Development

When Redox first approached us to refine their visual identity, their team was only five strong. We supported their growth by operating as an extension of their team, providing strategic creative services ranging from illustration to product development. By year five, their total funding grew to $60 million and their staff count increased to 172 people.

Redox Bus Cards 2019@2x
Redox Hoodie
Redox_LED_Sign_Mockup@2x
Redox TShirts 2019@2x
Redox Presentation@2x
Redox Lg Whitepaper Covers Copy@2x
Redox Whitepaper Bare Necessities@2x
Redox Bare Necessities Promo@2x

We amplified their desire for clean, minimalist design with bold patterns, friendly fonts and a dynamic color palette to express their upbeat culture and driven attitude.

Redox Podcast Sound Waves

The Redox Podcast Launch

See the work we did for the Redox Podcast launch, including music selection, templated graphics and landing pages.

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Mobile Doorman Web App

Mobile Doorman: Web App

Mobile Doorman App Hero

Role
UX Design, Design

Scope of Work
Responsive Web App for Desktop, White Label iOS and iPadOS app, Onboarding collateral for each brand

Mobile Doorman is a white-label app for high-end residential property managers and residents to communicate and develop a sense of community.

Duration. 5 months of iterative work, designed in 2014

Opportunity. 2014 saw a tremendous increase in urban development. 7,000 condos and 31,000 multi-family properties, and 1,400 student properties became a primary target for improving the environment for managed buildings. Mobile Doorman served as a conduit between corporate, building staff and residents. Their goal was to increase resident and staff satisfaction, improve retention rates, and decrease operational costs.

Approach. I worked with them from square one, starting with their brand strategy and visual identity, and carrying it through to their marketing collateral and app. I collaborated directly with the founder, CTO, and their engineering team.

Outcome. Over the course of 2014, Mobile Doorman built momentum as their products were adopted in more than twenty high-end residential buildings across the United States. They continued to grow and were featured in leading real estate tech news sources, attracting top talent and an impressive national portfolio of clients. In 2021, Mobile Doorman was acquired by Zego.

MD Dashboard Invoices

I designed a simple interface for the property managers to oversee operations from a single online dashboard. From maintenance requests to financials and direct messages from tenants, managers were finally given the power of organization without being tethered to a single workstation.

MD Web App Menu
MD Web App Dashboard Details
MD Dashboard Invoices Wide cropped
MD iPad Doorman

Doormen required a separate app, which was designed specifically for use on a tablet. The doorman app gave staff the ability to assist tenants with services such as package deliveries and guest check-ins with greater speed and accuracy. Because it was tied to the same database, information was synced with the manager's web portal. This made for a more organized staff, easier record-keeping and a better overall tenant experience.

MD iPhone Residents

The resident's app was designed for use on their mobile devices—the same devices that captured their attention for hours of their day, everyday. Each building received their own branded app with access to amenities and information that kept them connected with the management team and in sync with their building community.

MD iPhone Residents Flow
MD iPhone White Label Package

I worked with Mobile Doorman's engineers to establish a streamlined user flow. Work included wireframing, UX copywriting, icon creation and a strategy to provide a themed UI for a white label experience.

MD iPhone White Label Web App
MD iPhone White Label

The white label experience included the design for each of the three applications—management, on-site staff and residents—as well as a marketing package to help each building promote the app to their tenants.

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