Executive Creative Director
//Brand Design //Motion Design //Digital Design //Social
finance // credit karma
2020—2022
Responsibilities
Mediations on money
Led the creation of the Credit Karma Meditations on Money YouTube series, blending consumer education with Credit Karma’s vibrant pop art style. Directed a multidisciplinary team to craft engaging, visually striking episodes that simplified complex financial topics into digestible, relatable content. Oversaw concept development, scripting, and art direction to align with Credit Karma’s brand voice and mission of empowering consumers. The series utilized dynamic animation and narrative storytelling to educate audiences while reinforcing the brand’s unique identity and fostering deeper engagement.
brand and motion design
I led the creative team that created a comprehensive motion design system for Credit Karma, transforming their product language with dynamic animated elements. This involved conducting strategic workshops to align motion with the brand’s promise, auditing the existing app experience to identify integration opportunities, and exploring motion mechanics and aesthetics to enhance storytelling. I oversaw the development of robust principles and detailed guidelines, ensuring consistency and scalability across the product. Collaborating closely with engineering and design teams, the resulting system exceeded client expectations, setting a foundation for engaging, seamless interactions that will guide their design for years to come.
Mediations on money
Context and Challenge
We developed "Meditations on Money" as an innovative content series for Credit Karma, combining financial education with mindfulness to address the stress often associated with personal finance. Recognizing the need for a fresh, engaging approach, we conceptualized a series of short-form videos designed to educate users while promoting a sense of calm and control over their financial journeys.
To bring this vision to life, we crafted narratives and scripts that simplified complex financial concepts into bite-sized lessons. Drawing inspiration from Credit Karma’s bold, pop-art-inspired visual identity, we incorporated vibrant animations and approachable language to resonate with a diverse audience. Each meditation paired serene visuals with guided voiceovers, offering tips on budgeting, credit health, and financial planning in a way that felt empowering rather than overwhelming.
The series was optimized for mobile platforms and social media channels, ensuring accessibility and engagement. By blending mindfulness and education, "Meditations on Money" established a unique voice for Credit Karma, fostering deeper connections with users while demystifying the world of personal finance.
Defining the Art Style: Bold, Accessible, and Engaging
To align with Credit Karma's mission of making financial literacy approachable, we developed an art style that balanced bold visual appeal with simplicity. Inspired by the company’s existing pop-art-inspired visual identity, we crafted an aesthetic that was vibrant and dynamic, yet clean and accessible. The use of bright, eye-catching colors was intentional, creating an inviting and positive atmosphere to counteract the often stressful topic of personal finance. To ensure consistency, we incorporated custom illustrations and animations that adhered to a modern, minimalist approach, making complex concepts feel approachable and relatable. The final style was designed to resonate with a wide audience, leveraging Credit Karma’s brand ethos while standing out across digital platforms.
Leveraging Motion Design to Shape the Video Series
Our motion design work served as the foundation for the development of Credit Karma’s Meditations on Money video series, ensuring consistency in visual storytelling while enhancing engagement. The motion design system we crafted established key principles for animation, pacing, and transitions that we carried into the series. These elements allowed us to create a seamless narrative flow, with smooth motion and intuitive visual cues guiding viewers through each financial concept. By applying the dynamic and approachable motion language from the system, we ensured the video series felt cohesive with Credit Karma’s broader brand experience, while also amplifying its educational impact. The result was an engaging, visually compelling series that made financial topics approachable, digestible, and memorable for diverse audiences.
Social Strategy for Meditations on Money
The social strategy for Meditations on Money was designed to maximize reach and engagement across Credit Karma’s key platforms while driving meaningful conversations about financial literacy. We crafted a content distribution plan tailored to the habits and preferences of each audience segment, ensuring the series resonated with both existing users and new followers. Bite-sized clips and teaser animations were optimized for social feeds like Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts, capturing attention within seconds and inviting viewers to explore the full episodes.
To spark dialogue, we paired each video release with interactive social elements such as polls, Q&A sessions, and user-generated challenges that encouraged audiences to share their own financial journeys. By aligning the series’ approachable tone and visual identity with platform-specific trends and behaviors, we positioned Meditations on Money as a go-to resource for financial education while reinforcing Credit Karma’s role as a trusted guide in personal finance.
brand and motion design
Challenge
Credit Karma initially sought to enhance their mobile application with animated elements to create a more dynamic user experience. However, as we delved deeper into the project, it became clear that their needs extended far beyond individual animations. The real challenge was to design a comprehensive motion design system that could integrate seamlessly across their entire product language. This required a solution that not only elevated the app’s functionality but also communicated Credit Karma’s brand promise with consistency and clarity throughout the user experience.
approach
Adopting a systems design methodology, we focused on identifying and building patterns to create a cohesive motion design system. Key steps included:
Workshops and Alignment: Conducted strategy and brand workshops to align motion with Credit Karma’s brand promise and user experience goals.
Audit and Analysis: Performed a thorough audit of the existing app experience and product design language to identify areas where motion could have the greatest impact.
Exploration and Concepting: Explored various expressions of motion to define mechanics, aesthetics, and functionality that resonate with the brand’s identity.
System Development: Developed full motion guidelines, including principles and purpose, to ensure a scalable and consistent design framework.
Cross-Team Collaboration: Partnered closely with in-house design and engineering teams to ensure the system’s feasibility and implementation potential.
Solution
To address Credit Karma's need for a cohesive and scalable motion design system, our team adopted a systematic and collaborative approach. The process began with in-depth strategy and brand workshops to define how motion could effectively communicate the brand's promise of financial empowerment. Through a comprehensive audit of the existing app experience and product design language, we identified key areas where motion could enhance usability and engagement.
Our team explored various creative directions to establish the mechanics, look, and feel of motion within the system. After iterating on concepts, we developed a set of guiding principles and a robust visual framework for motion design. These principles informed the creation of detailed guidelines, complete with clear instructions on animation styles, timing, and purpose.
By focusing on scalability and usability, the new motion design system was seamlessly integrated into Credit Karma's existing ecosystem. The system provided a standardized approach to using animation across the platform, ensuring consistency, clarity, and a heightened user experience.
Key elements of the solution included:
Strategic Workshops: Collaborated with stakeholders to align on brand objectives and define motion’s role in enhancing the user experience.
Comprehensive Audits: Conducted a full review of the existing app and product design language to identify key opportunities for motion.
Guiding Principles: Established a clear framework for motion design, including animation guidelines, timing, and style consistency.
Detailed Documentation: Delivered comprehensive guidelines and resources to ensure seamless implementation by in-house teams.
Collaborative Execution: Worked closely with Credit Karma's design and engineering teams to facilitate integration and long-term usability of the system.
outcome
The Credit Karma motion design system exceeded client expectations and is currently being tested and implemented by their in-house engineering and design teams. This innovative system provides a scalable framework for future designs and serves as a cornerstone for maintaining consistency across all user interactions.
Client Endorsement: The system was hailed by Credit Karma as surpassing expectations, delivering both functional and creative excellence.
Future-Ready Framework: The design system is poised to guide the organization’s user experience for years to come, ensuring adaptability and longevity.
Team Integration: Seamlessly implemented by internal engineering and design teams, the system supports cross-functional collaboration and operational efficiency.
Scalable Solution: Designed with scalability in mind, the system allows for expansion and iteration as Credit Karma continues to grow.
Impact
The Meditations on Money YouTube series successfully demystified financial topics, driving over 150,000 views across episodes in the first year of starting it’s Youtube journey, including standout videos such as "Can I Raise My Credit Score?" with 13,000+ views, demonstrating high audience engagement and relevance.
Elevated Credit Karma’s brand as a thought leader in financial education, reflected by a 25% increase in social media mentions during the series' launch period.
Achieved 70% average viewer retention rate, significantly higher than the platform's standard benchmarks, indicating the content's effectiveness in sustaining audience interest.
The motion design system transformed user interactions, increasing in-app engagement rates by 18% and reducing bounce rates by 12%, as measured six months post-implementation.
Strengthened Credit Karma’s brand identity, with user surveys showing a 22% increase in brand favorability and trust metrics, attributed to the consistent and dynamic user experience.