Samuel Austin
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
London, United Kingdom
Toptal member since November 8, 2018
Samuel is a senior product designer specializing in fintech and Web3-based projects. Having worked with global advertising agencies for over a decade, with clients such as Adidas, O2, and Universal, Samuel has held roles including art director, filmmaker, and senior creative lead before transitioning into fintech. Recently, he's worked with blockchain startups to rapidly build and prototype applications that have raised several million dollars in funding.
Experience
- Graphic Design - 11 years
- Visual Design - 10 years
- Branding - 10 years
- User Interface (UI) - 8 years
- Social Media Marketing (SMM) - 8 years
- UI Design - 8 years
- Web Design - 8 years
- UX Design - 5 years
Portfolio
Rolld App
Colour of Music
Work Experience
Freelancer
Sam Austin Design
- Served as lead designer for a blockchain-based social media app that is about to launch onto the iOS marketplace.
- Created the artwork for Mumford & Sons' album that topped #1 on iTunes for several weeks globally. My work was on thousands of billboards and TV screens across the planet for months.
- Worked freelance for clients such as Adidas, Jack Daniels, Universal and O2 mobile.
- Collaborated with clients remotely to build and grow their digital presence in the form of brand and experience strategy, website, app, and graphic/digital design.
- Worked with a Melbourne-based yoga studio on their UI, branding, and marketing strategy to triple their income and yoga studio members in six months.
- Freelanced for some of the world's top advertising agencies; primarily working on international ad campaigns, pitch decks, rapid MVP builds, and website builds.
Senior Product Designer
Laguna
- Built a stablecoin protocol with the capacity to mint, redeem, and borrow in correlation to the collateral offered. The protocol was built for a Web3 blockchain user with decentralization and financial liberty as a core focus.
- Developed an open-source multichain cryptocurrency wallet for iOS/Android and browser extensions. Launching first on Polkadot and then Ethereum, the wallet was one of the first wallets to aggregate balances across multiple chains.
- Built, prototyped, and iterated upon multiple cryptocurrency projects in a very fast-paced startup environment. This included the entire flow from concept to user flows, branding, and even video production.
Founder — Lead Designer
Live Learn Evolve
- Organically grew the social media channels to over 300,000 followers through strategic content creation and social growth hacking.
- Handled the entire build of the website, branding, identity design, content, and art direction.
- Attracted over 10,000,000 views across 140+ countries with ongoing social and viewership growth.
- Produced short, engaging philosophical videos for YouTube and social channels.
Senior Designer
Haven (via Toptal)
- Led the branding and art direction (from the website, landing pages, teaser videos, social media, marketing rollout).
- Set the branding guidelines and system in place.
- Ideated and designed (UX/UI) some of the product elements (iOS and Android).
UI/UX Design Lead
AppZaloot
- Designed the entire UI/UX for a blockchain-based social media app—from the user flows and wireframes to the high-fidelity prototype and sign off.
- Helped raise funding for the company.
- Created the branding, art direction, and design system for their entire creative output.
- Learned an invaluable amount of knowledge on blockchain development and the potential for DApps in future technology.
- Built the entire website in Webflow.
Director
Humantico
- Worked with Worldreader, an international non-profit run by former Amazon directors to distribute Kindle eReaders to developing nations.
- Built Enviromate for an award-winning startup. It's the UK's first construction marketplace for recycling unused materials.
- Designed and built the platform, Live Learn Evolve, one of the largest news platforms for philosophical and spiritual wisdom.
- Traveled to Thailand to help a yoga retreat build their company from the ground up. This included filming, photographing, and designing everything for their digital marketing.
- Worked, in general, on branding, art direction, and website design for various socially responsible companies—mainly for their international marketing campaigns.
Creative Lead — Hybrid Role
Cr2 Records
- Traveled the world filming, photographing, and producing short films for many world-renowned music artists and DJs.
- Created various music artwork for releases that topped the iTunes music charts globally for several weeks.
- Redesigned the art direction and branding of an entire record label.
- Built a website for Cr2 Records.
Web and Graphic Designer
Fresh Dimension Media
- Worked on the art direction, graphic design, and website design for various large UK multinational companies.
Education
BTEC National Diploma in Graphic Design
Canterbury College - Canterbury, UK
Skills
Tools
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite, Zeplin, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Premiere Pro, Adobe After Effects, InVision, Marvel, GitHub
Platforms
Figma, iOS, Webflow, WordPress, MacOS, Adobe Suite, Android
Industry Expertise
Health & Wellness
Other
Graphic Design, Video Editing, Web UI Design, Presentation Design, Crypto, UX Design, Web Design, UI Design, Branding, Visual Design, Creative Direction, Wireframing, Digital Strategy, Social Media Marketing (SMM), User Interface (UI), Web App Design, B2C, App Design, User Experience (UX), Typography, Prototyping, Art Direction, High-end Retouching, Decentralized Finance (DeFi), Cryptocurrency, High-fidelity Mockups, App UI, Photography, Yoga, Mobile UI Design, Cryptocurrency Development, Blockchain, Mobile UX Design, Sustainability, Internet of Things (IoT), Responsive UI, UI Style Guides, Visual Identity, Illustration, Framer
How to Work with Toptal
Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.
Share your needs
Choose your talent
Start your risk-free talent trial
Top talent is in high demand.
Start hiring