Raphael McDonnell
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Santa Monica, CA, United States
Toptal member since June 9, 2020
Raphael is an award-winning digital product designer and product manager focused on UI/UX and strategy. With decades of experience working on multi-platform products for companies in the entertainment, gaming, pharmaceutical, and SaaS industries, such as Netflix, HBO, 2K, Riot Games, SAP, Pfizer, and early-stage startups. Raphael's approach to human behavior and user-centered design allows him to solve problems—ultimately helping to shape and make digital products better.
Portfolio
REME Website
Work Experience
Creative Director | Product Designer
7Seas Agency
- Worked on high-level clients from different countries such as the US, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, and China and also in different industries including healthcare, entertainment, SaaS, gaming, hospitality, and food & beverage.
- Mentored, led, and collaborated with a team of 12 members, including developers, designers, writers, and digital marketers while working with a multitude of clients.
- Rebranded and designed user interface and user experience website for co-working space company increasing sales by 20% after launch.
- Designed and developed (in Webflow) a high converting fully responsive website for a nonprofit organization in the wellness space. The website increased donations to over 15%, increased user interaction by over 50%, and increased sign-up to over 10%.
- Designed a mobile application that helps company managers fill their staffing needs for companies across the world.
- Designed multiplatform digital products for a mental wellness company.
- Collaborated with development and QA teams to ensure that the final products matched the designs.
- Created design systems for four different clients, including assets like icons, buttons, typography, and branding elements.
- Redesigned the entire platform for the gas and electricity management system. Led a team of four developers to apply UI/UX to the front end and manage back-end development.
Vice President | Product Designer
Reme
- Created, developed, and managed the creative vision of the company including brand, digital products, and collateral while establishing and mentoring a best-in-class digital and creative team.
- Designed the UI and UX for all of the digital products of the company. Products included two iOS apps, two Android apps, a web app, a marketing website, and an administrator dashboard.
- Implemented the agile methodology within the company with success achieving faster feature releases for digital products and reduced development costs.
- Implemented optimization and growth through performance analysis, user-testing, creative partnerships, and continuously identifying ways to improve user experience.
- Led the company’s communication and presentation efforts with C-level executives with the demonstration of strong project management and prioritized and strategic goals.
- Determined the production schedule by strategizing and conferring with the heads of each department.
- Reduced marketing spending by implementing analytical tracking and A/B testing for all new campaigns.
Senior Interactive Art Director
Bond
- Worked with creative directors from the AV, print, and digital departments to create branding, key art, and artwork for TV shows and movies building high-quality campaigns and digital products in the entertainment industry.
- Repurposed key art to capture and adapt the essence of the property in different platforms and mediums such as digital billboards, social media channels, A/V campaigns, digital advertising, websites, and applications.
- Produced consistent, innovative, audience-first, award-winning solutions across multiple platforms, including websites, apps, social media, interactive digital advertisements, and take overs.
- Managed deadlines and assessed how much creative allocation was required for projects.
- Developed and built relationships with clients to manage high-budget projects and timelines between releases.
- Managed deadlines and assessed how much creative allocation was required for projects including determining what designers and developers would be working on each project.
Art Director
Voveo Marketing Group
- Served as the lead art director and product designer for the agency focused on working on B2B companies' digital products.
- Led the team in the strategy and execution of digital and print campaigns.
- Worked closely with copywriters and other designers to develop creative concepts.
- Managed a high volume of campaign types at the same time including digital and print.
- Collaborated with the development team to deliver innovative digital products.
- Facilitated communication and lead presentations between client, stakeholders, and creative team.
Junior Art Director (Multimedia and Print)
SAP
- Executed the creation of interactive and print materials, including app solutions, interactive experiences, presentations, and print material.
- Brainstormed with other team members to develop innovative ideas to pitch to potential clients.
- Built presentation templates that successfully helped convert prospects into clients and reduced the creative team’s time spent on each presentation.
- Maintained communication with clients from beginning to completion of projects.
- Helped identify new features necessary to better client systems.
Senior Multimedia Designer (Web, Motion Graphics, and Print)
Vox Medica, Inc.
- Served as the lead multimedia designer for agency capabilities working with pharmaceutical clients such as Pfizer, Alkermes, Horizon Pharma, Abbott Laboratories, and many others.
- Produced and executed cinematic experiences for pharmaceutical sales teams’ launch products nationally.
- Contributed to the conceptual development of multiple product campaigns.
- Designed assets that had to be compliant with FDA guidelines.
- Rebranded the identity of the Vox Medica’s corporate holding company.
Art Director | Editor | Motion Graphic Designer
L'Oréal Professionnel
- Produced instructional material for the company’s educational seasons, focusing on teaching hairstylists how to use the products.
- Conceptualized and storyboarded thematic content for educational material.
- Directed the production team during videoshoots and photoshoots.
- Worked as the main video editor in the education department for both internal content and released training materials.
- Designed print materials for events and tradeshows.
Education
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Digital Arts
California State University, Channel Island - Camarillo, CA, United States
Associate of Arts Degree in Motion Graphics, Cinematography
Ventura College - Ventura, CA, United States
Certifications
Certified Scrum Product Owner® (CSPO®)
Scrum Alliance
Skills
Tools
Sketch, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, InVision App, InVision, InVision Studio, Zeplin, Sketch 4, Adobe CC, Adobe Experience Design (XD), Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, Adobe InDesign, Principle, Hotjar, DataTables
Platforms
Webflow, iOS, Android, Figma, Apple Watch, Web, Mobile, WordPress
Industry Expertise
Pharmaceuticals, Film & Television, Healthcare, Games, Health & Wellness, Marketing, Psychology & Mental Health
Other
Wireframing, User Interface (UI), User-centered Design (UCD), Product Design, Digital Creative Direction, UX Flows, UI Design, Web & Mobile Applications, Branding, eCommerce, Prototyping, User Flows, Information Architecture (IA), Visual Design, Dashboard Design, Usability, Interaction Design (IxD), User Research, Responsive, Gaming, Website Redesign, Mobile Apps, TV UI, Tablet Design, iPad, SaaS, iPhone, WebApp, UI Branding, User Experience (UX), GUI Design, eCommerce UX, Conceptual Design, App UI, Agile, Art Direction, Startups, Minimum Viable Product (MVP), Layout, Visualization Design, B2B, B2C, Social Media Kits, Typography, Brochure Design, Full-stack, Leads, Mobile Web, Logo Design, Landing Page Design, Portuguese-English Translation, Small Business Design, Design Systems, Mobile App Design, Mobile UI, Mobile UX, UX Design, Web App Design, Web UI, Web UX, Consumer-facing Product Design, Marketplace Design, Marketplace Platforms, Responsive Web Apps, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Web Design, User Personas, Demos, Pitch Decks, Website CMS, Desktop Web Design, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Mobile Payments, Job Portals, Communication, Websites, Information Design, Responsive Layout, UI Prototyping, UX Strategy, Digital Branding, Product Strategy, UI Maps, Enterprise, B2B2C, Scheduling, Business to Business to Consumer (B2B2C), UI Style Guides, App UX, Mobile UX Design, Mobile UI Design, Web UI Design, Presentation Design, Flowcharts, Graphic Design, Infographics, Visual Storytelling, Fintech, Finance, Design Leadership, Mobile Design, Rapid Prototyping, User Journey Maps, User Stories, Discovery, Product Discovery, Roadmaps, Requirements, Workshops, Discovery Workshops, Lean Startups, Enterprise SaaS, Mockups, High-fidelity Prototypes, Artificial Intelligence as a Service (AIaaS), Website Design, Visual Communication, Video Editing, Brainstorming, Communication Design, Internal Communications, Communication Strategy, Email Design, Email Marketing, UX Wireframes, User Journeys, User Experience Design, Data Visualization, Web App UI, Web App UX, SaaS Design, Component Libraries, SEO Tools, Web UX Design, Service Design, UX Research, User Testing, Pitch Deck Consultant, Responsive Design, Data-heavy Design, Feature Analysis, Remote User Testing, UX Audits, User Interviews, Qualitative Research, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Brand Design, Brand Guidelines, Business to Business (B2B), On-demand, Chatbots, Animation, Motion & Animation Design, Photography, Messaging, Location Services, Web Video, Downloads, System Flow, Product Management, Gamification, Product Branding, In-app Messaging Systems, Video Chat, Human-centered Design (HCD), Design Language, Early-stage Startups, User Paths, Job Boards, Time Tracking, Gig Economy, User Psychology, Job Schedulers, Company Profile Design, System UI, Notification Center, Digital Payments, User Roles, Web Notifications, Game Art, Home Entertainment, Lead Generation, Font Design, Video Games, Startup Consulting, Remote Work, High-tech Startups, Venture Capital, Paid Memberships Pro (PMPro), Design Strategy, React Native, Navigation Design, Human Interface Design, On-demand Services, Safety, Systems, Service Providers
Experience
- Web & Mobile Applications - 12 years
- Product Design - 12 years
- User Interface (UI) - 12 years
- User-centered Design (UCD) - 11 years
- User Experience (UX) - 10 years
- Digital Creative Direction - 8 years
- Figma - 6 years
- Webflow - 4 years
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