What a journey this has been
I Graduated with a B.S in Graphic Design in San Francisco
In 2011, I graduated at The Art Institute of California-San Francisco with a Bachelors of Science in Graphic Design. My formal degree was in print design and general graphic design.
Early career: Graphic design for fashion and beauty
Coming out of college I specialized in designing for beauty and fashion. I interned at The Balm Cosmsetics , and a lucky portfolio review helped me land my first job as a jr. contract designer at Sephora.
I spent the first 3 years of my career designing both digital and print marketing for fashion and beauty companies like Sephora, Benefit Cosmetics, Charlotte Russe, and Sears.
This time in my life was spent learning everything from how to meet deadlines, receive and learn from feedback, design within strict brand guidelines, develop concepts for physical in-store window displays, and so much more.
Freelancing
I started freelancing while in college and continued to help small businesses build their brands and websites along side my full time work.
Learning product design
I started the next chapter of my career by joining Coco, an early stage chatting App startup. It was there that I learned what it meant to work fast, and learn all the technical skills of designing for a phone from sketching, designing, all the way to redlining and QA. From there I spent two years designing tools and features for Babycenter.
November 2016 – present ( 3+ years and counting)
TURO | SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Lead product designer
Lead the design of multiple high-impact projects, successfully on-boarded and mentored new designers, contributed to the component library with new UI patterns, lead and collaborated various vision projects that served as inspiration and influencing factors on the 2020 roadmap.
My key contributions:
Pricing
Increased adoption of Automatic Pricing model by 10% and improved booking conversion with pricing display improvements.
Developed the vision of a better booking funnel with more pricing transparency.
Host quality
Increased share of 5-star reviews (guests given to hosts) by 5%
Designed the all-star host program to educate and incentivize hosts to strive to give guests 5-star service
How acquisition and activation
Increased conversion from pre-listing to listing flow by x%
Reduced cancellations through careful guidance and added information int he listing flow
Turo go
Designed an intuitive telematics controls view for turo go hosts
Created a researched-backed on-boarding experience for hosts using Turo go
“…She tackled some of the companies toughest UX problems and shipped compelling work. Loretta works with a high level of curiosity and determination to get to the root of the problem. Her perseverance is one I would constantly be impressed with, and I look back our time working together fondly. …”
October 2014 – October 2016 (2 years)
BABYCENTER | SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Contract Senior UX Designer
BabyCenter, a daughter company of Johnson and Johnson, is dedicated to giving timely knowledge and support to parents and parents-to-be on their journey through their pregnancy and into parenthood. I designed for the mobile apps team and the website community forum team.
My accomplishments included:
Modernizing the app
Re-launched our flagship app with a massive re-design and re-structure
From concept to completion, I participated in every step of the redesign including sketching, wires, prototyping, testing, UX and UI, documentation for developers, and asset hand off
Increased the “life span” of usage by combining the pregnancy and baby apps into one app
Collaborated with the Art Director on modernizing the look and feel of the app
Re-designed the tools tab and implemented a new visual iconography into the app
Defined the transition from pregnancy to parent experience user flow
Increasing value for users and revenue for the business
Designed useful sponsored tools for pregnancy and baby
Contaction timer
Birth Preferences Tool
Bumpie Photo Stickers
Is it safe tool
Baby Feeding Guide
Baby memories tool and stickers
“Loretta is an exceptional user experience designer, and I enjoyed working with her these past two years. Loretta is passionate about tackling design challenges and produces quality work quickly. She is a keen observer during usability tests, identifying not only the pain points but also coming up with creative and elegant solutions. She is professional, responsible, and communicates well with other team members.”
April 2014 – September 2014 (6 months)
COCO inc. | SAN FRANCISCO, CA
UX Designer
Coco was a young start up app that allows users to connect with people all over the world through chat forums, one on one messaging, and voice calling. While there, I re-designed several screens of the app, created new features, and implemented a stickers section.
My accomplishments included:
Designed UX/UI for various screens in the app
Created concepts for the in-line reply feature for android
Designed a monsters sticker pack
Created a sticker creation reference doc for freelance sticker artists
Collaborated on the re-design of the app with wireframes.
” … She’s talented, hungry to learn, open to sharing, experienced in leading projects and skilled at maintaining her positive personality under pressure. Her growth was exciting to witness and I look forward to seeing where her skills lead her.”
– Marek Szeszycki, Art Director
See full recommendation on linkedin
October 2012 – March 2014 (1 year 5 months)
SEARS HOLDINGS | CHICAGO, IL
Contract Visual Designer
Sears is a large chain of department stores, known for their home appliances and tools. They are less known for their clothing and apparel. I worked on the searsStyle team, a fashion editorial team dedicated to reaching young millennials and increasing their consideration to buy at sears through their weekly fashion blog.
My responsibilities included:
Designed SearsStyle fashion blog graphics
Designed the new Kardashian Email template
Art Directed and produced photography for searsStyle and searsStyle 2.0
Spring 2013 Sweet Sorbet issue
Fall 2013 Denim issue
Compiled a competitor analysis of retail web shopping experiences for internal research
“She methodically approaches each project with careful thought and asks all the right questions assuring a good understanding of the goal and client need. […] She’s self-starter, excellent communicator and a valuable team player…”
– Michelle Hierzer, Art Director
See full recommendation on linkedin
July 2012 – October 2012 (4 months)
GA COMMUNICATION GROUP | CHICAGO, IL
Contract Visual Designer
GA communication was a medium sized design agency that specialized in clients in the medical industry. While there, I worked under the Art Director on the Obagi account. While there, I designed creative for a multi-stage ambassador program marketing campaign.
“…Unintimidated by the large number of moving parts, she made herself extremely useful owning the design components to the project. Her cheerful attitude and independent work ethic make her a wonderful addition to any team.”
– Maia Lewis, Art Director See full recommendation on linkedin
February 2012 – June 2012 (5 months)
CHARLOTTE RUSSE | SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Contract Visual Designer
Charlotte Russe is a clothing retailer for fashion-forward teenage girls. I was hired on the marketing team to design weekly emails and concept window displays.
My key contributions:
Designed creative for weekly email campaigns.
Supported in the ideation of window displays concepts
Compiled a competitive analysis for the Charlotte Russe re-brand.
Key learnings:
How to create effective mood boards
How to design for a physical space
“…Her enthusiasm, creativity, drive, along with her ability to fearlessly jump into any project and proactively solve with out-of-the-box thinking, made her both a huge asset to the team and a real joy to work with. I valued her ability to brainstorm big concepts but also meticulously execute all the fine details, all within tight timing constraints….”
– Nancy Ogami, Art Director See full recommendation on linkedin
August 2011 – December 2011 (5 months)
BENEFIT COSMETICS | SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Contract Graphic Designer
Benefit Cosmetics is a San Francisco based cosmetics company, known for their cheeky voice and vintage inspired visuals. While there, I worked on the In-house creative services team.
My responsibilities and contributions:
Created POP displays from agency created artwork
Designed various print collateral, banners, signage, and counter decals
Created a motion graphics animation for the Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow Launch party
Key Learnings
How to adhere to and innovate within brand guidelines
Preparing files for print and working with vendors
July 2011 – August 2011 (2 months)
SEPHORA | SAN FRANCISCO, CA
Contract Jr. Designer
Sephora is a large cosmetic retailer, known for their sleek and sophisticated look. I was brought in to assist on the website marketing team. My main responsibilities were production art for weekly beauty ads on the Sephora website.
Key learnings:
multi-tasking and meeting fast deadlines
Working with remote stakeholders
file organization