Pavel Pekanov
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Moscow, Russia
Toptal member since July 14, 2020
Pavel's been delivering branding, UI/UX, visual/product design, and creative direction since 2004. He served as the head of design at a fintech unicorn, where he ran all of the company's creative efforts that helped settle a $100-million round. Pavel is interested in gaming, crypto-banking, internet banking, and fintech and designs with complex interfaces that are human-oriented and straightforward. Pavel is the second runner-up in Hacker Noon Contributor of the Year - Product Development 2020.
Portfolio
Work Experience
Founder | Creative Director
Chasing Dreams Games
- Hired and managed an international cross-functional mixed in-house/remote team that was able to develop and produce a complex product in 18 months.
- Utilized previous cryptocurrency and fintech experience to create a cryptocurrency/edtech game product.
- Designed three game-design documents and two game pitch presentations and launched one cross-platform mobile MMORPG. Designed marketing materials and promotional visuals for social marketing campaigns.
Product Designer
Cake DeFi
- Designed the company brand, brand visuals, and brand storytelling, including the logotype, colors, typography, and marketing visuals.
- Identified, addressed, and designed solutions for the company product's issues.
- Conceptualized and created the company and product family websites.
- Translated the company write-up into a compelling visual story.
- Conceived, designed, and delivered the creative concept for the company's main product: DeFi Blockchain and DFI Token.
Creative Director | Head of Design
QUOINE/Liquid
- Designed brand identity, logotypes, colors, and typography for the company and product family.
- Delivered the product design for the product's family and company websites.
- Conceptualized and directed an entirely new visionary product and developed marketing materials that aided the company’s record-breaking $100-million fundraiser.
- Recruited and directly managed a senior design team.
- Developed company-wide processes for the design and product departments.
Designer | Art Director | Creative Director
Online Freelance Agency
- Designed the creative concepts and provided the product design for eCommerce and SaaS platforms for early-stage companies and startups.
- Provided creative solutions for niche and new products targeting ease of customer conversion and onboarding.
- Assembled and directly managed product teams, budgeted, and validated product specifications.
- Delivered redesigns and rebranding projects for multiple clients.
- Placed top-10 by earnings in 2013 at the platform.
Designer | Art Director | Creative Director
Self-employed
- Delivered branding and corporate websites for established businesses.
- Designed experimental platforms and products for early-stage companies.
- Ran an educational and consultancy design practice for students.
- Grew past a local presence and established international contracts.
- Hired, assembled, and managed a ten-people team of front-end and back-end developers and designers.
Skills
Tools
Adobe Creative Suite, Sketch, Adobe Photoshop, Figma, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe After Effects, InVision, SourceTree, Git, Xcode, Slack, Skype, Jira, Trello, Asana, Basecamp, Blender, Excel 2016, Zoom, Cinema 4D, 3ds Max
Platforms
Web, Android, iOS, Craft CMS
Other
Visual Design, Branding, Product Design, UX Design, UI Design, Creative Direction, Art Direction, Prototyping, User Flows, Cryptocurrency, Visual Storytelling, Storytelling, Wireframing, Key Visuals, Graphic Design, Web Design, App Design, Mobile App Design, Web App Design, Promotional Websites, Promotional Videos, Presentations, Pitch Preparation, Pitch Decks, Investor Presentations, Color Theory, Ideation, UX Flows, Information Architecture (IA), User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Data-heavy Design, Mobile UI, Web UX, Web UI, Logotype, Website Redesign, UI Components, Interface Design, Mobile Design, Logo Design, Design Leadership, Landing Page Design, Web App UX, Mobile App UI, Mobile UX, Dashboard Design, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Interaction Design (IxD), Mobile Apps, Marketplace Design, Web App UI, MVP Design, Blockchain & Cryptocurrency, Cryptocurrency Exchanges, Crypto, High-fidelity Mockups, Low-fidelity Mockups, Dashboards, Design Strategy, Design Guidelines, B2C, Business to Business (B2B), Style Guides, Gaming, Storyboarding, Design Thinking, Complex Application User Interfaces (UI), System Design, Typography, Brand Design, Websites, Animated Interactions, Software as a Service (SaaS), Design Revamps, Mobile UX Design, Mobile UI Design, Layout, DataViz, Design Systems, Human-centered Design (HCD), Blockchain, Game Production, Game Design, Gameplay Development, User Research, Stakeholder Interviews, SaaS, SaaS Design, Data Visualization, Responsive Web Apps, User Personas, Icon Design, eCommerce, Game Development, Fintech, Personas, User Stories, Rapid Prototyping, eCommerce UX, Trading, User Validation, Gaming Platforms, Mobile Games, Usability, Agile, User-centered Design (UCD), Story Mapping, User Interviews, Mobile Game Design, Abstracts, Unity3D, UIKit, Animation, Redesign, Packaging, 3D Modeling, Visual Effects (VFX), Mascot Design, Calligraphy, Creative Concept Development, Trailer, Motion Design, Layout Design, System Flow, Content Delivery Networks (CDN), Line Icons, B2B, Mockups, Routing, Material Design, Material UI, UX Wireframes, 3D, Rendering, Responsive UI, Sketching, Concept Sketching, Best Practices in Design, UX Analysis, User Journeys, Annotated Wireframes, Notes, Legal Technology (Legaltech), Accessibility
Experience
- Ideation - 16 years
- Visual Design - 16 years
- Creative Direction - 14 years
- UI Design - 12 years
- Product Design - 10 years
- Design Leadership - 8 years
- Cryptocurrency - 6 years
- UX Design - 6 years
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