Christine Walker
Designer
Location
Atlanta, GA, United States
Toptal Member Since
January 15, 2018
For over the past two decades, Christine has helped startups and Fortune 100 companies with award-winning designs. Her broad range of skills allows her to collaborate within cross-functional teams throughout all stages of a project to execute on a client's vision. Christine's biggest strength is in the integration between design research, brand experience, and design strategy for SaaS and web-based products and services.
Christine is available for hire
Hire Christine
Work Experience
2014 - PRESENT
Founder
Verse Brand Strategy
- Dynamically ideated, planned, and designed innovative ideas to assist founders and CEOs to develop or level up new products and brands using design thinking and lean methodologies.
- Hired, coordinated, and collaborated with cross-disciplinary teams to sell, scope, plan and execute nearly 100 clients with their design experiences.
- Coordinated and presented proposals, budgets, briefs, timelines, and projects to clients, stakeholders, and executive teams.
- Planned, conducted, and facilitated discovery workshops and research to assist with the innovation and validation of new products and branded experiences using design thinking and agile methodologies.
- Integrated information, data, and critical thinking into relevant and actionable insights, strategies, and roadmaps to design brands, products, and designed experiences.
- Led the conceptualization, wireframing, and design of branded experiences using human-centered visual, UX, and UI tools, processes, and methodologies.
Technologies: Microsoft Office, Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Docs, InVision, Sketch, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign
2018 - 2019
Design Strategist
352, Inc.
- Solved complex business challenges by applying lean and sprint-based methodologies through workshop facilitation, user research, insights sharing, prototyping and testing, positioning and go-to-market strategies.
- Defined and created roadmaps that guided the execution of innovative strategies for new business opportunities or customer experiences.
- Planned and conducted primary and secondary research including, but not limited to, script writing, recruitment, stakeholder interviews, workshop facilitation, and qualitative/quantitative data distillation.
- Crafted and developed insight-driven personas, journey maps, strategic frameworks, prototypes, wireframes, and iterative testing.
- Made recommendations to clients and project teams based on a balance of desirability, feasibility, and viability of new market opportunities for startups and Fortune 500 companies.
Technologies: Slack, Figma, Google Docs, Apple Keynote, Airtable
2011 - 2013
Creative Director
AmeriCU Credit Union
- Led the strategic planning, creative execution, and implementation of new corporate-wide brand standards and processes which resulted in 20% decrease in resource spending and an average 30% increase in revenue and member acquisition goals.
- Creatively directed and designed small- and large-scale projects across multiple marketing touch-points and mediums, including digital, print, and traditional distribution channels.
- Curated, led, and managed cross-functional teams to create and execute on creative business initiatives, from conception to completion, for small to Fortune 500 brands.
Technologies: Adobe Creative Suite
2003 - 2010
Senior Visual Designer
Stressdesign
- Collaborated alongside the CEO to implement and execute on project scopes for digital and printed experiences with B2B and B2C regional and international clients.
- Was entrusted with a number of projects and responsibilties due to the fact that I was the longest-standing creative lead at the company.
Technologies: CSS, HTML, Adobe Creative Suite
2008 - 2008
Adjunct Professor
Syracuse University
- Collaborated with departmental heads and key professors to create curriculum and teach students design industry-related concepts, tools, and methodologies.
Technologies: Adobe Creative Suite
2002 - 2003
Visual and Interaction Designer
MRA Group
- Designed and developed human-centered, conversion-optimized digital and printed medium for complex organizations in adherence to corporate brand guidelines. These clients include FAO Schwartz, Welch Allyn, Sallie Mae, FedEx Kinkos, ADT, and others.
Technologies: Adobe Dreamweaver, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign
Education
1996 - 2000
Bachelor's Degree in Graphic Design
State University of New York at Fredonia - Fredonia, NY, USA
Certifications
AUGUST 2018 - PRESENT
Product Management
Udemy, Inc.
Experience
Design Thinking - 18 yearsBranding - 15 yearsDesign Strategy - 10 yearsSaaS Design - 5 yearsProduct Design - 5 yearsUser Research - 5 yearsUX Research - 5 yearsProduct Strategy - 5 yearsLocation
