Ciara Taylor Email & Phone Number

As Chief Creative Officer I provided creative vision, strategy, direction and oversight to all projects while leading creative teams of researchers, visual designers, user experience designers and digital strategists. ▪ Developed and drove overall creative vision, strategy, and direction ensuring alignment with the client needs, goals, and objectives.▪ Set the tone and standards for creative excellence across all client projects and guided the creative team in delivering innovative and impactful solutions.▪ Built and maintained strong client relationships, acting as a trusted creative advisor, and proactively identifying opportunities for their business. ▪ Collaborated closely with clients to understand their business goals and objectives, and provided strategic creative direction that met their needs and exceeded their expectations.▪ Led the creative team in conceptualizing and executing exceptional campaigns and designs across various mediums, including print, digital, and experiential.▪ Stayed up to date with industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices to infuse innovation and creativity into the company practice while driving continuous improvement and optimization in day-to-day operations.▪ Mentored and inspired the creative team, fostering a collaborative and inclusive environment, empowering team members to unleash their full creative potential.

As Chief Experience Officer I built, led and empowered an in-house creative team to differentiate and evolve two cannabis brands - Cream of the Crop Gardens and West Coast Trading Company - in California. COTC achieved 7th best flower brand and 18th best selling overall brand in 2023.▪ Oversaw all product experience, customer experience, and employee experience. ▪ Built an in-house creative team of visual designers, social media managers, and marketing strategists. ▪ Provided brand strategy, creative direction, and support on implementation.▪ Led the creative team through rebrand initiatives for both BTG brands: Cream of the Crop Gardens and West Coast Trading Company. ▪ Worked closely with the CEO and COO on defining the product strategy, product roadmap, and on specialty product development for both BTG brands: Cream of the Crop Gardens and West Coast Trading Company. ▪ Established processes for the creative team to operate efficiently as a small team in a fast-paced environment. ▪ Collaborated with other business units throughout the company to establish cross departmental standard operating procedures for employee experience, product experience, and customer experience in a highly regulated market. ▪ Coordinated with the sales team and retail stores on marketing initiatives and product rollouts in the digital and physical spaces to drive brand sales throughout the state of California.

Chicago, Il

As a freelance consultant, I collaborated with clients in startups and academia to create gameful, engaging and ethics-based experiences to drive behavior change. ▪Defined business strategies, processes and offerings for freelance consulting. ▪Identified new opportunities through research, outreach and networking to build my client base. ▪Conducted workshops fostering inclusion and collaboration to ensure all stakeholder’s voices were heard while facilitating alignment on business goals, strategies and potential solutions. ▪Collaborated with clients and multi-disciplinary teams to design gameful, motivational and impactful digital experiences in heath, wellness, financial services and education.▪Guided and reported to clients throughout the project lifecycle from research and inception to implementation and beyond.

▪ Successfully developed and implemented internal design thinking and research methodologies for a fast-paced startup environment. ▪ Identified critical opportunities in the operations workflow and addressed improvements through cross functional team collaboration, experience design and communications. ▪ Influenced the digital experience while advocating for robots and drone pilots in the Uplift Pilot Network.

Chicago, Il

▪ Led the creation and execution of a new brand identity and ensured a consistent and effective brand message across all channels, digital and physical. ▪ Planned, budgeted and oversaw the logistics and direction of the brand, content and design strategy based on market and design research, brand values and anticipated future trends in the drone technology industry.

Greater Boston Area

Managed and mentored a team of Behavior Change Experience Designers and Behavior Change Analysts. Collaborated with clients and led project teams to design experiences which facilitate change and human flourishing in healthcare, financial services and education. Participated in the design community as an active thought leader focusing on ethics in design and gameful design as a tool for behavior change.

Boston

Provided behavior change and gameful design expertise to support the design and development of meaningful experiences, services and campaigns aimed at improving health, wealth and wellbeing. Led project teams to design best in class products for a diverse group of clients, ranging from startups to Fortune 500’s. Collaborated with colleagues and clients throughout the project lifecycle from research and inception to implementation and beyond.

Greater Boston Area

Researched and explored new methods of engagement through elements of play in behavior change games. Contributed to further developing the behavior change process and how gameful design fits into that process. Collaborated with clients and cross-disciplinary teams to design gameful, motivational and impactful digital experiences in heath, wellness, finances and education.

Reported and photographed local and international design events focusing on emerging ideas in the object design, design research and interaction design communities. Published articles addressing common themes and how they related to larger trends in design.

Supported the chair and co-chair of the IxD13 planning committee as Communications Lead. Assembled, lead and contributed to a team that launched a campaign of digital marketing, social media, print and digital content for the IxDA Interaction13 conference in Toronto.

Chicago, Il

Spearheaded the production of blog content, social media efforts and content strategy to initiate a digital marketing strategy. Led editorial planning, content management and copy development, while researching and developing new ways to create community engagement.

Spazio Rossana Orlandi In Milan, Italy

Explored the idea of 'achievements' as a form of currency through an interactive game played by attendees of LOADED, a design exhibition in Milan, Italy. I designed my game, Ding!, during an intense, two-semester design studio directed by professors in the department of Architecture, Interior Architecture, and Designed Objects (AIADO) at SAIC.

Hoffman Estates, Il

Identified and proposed a new brand opportunity in soft home, designed products for the new brand, and positioned the new brand in Sears’ brand stack while collaborating with the trend, brand, packaging, and design teams.

Atlanta, Georgia

Planned the opening of a new location, grew the store’s business by developing and executing local marketing strategies, hiring and training reliable staff, maintaining an expanding customer base, and keeping the store adequately supplied while adhering to a strict budget.

Bfa, Designed Objects

Relevant coursework includes: Intro to Designed Objects, Designed Objects Studio 1: Design for Play, Form, Intermediate Designed Objects.

Education record

Relevant coursework included: 2-D Design, Drawing 1, 3-D Design, and Drawing 2