
Michael Devries
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Cebu City, Central Visayas, Philippines
Toptal member since November 16, 2015
Michael is a strategic, design-led creative with over 20 years of experience in brand, web, product, and marketing design. He specializes in translating business strategy into compelling brand narratives, crafting visually striking, user-focused experiences that authentically reflect a brand’s vision. With a holistic approach to design, Michael ensures seamless, engaging, and high-impact solutions that drive long-term success across digital and physical platforms.
Portfolio
Work Experience
Brand and Web Designer
LGMD2L Foundation
- Redesigned the foundation’s existing logo, streamlined the color palette, and adjusted typography to create a cohesive and professional brand identity that reinforced credibility and enhanced visual recognition across all touchpoints.
- Developed website copy, ensuring it was clear, engaging, and effectively communicated the foundation’s mission, highlighting its research efforts and fostering trust among patients, researchers, and donors.
- Designed and implemented a modern, professional website in Wix Studio that reflected the foundation’s mission and branding, positioning its unique contributions effectively to inspire credibility and engagement.
- Optimized the website for seamless accessibility and responsiveness across all devices, ensuring intuitive navigation, smooth functionality, and a user-friendly experience that supported registration, resource access, and donation actions.
Brand and Web Designer
GrantStation
- Defined customer segments and profiles through analysis to guide targeted marketing, support strategies, and align services to specific audience needs.
- Established a brand positioning statement and differentiation strategy to communicate unique value and align marketing and communication efforts across channels.
- Developed core brand pillars and personality traits to shape consistent messaging, tone, and experiences that resonate with key audiences across all touchpoints.
- Designed a cohesive visual identity, including logo, typography, and color palette, ensuring a unified and recognizable brand across digital and print applications.
- Created comprehensive brand guidelines detailing logo usage, color values, and typography to maintain brand integrity across marketing, web, and product design.
- Led the UX and UI overhaul of the website, improving accessibility, readability, and engagement through a modernized layout, structured navigation, and optimized content hierarchy.
- Redesigned the search and filtering experience for the platform database, enhancing usability, efficiency, and discoverability of funding opportunities through refined hierarchy, layout, and interaction design.
- Implemented data visualization enhancements, introducing intuitive charts and interactive financial summaries to simplify complex funder insights and grant distribution trends.
Brand and Web Designer
Long Live JJ
- Defined a targeted brand strategy that effectively communicated the foundation’s mission, values, and long-term vision to ensure clarity and consistency.
- Designed a logo and visual identity that conveyed both the deeply personal nature of the project and its broader mission of raising awareness about heart conditions in youth athletes.
- Created a simple, clean visual language that complemented the content, enhancing user engagement without overshadowing the core message.
- Developed a memorial website in Wix Studio that respectfully shared JJ’s story, offering a space for reflection while providing valuable information about heart conditions in youth athletes.
Brand Designer
RIA Brands
- Established a single, unified brand name and identity that resonated across all countries and offices (Belgium, UAE, Lebanon, and Africa).
- Created a unique and suggestive logo that incorporated elements of the business, reflecting the nature of a young, interesting FMCG company.
- Developed a color palette and selected typefaces that projected a younger, more dynamic image, aligning with the strategic goal of appealing to newer markets.
- Established comprehensive brand guidelines to provide clear direction for in-house sales and marketing teams, ensuring consistency across all communications and visual representations.
Brand and Web Designer
Molaya Bay Resort & Residences
- Defined a targeted brand strategy that communicated the development's unique value proposition and established a strong market presence to attract a diverse set of customers.
- Created a unique and ownable visual identity that resonated with customer segments, enhanced brand recognition, and conveyed the development's distinctive character and appeal.
- Defined a content framework and generated copy that ensured consistent communication of brand values and offerings, improving customer understanding and increasing purchase intent.
- Compiled a comprehensive set of brand guidelines detailing logo usage, color specifications, typographic hierarchy, and downloadable assets to ensure consistent application across all platforms.
- Designed and implemented a compelling pre-sale landing page experience that merged appealing visuals with strategic content to communicate key offerings and drive reservations.
Brand Designer
Catboxy
- Developed a clear value proposition highlighting unique strengths and market opportunities to attract and retain environmentally conscious pet owners.
- Established core principles and values that supported the brand's positioning and differentiation, ensuring consistency in strategy.
- Created characteristics that defined the brand personality, informing its tone, style, and interactions to build an engaging brand presence.
- Crafted core messages that communicated the value proposition and key attributes consistently and impactfully for cohesive brand communication.
- Developed a narrative that conveyed the brand's history, values, and vision, engaging and inspiring the target audience to foster emotional connection and loyalty.
- Designed a new combination mark logo that combined text and a symbol, creating a versatile and recognizable brand element for enhanced recognition.
- Established comprehensive brand guidelines to provide clear direction for in-house sales and marketing teams, ensuring consistency across all communications and visual representations.
Brand Designer
Felix Capital Partners
- Developed a positioning statement that defined Felix Capital Partners' unique value proposition and competitive advantage in the real estate market.
- Created a brand idea statement and narrative that encapsulated the firm's core concept, essence, journey, and future aspirations to provide a foundation for branding.
- Designed a distinctive wordmark logo and visual elements that enhanced brand recognition and reflect the firm's professional identity.
- Established a cohesive visual language, including a color palette and typefaces that consistently represent the firm's aesthetic and values.
- Compiled a comprehensive set of brand guidelines detailing logo usage, color specifications, typographic hierarchy, and downloadable assets to ensure consistent application across all platforms.
Lead Director of Design
Toptal
- Led a globally distributed remote team, fostering a collaborative and inclusive environment that encouraged diverse viewpoints, open communication, and innovative problem-solving, while maintaining high standards of client service.
- Automated and optimized operational processes, streamlining tasks such as client discovery, job descriptions, and talent introductions, reducing manual effort and setup time, while enabling scalable growth across the vertical.
- Developed and implemented a comprehensive recruitment framework, improving top-tier talent selection and assessment across diverse regions, enhancing team performance, individual career growth, and alignment with business goals.
- Utilized user experience and user-centered design frameworks to map business processes, aligning user needs with business objectives, improving internal operations, team performance, and client satisfaction across multiple touchpoints.
- Redesigned individual, team, and vertical management systems, enhancing operational workflows and client experience, resulting in improved project turnaround times and overall efficiency.
- Collaborated closely with C-suite executives, engineering, and cross-functional teams across product, sales, marketing, and legal to ensure strategic alignment, seamless execution, and operational scalability.
Founder and CEO
BEBO
- Acted as founder, partner, and CEO for a single branded multi-format out-of-home communications agency, led business development, company growth, and expansion into an emerging market.
- Led and managed the product conceptualization, patenting, and industrial design from conceptualization to launching.
- Created and executed digital strategies, social strategies, and responsive web campaigns.
Design Lead
Carnival Studio
- Worked on key art direction and styling for an independent Australian film release.
- Designed and prototyped digital advertising assets for an international film distribution company.
- Provided the strategy, design, and art direction for an international film release social media campaign.
- Designed the key title treatment and typography style guidelines for an international film release.
- Created a responsive website design for a restaurant and catering service.
Design Lead
Clemenger BBDO
- Designed digital assets for a major FMCG nationwide campaign.
- Prototyped and conceptualized UI for a fashion retailer eCommerce platform.
- Designed a responsive website platform for a nationwide budget airline.
- Created a branding platform for a startup mobile communications company.
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Graphic Design
Charles Sturt University - Wagga Wagga, Australia
Skills
Tools
Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, Sketch 3, InVision, Wix, Topaz Studio, Sketch, Cinema 4D, Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint
Platforms
Web, Figma
Languages
Visual Design Language
Other
Web Design, Brand Design, Brand Strategy, Marketing Design, Visual Design, Art Direction, Creative Direction, Logo Design, Brand Identity, Color Palettes, Typography, Brand Guidelines, Brand Positioning, Branding, Graphic Design, Presentation Design, Naming, Print Design, Design, Sitemaps, Mockups, Style Guides, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Art, B2B, Luxury, Social Media Content, Content Creation, Design Leadership, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Web App Design, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Midjourney, ChatGPT, UI Design, Dashboard Design, Content Strategy, Stakeholder Management, User Experience Design, No-code Development, Performance Management, Complex Problem Solving, Strategic Planning, Operations, Team Building, Objectives & Key Results (OKRs), Project Management, Data Analysis, Coaching, Hiring, Technical Hiring, Management, Business Process Optimization, Account Management, Recruiting, Journey Mapping, Customer Journeys, Design Systems, Content Management Systems (CMS), eCommerce, Social Media Design, Product Design, Pitch Decks, Landing Page Design, Packaging, Websites, Wix Studio, 3D Rendering, Brand Marketing, Brand Architecture, Presentations, Workshops, Stakeholder Interviews, Copywriting, Tone of Voice, Messaging, Storytelling, Information Architecture (IA), Wireframing, Prototyping, Data Visualization
Experience
- Brand Strategy - 15 years
- Brand Design - 15 years
- Visual Design - 15 years
- Marketing Design - 15 years
- Art Direction - 15 years
- Brand Identity - 15 years
- Creative Direction - 15 years
- Web Design - 10 years
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