Hey,
I’m Caroline.

Thanks for visiting my portfolio! My passions outside of design include playing disc golf, coaching girls soccer and lacrosse, hiking, cheering on the Sounders, and generally being outside. I’m also huge on sketching and painting with watercolors in my 3”x 5” pocket sketchbook that goes everywhere with me. Read on to learn about me as a designer.

This photo is of me and Pia the Peacekeeper by Thomas Dambo.
(I’m a big fan of his work and mission)

CORE VALUES

These are the essential rules that guide my design practice.

  • Know the "Why"

    Do everything with a purpose. Ideas for ideas’ sake are distracting. Reasoning, vision, and clarity of purpose are our greatest assets in the age of AI.

  • Champion the User

    It starts with empathy. Learn everything you can about the users. Prioritize them in each step and through every decision. When possible, talk to them, observe them, and co-design with them.

  • Do nothing in a vacuum

    Collaborate in context. Ideas get better when bounced off several brains. Most solutions don’t live on a 4k monitor. Explore and evaluate ideas in the relevant medium, format, use case, headspace, and time frame.

I’m an ambitious designer with a broad skill set.

I’ve spent the last 3 years designing products and experiences at Paper Crane Factory, serving as a widely-versed design consultant for our clients, all of which are startups. I lead UX/UI, product design and CAD visualization, and contribute on website design and branding efforts for many of the brands that come through the studio. I am a key contributing member on a small team who understands how to use design to build value for our young startup partners with ambitious business goals.

Before joining Paper Crane Factory, I earned my Industrial Design degree from the nationally ranked College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning at the University of Cincinnati, where I pursued a well-rounded design skillset fit for any industry. I designed for aerospace, medical, soft goods, office and school supplies, and UX/UI industries in five co-op positions on in-house teams and at consultancies.

Every new domain and challenge excites me. I am a natural problem solver who both engages teams in blue sky ideation and can buckle down and consider every detail in the execution phase. My experience in a wide breadth of industries allows me to approach design problems with the bigger picture in mind. If you’re looking for the next designer to reinvigorate your product or brand and impact your business, I’d love to connect.

Process

Although design is never a linear process, I approach projects with this double diamond path in mind. I find it helpful to envision the phases in this way, alternating between expansion (ideas, knowledge, concepts) and contraction (focus, down-selection, distillation).