my name is kurt tacastacas.

10-year+ experience in UX/UI, digital, print, motion, graphic, and brand design currently based in New York City.

Senior Product Designer • OpenComp

Full Time | July 2021 - May 2023 • 1 yr 11 mos | New York, NY

Helped establish brand and design system guidelines, research, develop, wireframe, test and produce UX/UI to create a seamless experience between HR, Executive, and Recruiting Teams and our unique compensation intelligence SaaS.

Art Director • The National Society of Leadership & Success

Full Time | August 2020 - July 2021 • 1 yr | Jersey City, NJ

Executed brand guidelines to help the Marketing Team extend and increase their retention, conversion, and reach to eligible honor students through multi-program efforts in social media, email campaigns and web traffic.

Associate Creative Director • Ara Inc. (fka Cargo Systems Inc.)

Full Time | May 2018 - March 2020 • 1 yr 11 mos | New York, NY

Created a brand identity for the in-car vending machine company and helped secure deals in partnerships through fully-immersive experiences, presentations, high-fidelity rendering, and productions. Later helped the company transition their business from in-car vending to cartop advertising.

Associate Creative Director • BrandShare US
Senior Graphic Designer • BrandShare US
Graphic Designer • BrandShare US
Junior Graphic Designer • BrandShare US
Graphic Design Intern • BrandShare US

Full Time | October 2014 - May 2018 • 3 yrs 8 mos | New York, NY

Produced a brand guide to help the e-commerce sampling company attain multi-million dollar deals, design and produce sample product collaterals from highly-established brands and businesses, and create multi-prong online experiences to gain feedback, research, and advertising towards our targeted audiences.

Digital Designer • Ferno-Washington Inc.

Full Time | October 2012 - August 2014 • 1 yr 11 mos

Adhered to brand guidelines to help produce product catalogs, tutorial videos, promotions, in-house app experiences, and email campaigns to market our emergency response equipment and their accessories.

Graphic Designer • Cleveland Medical Devices Inc.

Full Time | June 2010 - August 2012 • 2 yrs 2 mos | Cleveland, OH

Enhanced the sleep apnea monitor company’s collective design look and feel to create a seamless experience from their brand, websites, emails, pamphlets, to our sleep tech-centric analytics web application.

Art Lead & Co-Founder • Tiny Giant Studios

Part Time | September 2011 - March 2012 • 7 mos | Shaker Heights, OH

Established together with a former classmate and teacher to be the first small business animation studio in Shaker Heights, OH. We handled everything from client relations, marketing, storyboarding, animation and editing.

BFA | Technology & Integrated Media Environment • Cleveland Institute of Art

Full Time Student | September 2007 - December 2011 • 4 yrs | Cleveland, OH

Skills

Animation, Conceptualization, Content Creation, Data Visualization, Experience Design, Front-End Programming, Graphic Design, Illustration, Motion Graphics, Packaging Design, photo Editing, Presentation Design, Product Design, Project Management, Research, Strategy, Trade Show Design, Typography, Ux/Ui Design, Video Production, Video Editing

software proficiency

Adobe CC Suite (photoshop, illustrator, indesign, premiere, after effects, & xd), HubSpot, Asana, Microsoft Office, Figma, Sketch, Zeplin