Hi, I’m Isabelle!
For as long as I can remember, I’ve always loved being creative. As a child, I had a sketchbook filled with fashion designs - adding the latest clothing trends I’d seen on Disney Channel characters to my drawings and flourishing them until they became my own. In high school, I discovered a graphics design class offered during my senior year which triggered that joy in creating again. I entered college intending to focus on technology, a focus on human and computer interactions. Here, I learned about user experience and user interface design, and this took me back to that same joy I experienced during my senior year of high school. Although I did not fully immerse myself in design work until my senior year of college, designing various infographics for class instantly became my favorite homework assignments EVER. I graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor of Science in Informatics and went on to work at Bristol Myers Squibb for the next 7 years. My time here consisted of me wearing many hats: data analyst, systems analyst, project manager, (low-key) logos designer, and UI/UX designer. I want my sole focus now to be honing in on the design skills I’ve picked up over all my years of picking up bits and pieces of creative skills along with my hard skills in technology to create pieces of work that will help humans better interact with technology, in ways that are easily learnable and retainable.
In my free time, I enjoy disappearing into romantasy books (let’s chat if you’re into reading too!), hanging out with my husband and doggo Koda, and hand-lettering!
Design Philosophy
Accessible
Growing up in an immigrant household, I saw what a struggle it was for my elders to pickup technology. The concept of a smartphone was so new to them, and although they were eager to get their hands on one, there was quite a learning curve until they were able to fully use one on their own. I want to create and design in ways that even elders in our society can take a look at and say “Hey! That’s not so bad to learn, I can do that.”
Helpful
Technology helps make our lives easier, not harder. When we design, it should be thought of as a tool for the user. I approach design work with full intentions to create a product that is easy for users to follow in order to help them in whatever it is they need at the time. Whether it be for leisure or for work, designs should be an aid to save time and headaches from tasks that would otherwise be mundane. The less confusion, the better!
Simple
Microsoft Word Art is not simple and that’s what I strive to NOT be (no shade, just not in the ‘90s anymore! I loved Word Art). Simplicity may be subjective - depending on the context, maybe less noise is better. I aim to design for the audience - to create flows that are straightforward and dismiss unnecessary steps when possible while staying within the requirements. Simple doesn’t mean you can’t think outside of the box; it may even require thinking outside of the box to make something less clunky.