Hi, I’m Brendan » a Creative Director, Product Designer, and part-time brand enthusiast/illustrator » I recently relocated from Boston to Seattle, swapping cobblestone streets for evergreen forests.
Design isn’t just about problem-solving. It’s about crafting meaningful experiences for people, cultivating strong perspectives, and knowing when to trust intuition over data.
My career has taken me across art direction, branding, user research, enterprise design thinking, and experience strategy — all with a focus on delivering human-centered product design.
Whether leading teams through complex systems or building scalable design frameworks, I approach my work with empathy, curiosity, and a commitment to balancing strategy with creativity.
Beyond work, I’m inspired by color, patterns, art, and the great outdoors. If you ever want to chat about design, branding, or the best hiking trails in the PNW, let’s connect.
Oh, and I like to aimlessly doodle, because creativity doesn’t need a reason.
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❤️ Design with empathy... and for impact
Empathy isn’t just about understanding frustrations; it’s about connecting the dots between user needs and outcomes. Design should do more than solve problems. It should create value. |
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🫣 Cultivate a strong point of view New industries, new technologies, new challenges. It’s easy to get lost. Ground yourself in research, lean on experts, and develop a vision worth defending. Take risks, own the results. |
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🌱 Foster creativity through culture Creative problem-solving doesn’t happen by accident. It needs the right environment, the right conversations, and the right conditions to thrive. Shape those conditions, adjust as needed. |
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🤲 Solve problems with, not for, teams Great design isn’t about stepping ahead, it’s about moving together. Stay engaged, be a coach, and set the tempo. Sometimes that means accelerating, sometimes slowing down. Always be present. |
| 2024-2025 Cardinal Financial Director+ |
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Led UX strategy across Cardinal’s digital mortgage platform, driving adoption of a centralized design system (Kinetic) and redefining borrower application experiences. Partnered with executive stakeholders to align product vision, though strategic initiatives were cut short during company-wide leadership layoffs. |
| 2022-2024 Toyota Principal PD+ |
Spearheaded design for Toyota’s next-generation supply chain platform, unifying fragmented logistics tools into a cohesive system. Defined future-state visions like the “Golden Thread,” and led AI-driven UX initiatives that improved vehicle ETA accuracy, exception visibility, and build optimization.
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| 2021-2022 American Airlines Director+ |
Lead design of the Aileron design system to support customer-facing experiences, with its first pilot applied to the customer booking flow. Standardized interaction patterns and components, ensuring accessibility, consistency, and cross-platform scalability while collaborating closely with engineering and brand stakeholders. |
| 2020-2021 Frito-Lay Principal PD+ |
Designed B2B ordering tools for convenience store owners, including an intelligent shelf-building system and AI-powered product recommendations. Introduced the “Snack Score” to help retailers optimize inventory based on sales performance, seasonality, and delivery constraints. Also led design for labor and task management tools, streamlining coordination between front-line sales reps and home office managers. |
| 2019-2020 Edward Jones Senior PD+ |
Led design for portfolio management tools as part of Edward Jones’ broader digital modernization. Worked closely with users and stakeholders to define a product strategy and experience vision that supported goal discovery, account opening, and investment management. |
| 2018-2019 Verizon Senior PD+ |
Redesigned core workflows in Verizon’s enterprise billing and provisioning platform, simplifying internal operations and reducing time-to-resolution for support reps. Balanced legacy system constraints with new service integration requirements.
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| 2016-2018 J&J PD+ |
Led design efforts on CarePath, a patient support program that coordinated care, coverage, and access for specialty therapies. Developed tools for patients and care teams to navigate financial assistance, treatment schedules, and communication touchpoints. |
| 2012-2016 Digitas Art Director+ |
Directed creative campaigns and digital experiences for national brands including Bank of America and Dunkin’ Donuts. Evolved from visual designer to art director, honing brand storytelling, campaign concepting, and cross-channel execution in a fast-paced agency environment. |