Other work

For Fun!: Other projects and fun experiments that keep me learning

For fun

Experiments that keep me learning

Side projects where I try new tools, mostly AI, on ideas that make me smile.

Hunger Is Calling

Three sugary fugitives. One very hungry alien. Will these snacks ever make it back to Earth without getting eaten? Stay tuned.

ChatGPTKling AI

A model in a bohemian dress embroidered with alebrije birds and flowers, seated on tiled steps beside a painted folk art vase and bougainvillea.

The model seen from behind under an orange arch, in a dress embroidered with a purple llama and flowers.

A close portrait in a turquoise dress covered in alebrije inspired birds and florals.

Alebrije Fashion Editorial

A vibrant AI fashion experiment blending bohemian Latin style, folkloric color, and alebrije-inspired patterns into a surreal editorial photoshoot.

ChatGPT

The original pencil sketch of the feline warrior, signed Alexa 04

Feline warrior: sketch to 3D to motion

A pencil sketch I drew in 2004, turned into a textured, rigged 3D character with AI, then taken further into environment, cinematic styling and motion.

Pencil and paperChatGPTMeshyKling AI

The panda character as an 80s gym regular, in a striped headband and wristbands, checking a phone on the weight bench under neon signs.

The original panda animation, drawn frame by frame.

The panda series

Animated frame by frame, then regenerated in new poses and scenes with AI, including a gym session. Pandas need motivation too.

IllustratorAfter EffectsMidjourneyChatGPT

AR COVID party

Parties weren’t allowed, so I threw a virtual one with my daughter, built to learn AR.

Adobe Aero

A sheet of cheerful kawaii snack stickers

Kawaii sticker sheet

A set of cheerful little snacks turned into a Cricut-ready sticker sheet. They came out really cute.

ChatGPTCricut Design Space

Other projects

Selected work across UX/UI, web design and branding

A few additional projects from earlier roles and shorter engagements.

Keenly

Financial literacy for kids

4 weeks · Research to hi-fi

A product concept: a web app where kids find local jobs, get paid into a digital wallet and split earnings between giving, saving and spending.

ResultInterviewed 13 kids aged 9–15 and took the idea from research to a tested hi-fi prototype.

uConnect

Sprint-winning student app

3-day sprint · UX research, ideation

COVID-19 pushed first-year students fully online. I led research and interviews and shaped a card-based app where students post and join activities around shared interests.

Result1st place among 121 participants in the BrainStation × Ernst & Young Design Sprint.

Williams Direct Dryers

B2B to B2C brand launch

2 months · Logo, branding, web

A boot-and-glove dryer maker trusted since 1989 wanted to sell directly to consumers. I defined the consumer brand and a simplified, product-first online store.

Global

Brand identity for a national distributor

2 months · Logo, web, sub-branding

One of the largest prepaid-product distributors in the U.S. needed one brand across several sub-brands, while preserving a long-standing AT&T relationship. I led the logo, sub-brand system, illustration and site architecture.

Redesigned home screen of a property-search app

Real estate app

Heuristic evaluation

2 weeks · Evaluator, UI designer

Audited a property-search app against Nielsen’s 10 usability heuristics, redesigned every flagged screen and built a UI library so the fixes could scale.

ResultEvery severity 3–4 violation resolved, plus a new accessible color system.

Jammer Cafe

Selling a vision that didn’t exist yet

1 month · Logo, site, investor pitch

The owner had a plan but nothing investors could see. I composited a believable “future cafe” and designed a full concept website around it.

ResultThe site helped secure the investment that made Jammer Cafe real.