PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

Senior design leader with 20+ years of experience building and mentoring high-performing creative teams at both the agency and enterprise level. Proven ability to connect brand strategy and UX/UI design, and product strategy to drive measurable business results.

Design System Leadership: Guided the development and implementation of the AT&T digital design system, unifying a fragmented design environment across sales, service, and support. This created a single source of truth for all digital products. 

Team & Creative Leadership: Directed a multi-disciplinary UX, design, and content team of 30+ designers and writers to execute major product launches and event marketing campaigns.

Agency & Brand Strategy: Founded and grew a successful design agency for 11 years, securing and leading award-winning brand identity, packaging design, and marketing programs for clients like The Bellevue Collection, Sahale Snacks, and Doubleback Winery.

CORE COMPETENCES & SKILLS 

  • Design & Prototyping: Figma, Adobe Creative Suite

  • Strategy: Brand Strategy, Product Strategy, UX/UI Design, Design Thinking, Creative Concepting

  • Leadership: Team Building & Mentorship, Stakeholder Management, Agency Relations, Client Strategy

  • Design Operations: UX Governance, Design Standards, Process Improvement, Project Management

  • Languages: Conversational Japanese

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Kendall designstudio | 2024 – present

Principal & Creative Director

Providing end-to-end brand strategy and creative direction, leading projects from initial market positioning and concept design through to final development and production.

  • Currently leading brand strategy and identity development for two large-scale real estate clients: a new 80+ acre mixed-use retail/residential tribal development and a new high-end senior residential brand.

  • Directed the complete design and implementation of environmental graphics and wayfinding systems for a revitalized community park and a mid-century Modern church, establishing a new, accessible identity for visitors and members.

  • Launched multiple CPG brands designed to capture niche markets, creating the complete brand identity, naming, and packaging for a Swedish toddler health food, a high-performance adventure food bar, and a boldly positioned line of seeds and nuts.

AT&T | 2014 – 2024

Principal, UX Design, Digital Design & User Experience

  • Led the digital design standards team to define and build a unified digital design system and content strategy, consolidating fragmented standards into a single source of truth to drive product design consistency.

  • Established key UX governance programs for the AT&T UX Center of Excellence, creating and executing the first formal training curriculum and best-practice guides to align all internal teams and external agency partners.

  • Provided end-to-end creative direction (branding, video, marketing, and event experience) for high-visibility executive events, including the AT&T Technology Kick-off.

AT&T | 2012 – 2014

Creative Director, Creative eXperience Team

  • Led a 30+ person, multi-disciplinary UX/UI and content team responsible for executing all digital advertising, social media marketing, and product launch creative.

  • Established the first agency oversight team and centralized design system, developing the training and best practices to align all agency partners with AT&T's digital standards.

  • Authored the foundational Global Language for User Experiences (GLUE), the documentation defining AT&T's design philosophy, and created campaign playbooks to standardize creative strategy for marketing launches.

Kendall Ross Brand Development & Design | 06.2000 – 12.2011

Principal and Creative Director

  • Founded, built, and managed all operations of a successful brand design agency for 11 years, leading all creative, new business development, and client strategy.

  • Directed the end-to-end creative development for an award-winning portfolio of brand identities, packaging, and advertising for luxury, retail, and consumer brands.

  • Designed and built a custom online digital asset and project management tool to provide clients with real-time project visibility and review capabilities.

TEACHING & MENTORSHIP 

Adjunct Instructor — Design | 1995 – present

  • Develop and teach curricula focused on design thinking, creative concepting, UX design, typography, and professional practices for designers. 

  • Institutions include, School of Visual Concepts, Cornish College of the Arts, University of Washington, and the Rhode Island School of Design.

  • Serve as a frequent panelist, design mentor, and guest critic for reviews and presentations.

EDUCATION

Rhode Island School of Design

  • Master of Fine Art, summa cum laude

  • Thesis studies focused on signs, symbols and mark-making; the influence of the hand and tools on the formation of meaningful marks and how typographic structure influences and affects meaning and communication. Served as art director for Visible Language, a scholarly design research publication.

University of Washington

  • Bachelor of Fine Art, Graphic Design

  • Studies emphasized visual problem solving, programmatic design, identity systems, visualization, information theory, typography, exhibit and publication design. Participated in design seminars with Nihon College of Design and served as student assistant to the program.

  • Bachelor of Art, Japanese Language & Literature

  • Studies emphasized Japanese proficiency in addition to analyzing and interpreting Japanese literature to understand the history, culture, and context.

Nihon Diagaku, School of Art, Tokyo

  • Fine Art Exchange Program

  • Foreign exchange program studying Japanese, art, and design.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

  • American Institute of Graphic Arts: Member, Board Member & Vice-President (1999 – 2003); Co-director, Into the Woods creative conference; Volunteer & Workshop Facilitator, LINK Program

  • UW Professional & Continuing Education: Advisory Board, UX & Visual Interface Design

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