About Sara Cannon: Birmingham-Based Product Designer

Professional Experience

Sara Cannon Studios (2020 – Present)

Founder & Principal Designer:
Specializing in accessible, impactful digital experiences blending creativity with strategic branding and design. I work on a variety of design, UX, and branding projects, crafting websites and identities that are visually compelling and inclusive.

Notable Clients:

• 15/10 Foundation: Created impactful branding and web designs to support shelter dogs in need.
• CUNY Academic Commons: Led a redesign project focused on improving usability and accessibility for this academic collaboration platform.
• LifeTutors: Refreshed their branding and created a new modern web presence.
• CUNY Open Press: Designed strategic branding for CUNY's new press arm site design.

Automattic Special Projects (Jun 2020 – Jan 2024)

Contract Web Designer:
As a design consultant, I collaborated with individuals and brands within the Automattic ecosystem to deliver custom WordPress designs and cohesive branding solutions, with a strong emphasis on accessibility for various high-profile clients.

Notable Clients:

• Brodo: Conducted a color contrast audit for the gourmet broth company, focusing on accessibility best practices.
• WeRateDogs: Worked on various sections of the site including a dog portal and e-commerce pages, enhancing the user experience through a clean, accessible interface.
• Boreta: Created a visually compelling website that helped Boreta showcase his creativity and music.
• Tressie McMillian Cottom: Designed a personal site that reflects Tressie’s academic and literary work.
  
• Rooted In Rights: Transformed their online presence with new designs that focus on accessibility.

Conserv (Oct 2019 – Feb 2020)

Chief Experience Officer (CXO)
Conserv is a platform designed to monitor and protect cultural heritage through environmental data collection and analysis. As Chief Experience Officer, I led the design of the software, enhancing user interfaces, improving workflows, and creating intuitive visualizations. I also developed responsive marketing materials and websites, focusing on a seamless user experience and product functionality. This helped Conserv provide effective solutions for preserving cultural institutions' environmental data.

Product Design: My focus was on creating user-friendly interfaces for managing sensor data and workflows. I also collaborated on mapping the user journey, and designed a tailored website and marketing materials. My goal was to ensure a seamless, cohesive user experience, from data visualization to checkout, helping users interact effectively with Conserv's innovative tools for collections care.

Bloc (Sep 2017 – Feb 2020)

Design Mentor
Provided mentorship to aspiring designers in Bloc’s Design & UX Bootcamp, offering advice and critiques to guide students toward becoming skilled, professional designers.

Art Processors (Oct 2018 – Aug 2019)

Design Lead
Art Processors is an experiential design consultancy specializing in rich, immersive museum visitor experiences. I have worked on projects such as Branding, Website Design, Audio Guide Design and UX for the Getty Museum, Gallery Mockups, User Experience Mapping, and proposal Design for the Museum of the Future in Dubai.

Range (May 2012 – Oct 2017)

Founder, Managing Partner, & Creative Director
As Managing Partner and Creative Director at Range, I led a talented team in delivering exceptional digital solutions. I oversaw project strategy, creative direction, and client relationships, ensuring our work aligned with clients’ goals and brand identities. My focus was on crafting accessible, user-focused designs, while also driving innovation in WordPress development and branding. Collaborating with clients like Disney Publishing, Flickr, Birmingham Museum of Art, Architecture Works, and Elad Gil, I guided the creative process from concept to execution, delivering impactful and technically robust digital experiences.

WordPress Core Contributor (2011 - 2012)

I contributed to the WordPress Open Source Project working with the Design Team

Scout Branding Company (Oct 2007 - Jan 2012)

Interaction Designer & Developer
At Scout, I was the technical lead for web design and development. I designed and developed websites (even Flash ones!), managed contractors, presented concepts, and worked on brand development. Clients include Mannington Residential, Alagasco, Baptist Health Systems, Trek Birmingham, Christian & Small, Clarus Consulting, Marketry, and Oasis Counseling for Women and Children.

WilbanksElam (Apr 2006 - Oct 2007)

Graphic Designer 
WilbanksElam was a PR Firm where I worked on branding, graphics, print, website design and development, and video editing. Clients included BE&K, Magic Moments, The Lakeshore Foundation, and Cocina.

Kinetic Communications (May 2003 - August 2003)

Web Design & Development InternGraphic Designer 
As an intern in 2003 I was amazed at how the internet worked. CSS was new and all inline. Here I learned the fundamentals of web design in a professional setting and updated html files for clients.

Education

Samford University: Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA), Concentration in Graphic Design