Introduction
As a designer and as an Art Director I have, over the years, worked for several reputed national and international brands. From conceptualising, designing, and prototyping profits to curating brand experiences, I have worked across several projects including ad campaigns, websites, user interfaces, brand and visual identity guidelines, apps, product packaging, concept designs, and mentoring talent. As an Art Director, I have taken on increasing levels of responsibility and have proven success in designing and managing campaigns that built engaging and enduring relationships with a diverse set of audiences.
Work Profile
Design Manager, Creative Services - Amazon
Nov 2014 - Present
Hired by Amazon Creative Services/D1 team (Amazon’s internal creative agency. A part of Global Integrated Marketing team) to develop design processes and methodologies for the region, develop skill sets. Was responsible for the initiation of key quality analysis metrics to better streamline the design flow and process and increase user engagement. Played a key role in ensuring collaboration and streamlined access to various internal and external creative teams including marketing, creative, producers, copy-writers, directors, etc. Was a key member of the hiring team that Source-out, Shortlist and Interview potential candidates for Amazon Creative Services
Sr. Art Director - Ogilvy & Mather
Jan 2014 - Nov 2014
Hired by Ogilvy & Mather, Bangalore to conceptualise and create ideas, design process flows, and other creatives (both online and offline) for their clients. Built a multidisciplinary collaboration at a very fast pace, deadline driven environment, working closely with advertising directors, editorial, and production teams. Worked on POS, merchandising, press, outdoor, DM, brochures and digital. Art Directed and designed digital and offline promotional materials including outdoor and print. Undertook 360-degree marketing campaigns featured on social media and was involved in all phases of creative projects from concept to execution.
Sr. Art Director - Saatchi & Saatchi
Jun 2013 - Dec 2013
Hired to develop and art direct advanced visual concepts, themes, and comps for high-impact deliverables and assets.
Lead the development of creative concepts for B2B clients and develop design strategies that align with brand values. Developed clear, concise branding messages by working with the account and strategy teams, copywriters, and the production teams. Drove customer-focused design language in creative briefs, provide art direction for the entire line of online services, and Initiate and lead creative sessions to kick-off projects. Ensured creative quality, consistency, and cohesiveness across all creative executions and continually elevate and innovate custom client solutions that cement the company as a leader in the space
Sr. Executive, Design - Cafe Coffee Day
Jun 2010 - Jun 2013
Hired to work closely with the internal teams to generate and create brand promotional ideas that create and sustain long-term engagement while also matching the business objectives of the organisation. Was responsible for coming up with original creative ideas, including illustrations and infographics. Was responsible for pre and post production quality checks.
Managed and directed photo shoots on time and to budget. Conceptualised, visualised and designed websites, UI for Apps, Marketing collaterals and Brand Identity.
And a few more organisations from Bangalore and Mumbai...
Oct 2005 onwards
Academics
Harmony Styleguide - Home & Kitchen, Amazon
Client: Amazon
Year: 2018 - 2019
Harmony - a new design language for Amazon Home desktop and mobile experience.
Harmony includes a reimagined page structure, navigation, mega menu, filtering style, search results page and more. It incorporates key learnings from customers, considers technical requirements and constraints, and incorporates design principles from the Amazon Home Brand Book. The result is a beautiful, data-driven, scalable design that unifies the Amazon Home shopping experience for the customer.
The Harmony design language was focused on the customer and three tenets - standardize, simplify, and inspire. Equally, it's that Harmony reflects the direction of the Amazon Brand to create a cohesive experience across all channels both online and offline.
Harmony is currently built utilizing existing Amazon page creation widgets, such as; Content Grid, Showcase Billboard, Hero Slideshow, Mega Sub Nav, & Left Nav. However, as we continued to develop the Harmony design, we were confronted with making specific design choices that were not addressed in the Brand Book. Every effort was taken to translate the Brand Book principles into a design that is consistent with UI/UX best-practices and scales well across multiple devices.
Automated vs designer created event pages | Jan ART 2019
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To streamline design standards, practices and procedures of A.in to be in sync with Global guidelines
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Synchronise design elements, patterns, and typography usage for storefront layout creation
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Identified inconsistent design treatment and callouts due to multiple changes and co-branded creatives
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Identified OHL category pages and subcategory pages in IN and NA
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Collaborated with designers/Project Managers of Project Harmony during Seattle visit in 2018
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Undertook multiple in-depth training sessions at various levels and phases
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Undertook best judgemental approach while introducing new features for IN without affecting customer experience
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Be mindful of specific IN customer requirements
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Start design implementation in Dec 2018
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Start testing by February 2019
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Tested Harmony style guide with multiple categories within Amazon Home and Kitchen and identified the following hits and misses.
The OHL team started testing Revised Harmony experience on Home & Kitchen, SA and K&D pages on February 2019 with the following
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Two experiences C (Existing treatment) and T1 (Harmony page) to 50% each.
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Dial-up criteria- OPS to increase or stay flat
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Weblab link: https://weblab.amazon.com/#IN_HARMONY_OHL_192963/
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Weblab duration: as per tool recommendation, else 4 weeks
The test was flat / OPS -ve hence design recommended and initiated the harmony style guide to revise with seasonal themes/colours which are more intuitive for Indian customers. The revised test / proposed designs /themes are based on the major sale/seasons which are Summer, Mansoon, Festive (Diwali) and Winter.
Test’s on OHL - A.in | Home and Kitchen LP - Existing vs Harmony PC
Test’s on OHL - A.in | Home and Kitchen LP - Existing vs Harmony Mobile
Test’s on OHL - A.in | Kitchen and Dining LP - Harmony
Test’s on OHL - A.in | Small appliances (Existing vs Harmony)
Test’s on OHL - A.in | Small appliances (Existing vs Harmony)
Summer color explorations and theme
Mood Board
Lighting
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Ambient lighting
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Not harsh, but soft
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Directional from left to right White
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balanced / Neutral tones Light & soft shadows with depth
Styling & Props
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Indian home with little messy setup
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Clean Background - no wallpaper
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Marble or tile flooring
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Warm and bright interior with windows
Test’s on OHL - A.in | Harmony - India specific seasonal styleguide (Summer)
Metrics:
Abandonment rate: -5.78% probable decrease
CTR: +141% increase
LogOPS: -0.02%, inconclusive
OPS: -0.58%, probable decrease
Test’s on OHL - A.in | Harmony - India specific seasonal style guide (Monsoon)
Mood Board - Lighting
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Ambient lighting
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Soft and dim light
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Directional from left to right
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Cool & Blue tomes
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Light & soft shadows with depth
Styling & Props
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Indian home with little messy setup
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Clean Background - no wallpaper
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Marble or tile flooring
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Gloomy and soft interior with windows
Test’s on OHL - A.in | Harmony - India specific seasonal style guide (Monsoon)
