Sara Taiyo
Verified Expert in Design
Designer
Brighton, United Kingdom
Toptal member since May 28, 2018
Sara is a British digital strategist and designer specializing in crafting refined user interfaces and engaging user experiences. Sara's background lies in strategic brand and platform design, giving her a solid foundation for turning customer and business requirements into delightful, functional solutions.
Portfolio
Work Experience
Co-founder | Creative Director
Driftime Media
- Designed a web platform for stories, solutions, and community action to protect the ocean, tackle the climate crisis, and help build a more just, equitable planet.
- Created a digital strategy and experience for an app, unlocking the world's finest hotels' potential, and generating more revenue from luxury spas, pools, meeting rooms, and more.
- Developed the user experience and platform design for a hospitality startup, disrupting high-end, at-home dining for both world-class chefs and diners.
Service Designer
Maxeon - Main
- Created user flows for B2B solar customers, connecting accounts, sales, tools, and eCommerce. These areas were developed on various platforms in recent years. It was time to envision a unified platform and experience.
- Led the user experience design for a new eCommerce store, shaping template types, page flows, and optimal end-to-end customer journeys.
- Conducted an audit of the B2B customer experience across the platform and tools. At the time of review, there were eight live versions of the site operating globally. I provided comprehensive site maps and a detailed report of my findings.
Brand Strategist and Designer
Americas Frontier Fund Inc
- Created a brand strategy and audience workshops to assist the team in understanding business messaging, goals, and the appropriate creative direction for engaging with various partners and investors.
- Built a brand and visual language to enable the client to communicate complex issues and solutions simply and in a unified way.
- Designed deck materials and a website that tells a story and addresses the needs of entrepreneurs and the government. The goal was to improve connections between the two to make the US a global leader across industries in the future.
- Created a roadmap in Notion to manage all the design needs that came in from the team. This made the design process transparent and kept track of progress and priorities.
Product Designer
Only One, Inc.
- Designed and improved the web application interface and user experience to match the evolving goals and KPIs of the fast-paced startup.
- Worked closely with the head of design and experience, and as part of the product team, I've both collaborated and led a range of design sprints and platform design evolutions.
- Created reports for a series of user interviews and research to inform design and functionality efficiently.
- Art directed and continually managed platform needs for illustrations and asset management.
- Organized and led workshops for the product team and the wider organization to establish the product pipeline and features.
- Created and improved a Figma design system that a team of product and communication designers used. Additionally, I developed a strategy to make updates and show which components and designs were live.
UX/UI Designer
Asma Chishty
- Designed a travel app that showcases destinations across Pakistan to domestic and South Asian tourists and travelers. The designs adhere to Western standards in UI design and travel storytelling.
- Built a brand identity guide featuring color logic, type, image guidance, and how to use the brand mark.
- Created a logical organization for a wide range of editorial content by workshopping and wireframing the entire app.
Strategist and UX/UI Designer
For Blue Pty Ltd
- Created workshops focusing on design and impact to help clients communicate their MVP services to their target audience.
- Designed concept user interfaces for profile and platform screens to assist the client with investment and partnership involvement.
- Created a deck for the client to introduce the ocean-based industries' social network platform. The deck highlights the platform's unique features and benefits for people in these sectors.
Brand and Web Designer
Lausanne Guide
- Designed a simple and clean brand and web app template for showcasing refined and cultural destinations in Lausanne, Switzerland.
- Created mood boards and style guides to determine an editorial style and establish the brand identity.
- Created three user stories to prioritize features for design and development, identifying profitable and engaging features and saving others for future site iterations.
Founding Partner
Curate Labs & Magazine
- Defined the art direction and campaign concept for online creative content marketing aimed at luxury travel.
- Designed a platform for a UK-based recording studio, including the website, newsletters, and blog using a CMS.
- Created the information architecture and wireframes for an online educational platform.
- Worked on the editorial design and online reading experience of an online magazine.
- Produced a native Android and iOS UI for a VR historical experience app.
Senior Designer
Brilliant Noise
- Designed an in-browser editable company presentation deck.
- Defined the creative direction for an energy company's social media campaign.
- Created extensive infographics for the newsroom of a large sports and lifestyle brand.
- Crafted the UI design and led the creative direction of a social media monitoring app built as a progressive web app.
- Defined the UX and UI for a native Android and iOS app for a luxury car company event.
Junior Designer
Designhouse
- Created an extensive icon suite for a telecommunications company.
- Completely rebranded a London-based events company, including the digital brand usage and complete guidelines.
- Developed the brand identity for an international-airport-based retailer.
- Designed UI and wayfinding graphics for a London-based shopping center's website.
- Worked on the art direction and photography styling of a boutique hotel.
Junior Art Director
Virgin Media
- Developed the creative direction for graduates and entry-level professionals event at the Royal Opera House in London.
- Created a brand identity for an entrepreneurs-under-30 initiative.
- Defined the brand guidelines for a company that focused on online marketing and web communications.
- Designed the creative content strategy for an event.
- Developed a hand-drawn typographic font for a brand book.
Education
Bachelor of Arts Degree (Honors) in Graphic Design
Kingston University - London, UK
Skills
Tools
Sketch, Readymag Design & Development, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Figma, Google Docs, Canva, Mailchimp, Microsoft Word, FigJam, Adobe, Miro, Confluence
Industry Expertise
Travel & Leisure, Hospitality
Platforms
WordPress, Mobile, Video Platforms
Other
Sustainability, Tourism, Web App Design, Minimalism, Digital Editorials, Creative Direction, Sitemaps, Newsletter Design, WordPress Design, Presentations, Proposal Design, Web Presentation, Guidelines, Digital Magazines, Ethical Design, Value Proposition, Editorials, Interactive Design, App Design, Strategy, Product Design, Content, Visual Design, User Interface (UI), User Experience (UX), Art Direction, Logo Design, Branding, User Flows, Luxury Industry, Travel, UX Design, UI Design, Wireframing, eCommerce, Web Design, Presentation Design, Information Architecture (IA), Editorial Design, Web UX, Graphic Design, Usability, Design Strategy, Mobile Design, Design Systems, Responsive Web Design (RWD), Agile, Design Leadership, Landing Page Design, Web Platforms, Web App UI, Web App UX, MVP Design, Pitch Decks, Storylines, Early-stage Startups, Desktop App Design, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Service Design, Documentation, UX Documentation, Communication, Communication Strategy, Web UI Design, Web UX Design, Website Redesign, Dashboard Design, User Personas, User Testing, Sprints, Product Strategy, Conversion-driven UX, Print Marketing Design, Print Design, Infographics, Design Guidelines, B2C, Workshops, Product Discovery, Mobile Apps, Discovery Workshops, Discovery, Roadmaps, User Research, Website Design, Document Design, Accessibility, Accessibility Testing, User-centered Design (UCD), WCAG 2, Web Accessibility, Accessible Design, Design Workshops, Project Discovery, UX Audits, User Engagement, Stakeholder Engagement, UI Testing, UX Testing, PDF Design, Pitch Deck Design, Adobe Creative Cloud, Annual Reports, Technical Reports, Charts, Sales Presentations, Progressive Web Applications (PWAs), Instagram Marketing, UI Style Guides, Newsletter Templates, Social Media Content, eCommerce Design, Social Media Kits, Google, Newspapers, Ethical Hacking, Social Media Platforms, Culture, Personas, Startups, Style Guides, Booking, Prototyping, Leadership, Team Leadership, SaaS Design, SaaS, User Journeys, B2B, UX Research, User Stories, Product Management, Data-driven Design, Data Visualization, PowerPoint Design, Investor pitch deck, Brand Guidelines, Digital Publishing, Magazines, Digital Publication, Platforms, Digital, System UI, Material Design, Concepting, Typography, Brand Design, UX Strategy, Notion, Boutique Publishing, Travel Design, System Flow, Business, IA Strategy, Interpersonal Skills, UX Branding, Creative Design, Infographs, Web UI, Mobile UI, Mobile UX, Brand Identity, Profile Design, Job Portals, Dashboards, Elevator Pitches, Sales Pitches, CX Strategy, Workflow, Process Design, Websites, StoryBrand
Experience
- UX Design - 12 years
- Branding - 10 years
- Web Design - 10 years
- Strategy - 8 years
- Sustainability - 6 years
- Workshops - 4 years
- Service Design - 4 years
- Product Design - 3 years
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