Client: Adobe via kvell
Project: Create assets for the Photoshop Express mobile app that resonate with Gen Z
My Role: Visual research, design + illustration, managing a team of ~4 (art directors/designers/illustrators)
Team: Kasey Aleixo (Sr. AD), Stef Drinkwater (Jr. AD), Emily Lopez, Becky Bacoka, Ricky Ostendi (Designer/Illustrator)

Photoshop Express allows users to apply toning adjustments, textured overlays, borders, vector stickers, text, and "themes" (a preset combination of any of the above) to their photos. Other kvell teams conducted focus group interviews concluding that the app's existing assets weren't resonating with the clients' Gen Z target audience. So my team was tasked with helping to update the app with aesthetics that teens and young adults would be excited to use.

My team, which I lead on the design side, delivers around 40 themes and over 100 individual "ingredients" per quarter. We're responsible for researching visual trends and creating moodboards; creating ingredients, arranging them into themes, and versioning each one for five different aspect ratios; and delivering all assets and metadata for the Photoshop Express internal app development team to implement them for consumer use.

What we create is informed by a mix of trend research (ex. film aesthetic, surreal collages, Y2K-inspired ingredients) and client-provided cultural calendar priorities (ex. Golden Week in Japan, Pride Month). Guiding my team through working with detailed technical specifications and delivering a high volume of assets has been an intense learning experience, but it's exciting to flex my design skills across so many different visual styles.

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Photoshop Express In-App • Newhouse MPD • Channel 39 • The Handmaid's Tale • Access Music Project • More Design Samples