Chris Blanz
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Nashville, TN, United States
Toptal member since March 8, 2021
Chris Blanz designs user-friendly (web) experiences that inform, instruct, and inspire. He also designs integrated mixed-media campaigns ranging from branding and sales presentations to website designs and fully functioning Webflow development, all with a user-centric focus on utility, product innovation, and brand continuity.
Portfolio
Work Experience
User Experience Designer
Freelance Clients
- Designed and developed a new site in Webflow for Sam The Cooking Guy with more than 1,800 recipes in the CMS to serve his 3.75+ million YouTube subscribers. This is the 3rd iteration I designed for him. The 1st was back in the early 2000s.
- Rebranded the teambonding.com website for the 4th time over the past two decades. I also continue to design other properties for this client, including bondingbus.com.
- Redesigned the user experience for Dataswift's (dataswift.io) user and developer platforms, plus the internal admin UX. Enhanced brand standards and a "best practices" process to bring multiple products under a single visual and vocal identity.
- Designed and managed the development of a message management system UX and UI for the WNBPA that allowed management to tactically message individuals, teams, special groups, or the entire league with announcements, polls, or special alerts.
- Enhanced the user experience, recruited an elite team of creatives to accelerate the brand's evolution, and developed investor presentations for SportsBlog.com. Momentum grew from 5,000 visitors in the 1st month to one million after 11 months.
- Designed and developed a fresh brand strategy, company identity, and graphic standards library for Kythera Labs.
- Organized the content, wrote the copy, designed the web/brand standards, and developed this small responsive site in Webflow. As a startup, the logo was the closest thing CPG Digital had to brand standards at the time.
VP | Creative and User Experience
Perception Health
- Designed enhancements for the flagship SaaS platform's interface with a multiphased approach that provided minor incremental but tactical improvements to the user experience.
- Refined the company brand and the existing SaaS product identities.
- Wrote new copy for all public-facing products and services and promotions for the web, print, and sales presentations.
- Designed and developed a new website, including a full CMS-driven blog using Webflow.
UX/UI Product Designer | Co-Founder
PHY.net SDK
- Invented a new patented process to securely manage and remotely control Bluetooth beacons, NFC tags, and QR code touchpoints using Google's Physical Web protocol.
- Designed a comprehensive user experience strategy that took concepts through an iterative process of design, including wireframes and high-fidelity comps based on user-testing and feedback.
- Strategized a browser-based user experience and managed a team of developers (React, Redux, Node.js, MongoDB, AWS) to build a modern SaaS platform to remotely control Physical Web touchpoints.
- Designed and managed the development of native iOS and Android apps that included QR code scanning, reading NFC tags, and scanning for Bluetooth Beacons. Based on these apps, multiple white label versions were developed.
- Designed multiple iterations of identity, web, print packaging, investor presentations, sales support material/presentations, and user interface designs (responsive web and mobile apps) that provided continuity across the breadth of the brand.
- Designed physical hardware products (Bluetooth beacons) and worked with hardware engineering and production teams in the US and China regarding the external look and feel, as well as the internal electronic features and functions for each product.
Contract Creative Director | Product Innovation
MōBLS
- Designed a comprehensive UX and UI strategy for RecruitTalk, a "LinkedIn equivalent for high school athletes." No small feat, the UX had to accommodate mismatched stats from multiple sports being administered by novice web/app users. bit.ly/cab-rt.
- Developed an easy-to-follow eCommerce user experience and enhanced brand for non-technical senior citizens to purchase hearing aids online. Included design, copywriting, photography, illustration, and development team management.
- Mentored entrepreneurs participating in jfs.co and ec.co accelerator programs, helping enhance product offerings, user experiences, and brand messaging for on-line, mobile, and offline retail products and services.
- Developed investor pitch deck for Zingfin that included copywriting, design, animation, and pitch coaching.
- Developed investor pitch deck for KaraoQ that included copywriting, design, animation, and pitch coaching, but absolutely no public singing.
Founder | CEO | Creative Director
cabedge
- Founded and served as CEO and hands-on Creative Director for an interactive agency of designers, writers, developers, web strategists, and public relations strategists with yearly revenues averaging $1.5 million before selling the agency in 2012.
- Designed and developed branded user experiences for brands like Band-Aid, Cracker Barrel, ExxonMobil, Johnson & Johnson, Unilever, The Washington Post, LEGO, National Geographic, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), among others.
- Recruited and led a team of talented designers and creative contributors to innovate and lead key email, banner advertising, and animation design trends for over a decade.
- Received more than 75 American Advertising Federation awards.
- Honored with more than 50 American Graphic Design awards.
- Won 5 AIGA CASE Awards (including 2 "Best Of..." awards).
- Awarded a Telly Award for the only video we ever produced.
- Featured twice in the Music City Future 50 Awards by the Nashville Business Journal.
- Named Nashville Business Journal's Best in Business for two consecutive years.
- Honored as one of the Best Places to Work from the Nashville Business Journal. By far, it was one of the most fulfilling awards I have ever received.
Creative Director
Weberize
- Recruited and managed a team of top-tier designers.
- Innovated early web UX with enhanced interfaces using Flash. Yes, there were a few "skip intros," but it was a policy that we did not have "Flash for the sake of Flash" on any website. All animation was required to form that followed function.
- Managed a team of staff designers and project managers in Nashville, New York, and Cairo, Egypt.
Partner | Creative Director
Edgenet Media
- Invented, designed, and managed the development of a unique "moderated chat" function for the Grand Ole Opry that allowed celebrities to chat with fans without fear of fans going rogue and exposing the Opry to certain legal liabilities.
- Created the first website for Cracker Barrel Old Country Stores and enhanced the webmaster's experience with an "Assisted responder" that allowed her to field questions faster and more accurately. The estimated ROI was well over $50,000 per year.
- Designed and managed the development of one of the first news aggregator sites on the internet. (Think Google News, but focused on regions of the US with custom summaries.) This tool became the foundation of one of the first CMSs on the internet.
- Sold the company to a New York investment firm in 2004.
Art Director
Creative Syndicate
- Designed and managed the development of several of the first multimedia (print and CD-ROM) campaigns at the beginning of the rise and eventual boon of tourism in Nashville.
- Partnered with rocket scientists (literally) to win the very first website design and development contract for the State of Tennessee, which led to a merger of the two companies.
- Designed one of the first legitimate rock-star websites for John Kay and Steppenwolf.
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Graphic Design
Western Kentucky University - Bowling Green, KY
Skills
Tools
Figma, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Lightroom, Apple Keynote, Sketch, Microsoft Office, Principle, Adobe Experience Design (XD), Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro
Platforms
Webflow, Mobile, iOS, Web, Salesforce, Webflow CMS
Industry Expertise
Health, Advertising, Education, Education Technology (Edtech), Healthcare, Health & Wellness, Sports
Other
Graphic Design, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Creative Direction, Design, Writing & Editing, Product Design, Logo Design, Platform Design, Brainstorming, UX Strategy, Mobile UX, Mobile App UI, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Art Direction, SaaS, SaaS Design, Enterprise SaaS, Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Web Design, Web App UX, Web UI, Web UI Design, UX Design, UI Design, iOS UI Design, Mobile UI, Design Leadership, Web Platforms, Online Platform, Websites, Landing Page Design, Landing Pages, Visual Design, Web App Design, Branding, B2B, Illustration, Mobile Design, Brand Logos, UX Writing, Newsletter Design, Blog Posting, Complex Application User Interfaces (UI), Brand Design, Digital Product Design, Rebranding, Brand Identity, Visual Identity, Print Design, Brand Guidelines, Brand Books, Analytics, Product Strategy, iOS App Design, Android App Design, App Design, K-12 Education, Early Childhood Education, Health IT, Digital Health, Healthcare Management Systems, Wellness, Web UX, Web Animation, Copywriting, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Web Marketing, Facilitation, User Personas, Design Systems, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Statistics, Basketball, Coaching, Squarespace to Webflow, Content Management Systems (CMS), Consumer Privacy, Data-level Security, Purple, Web App UI
Experience
- User Experience (UX) - 20 years
- User Interface (UI) - 20 years
- UX Design - 20 years
- UI Design - 20 years
- Responsive Web Design (RWD) - 20 years
- Graphic Design - 20 years
- Product Design - 20 years
- Figma - 5 years
Tools
- Figma
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