
Mikasa Sonnenberg
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Johannesburg, South Africa
Toptal member since January 24, 2019
Mikasa has over a decade of experience with branding—working on numerous startups from restaurants, clothing stores, sustainable businesses, and more. She has been a part of one of South Africa's largest financial institutions, Standard Bank, for more than five years working as one of the senior product designers creating designs for iOS, Android, and web products. She is meticulous and passionate and works with a user-centered design approach.
Portfolio
Work Experience
Design Lead
Standard Bank
- Worked as a UI and UX designer and was responsible for the insurance products (iOS and Android) including creating a fully digital claims process from beginning to end.
- Designed a payback/settlement feature for motor and vehicle assets lending products.
- Migrated an independent staff-facing, client management features into the digital banking platform for international offshore banking.
- Worked with a team establishing the design system for the bank.
- Ran multiple user tests including qualitative and quantitative, AB testing, and validation testing.
- Led the design of a robust customer web platform.
Freelance Graphic Designer and Photographer
Freelance
- Designed multiple brand identities resulting in branding and corporate guidelines.
- Crafted print collateral including logo designs, color theories, packaging, and brochures.
- Photographed food for Easyfood magazine based in Ireland.
- Photographed and designed Jade Corporate Clothing's fashion brochure.
- Worked on product, food, people, and travel photography,.
Senior Graphic Designer
Global Mouse
- Produced campaigns for Discovery Health; these included designs for the layout, posters, banners, and for the web.
- Led photoshoots for campaigns.
- Created concept designs.
- Crafted activation and packaging designs.
Education
Diploma in Graphic Design
City Varsity - Johannesburg, South Africa
Diploma in Photography
National College of Photography - Johannesburg, South Africa
High School Diploma in Arts
National School of the Arts - Johannesburg, South Africa
Certifications
Professional Photography
National College of Photography
Express Course
National College of Photography
Intermediate Course
National College of Photography
Skills
Tools
Adobe InDesign, Zeplin, Sketch, Adobe Photoshop, Flow, Illustrator CS6, Photoshop CS6, Adobe, InDesign CC, Photoshop Design, Photoshop CS5, InVision Studio, InVision, Adobe Illustrator
Platforms
Web, Android, iOS
Industry Expertise
Insurance, Travel & Leisure, Banking & Finance, Marketing
Other
Layout Design, Graphic Design, UI Design, Conversational UI, Conversational UI Design, Wireframing, Branding, App UI, UX Flows, UX Design, Chatbot Conversation Design, Scalable Application, Photo Uploads, Feature-driven Development (FDD), Fintech, Scanning, Digitization, Time Tracking, Logo Design, Brand Design, Packaging, Mockups, Financial Design, Client Management, User Flows, User Journey Maps, User Needs, Health Policy, Graphics, Layout, Creative Thinking, Themes, Photography, Grid Systems, Responsive UI, Responsive, Quality Assurance (QA), Concept Sketching, Conceptual Design, Journey Mapping, Quantitative Research, Qualitative Research, UI Testing, Testing, User Research, User, Financial Services, Corporate Design, Design, Strategy, App UX, IA Strategy
Experience
- Adobe InDesign - 11 years
- Branding - 11 years
- Layout Design - 11 years
- Graphic Design - 11 years
- UX Design - 5 years
- Android - 5 years
- iOS - 5 years
- Wireframing - 5 years
Tools
- Adobe InDesign
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