About Me

Born and raised in Austin, Texas, I’ve always had a passion for art and design. Ever since I can recall, I have been fascinated with the way color, type and space relate to information or how it can impact a mood. This curiosity has led me to become an ambitious designer who is always evolving. I am constantly seeking new experiences to influence and inspire me. I am intrigued by how aesthetics and style change with technology and culture or how people take principles of the past and apply them to create something unique and modern.

As a visual communicator, a creative thinker, a designer – I am focused on delivering high-quality visual and technical solutions. Design combines my joy of problem solving with my love of visual aesthetics. Design should not only look great but also have a purpose that attracts viewers with an engaging personality, one that connects and supports the overall purpose of the design. Over the past seven years, I’ve used these principles to create digital and print materials to help brands shape their visual identity across multiple platforms.

As a final note, I am relentless in my search for knowledge, I am always seeking to be challenged and inspired. Loving what you do takes work.

Please feel free to get in touch regarding employment, collaboration or just general life advice.

Speaking at Austin Design Week 2018 closing event on Locking Bias Out: What It’s Like Navigating the Design Space Today

My Resume

Work Experience

UX Designer
Indeed
December 2019-

Design for employers, account management and email communications to create an end-to-end user experience.

Sr. Experience Designer
Drawn
January 2018-August 2019

During my time at Drawn, a design-strategy agency, I have had the opportunity to solve many problems using my UX skills such as the microanimations to delight a user on an app tracking your carbon footprint, an accessible white label design system for state-level government agencies built on Angular Material, user flows for a complex VR educational experience for children with sickle-cell disease, and many more challenging projects. I oversee the design process end-to-end during product development while collaborating with engineers and researchers to validate our design decisions to ensure we are creating the best products. I also managed interns in partnership with the University of Texas.

Freelance Designer
Overton Designs
May 2012-January 2018

I have worked with clients such as EverlyWell, Gyde App and the Texas Department of Health and Human Service. I’ve worked with agencies, design studios and also taken on solo projects. The work has been primarily focused on accessibility, responsive design, interaction design, UI design and prototyping.

Lead Visual Designer
chicka-d
August 2014-May 2017

chicka-d specializes in wholesale brands that produce licensed apparel and accessories. During my time at chicka-d, I created a process for managing thousands of production art to be organized and systematically categorized. This process was adopted company-wide and introduced to two other affiliated companies: The Honour Society and Woolly Threads. As the Lead Visual Designer, I designed and developed the brand identity, textile designs, seasonal print material, e-commerce sites, and managed processes for Production Artists to ensure the quality and accuracy of files that were created while communicating with factories overseas.

Design Intern
lookthinkmake
January 2012-May 2012

Assisted with the development of advertising, marketing collateral, printed materials, and web graphics. Worked with the Art Director to develop design briefs and client presentations.

Education

Immersive UX Design Bootcamp
CareerFoundry
May 2016-November 2016
*Nominated as one of the top students of 2016

Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design
St. Edward’s University
August 2008-May 2012

Visual Communication Design
Massey University – Wellington, New Zealand
2011

Community

Diversity + Inclusion Ambassador
fresh2design
August 2017-

Speaking

Austin Design Week 2018
Locking Out Bias: On What It’s Like Navigating the Design Space Today

Technical

  • Sketch
  • Illustrator
  • Photoshop
  • InDesign
  • Adobe XD
  • Premiere
  • Figma
  • Invision
  • UXPin
  • Zeplin
  • HTML/CSS
  • Wordpress

Skills

  • Visual Design
  • Branding Design
  • Responsive Design
  • Agile Design
  • Accessibility
  • User Interviews
  • Personas
  • Wireframing
  • Rapid Prototyping
  • Usability Testing
  • Affinity Mapping
  • Journey Mapping
  • Video Editing
  • Atomic Design

My Career Journey

My References

“Sarah is a very fast learner, adept at integrating new tools, methods, and frameworks into her design process as necessitated by the project and project team. I worked on a complex embedded-team engagement with Sarah on behalf of an equally complex organization, during which time it was an absolute pleasure to collaborate with Sarah on the nascent stages of a Design Language System, the maturation of which we incorporated into a multi-track agile development process.”
Adam Zeiner, Interaction Designer @ The Design Institute for Health

“From the first conversation we had as Mentor / Mentee (via CareerFoundry) I knew Sarah GOT IT. I hired her as soon as I was in a position to do so! She’s a thoughtful, creative designer with an eye for detail. I believe the goodness she works to cultivate in her personal life also permeates her work life, making her an exquisitely uplifting asset to a collaborative team environment. I loved working with Sarah, and would do so again in a heartbeat!”
Erica Ryan, UX Lead – North America @ Khoros

Fun Facts

  • I helped start a fundraiser to get 24/7 home care for Richard Overton, who was the oldest living man in the United States and the oldest living WWII Veteran. Over two years we raised over $450,000 to ensure he could spend his finals days in his home of 70+ years. He passed away in December 2018 at the young age of 112.
  • I spent a year freelancing around the world being a digital nomad visiting Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia and New Zealand. During this time, I managed to use my design skills to help improve businesses digital presence while learning about their culture.
  • At the age of ten I was on Oprah saying "I want to be a Mechanical Engineer when I grow up". Although, I am not a Mechanical Engineer now I am thoroughly satisfied with being a UX Designer - it combines my love of science research and beautiful aesthetics.