Rachel Nielsen
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Aix-en-Provence, France
Toptal member since November 1, 2022
Rachel is a multidisciplinary designer working remotely. Whether designing products, visuals, or services, Rachel approaches her work with kindness and curiosity. Her non-traditional background, combined with the skills gained through client work, has turned her into a pragmatic and empathetic designer and subject matter expert who is always ready to bring a new perspective to product development, design reviews, client presentations, and workshops.
Portfolio
Experience
- Visual Design - 7 years
- Illustration - 7 years
- Adobe CC - 7 years
- User Interface (UI) - 4 years
- Design Systems - 3 years
- User Experience (UX) - 3 years
- Design Thinking - 3 years
- Figma - 3 years
Tools
- Adobe CC
Work Experience
Service Designer
Fjord
- Conducted and synthesized research for a major pharmaceutical company's employee experience redesign and created service blueprints and onboarding materials to train the employees in their new roles.
- Redesigned the airline's notification system to be more useful and empathetic to passengers.
- Co-created a toolkit for circular design, including a microsite, testing new methods, and working with clients to iterate on the content.
- Created the training materials and led workshops for a pharmaceutical company's new patient journey mapping approach, including continuous research on the materials and journey framework.
Visual Designer
Fjord
- Helped design and ship a major tech corporation's digital twin platform, owning the UX and visual design for two of the platform's main features. Initiated and facilitated the design team's switch to Figma.
- Designed the illustrations and the user interface for the proof-of-concept prototype of a journey-mapping app for a major pharmaceutical client.
- Designed the user interface for a web app of a government department, designed UI elements to ensure the UI library met all accessibility requirements, and oversaw the design and conception of the web-based design system.
- Illustrated custom avatars for new joiners at the agency.
- Designed the visuals for various proposals, presentations, and internal communications.
Designer
Self-employed
- Contributed to the rebranding of a nonprofit organization and its brand guide, including typography, colors, image use, and logo marks.
- Ran design thinking workshops to help a Berlin-based organization define its purpose and action plan.
- Created cohesive branding and logo to use on fundraising merchandise for a nonprofit organization.
Costume Designer
Self-employed
- Compiled research beginning with an in-depth analysis of scripts, followed by fashion and period references and character research.
- Carried out visual exploration and created conceptual sketches.
- Illustrated detailed drawings of every costume and selected materials.
- Built costumes for productions, leading small teams of stitchers and hand-workers.
- Collaborated with directors, producers, and stage and lighting designers, working iteratively based on feedback and rehearsal findings.
- Managed a university costume shop with five employees, including mentoring students, keeping the shop organized, and overseeing creative builds.
Certifications
Introduction to Inclusive Design
University of the Arts London
Visual Identity
University of the Arts London
UX Foundations: Style Guides and Design Systems
Graphic Design
Coursera
UI/UX Design
Coursera
Skills
Tools
Adobe CC, MURAL, Adobe Illustrator, FigJam, InVision, Miro, Adobe Photoshop, Sketch, Microsoft Excel
Platforms
Figma, Mobile
Industry Expertise
Education
Other
Visual Design, Branding, Brand Identity, Design Systems, UI Design, User Journey Maps, User Interface (UI), Art Direction, User Experience (UX), Wireframing, Design Thinking, Illustration, Inclusive Design, Graphic Design, Visual Identity, Style Guides, UX Design, Color Theory, Typography, Copywriting, Product Design, Web UX Design, Web Design, Accessibility, Digital Twin, Portraits, Character Illustration, Onboarding, UI Guidelines, Brand Guidelines, Logotype, Color Schemes, Software as a Service (SaaS), Business to Business (B2B), Content Writing, Design Workshops, User Research, Ways of Working, Dashboard Design, Web App Design, SaaS Design, B2B, MVP Design, Iconography, Data Visualization, Framer, UX Research, Service Design, Employee Experience, Data Analytics, Optimization, Employee Engagement, Content, Internal Systems, Web Platforms, B2B2C, Training Materials, Organizational Design, Business Transformation, Email Design, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Design, Business to Business to Consumer (B2B2C)
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