A hands-on, senior-level creative with over 20 years experience in agency creative, experience design, and distributed product teams — filtering the complex into meaningful connections with brands, products and their stories.
From the beginnings of the internet, I’ve launched campaigns, companies, products, and gone through more evolutions in technology than I can remember. But I believe that the solutions still lead to the same goal — connect people to what matters to them and turn them into brand advocates. Whether print or emerging technologies, my biggest strength lies in streamlining large amounts of information into driving ideas, solutions and brand love.
Working in this field for the past 20 years, I’ve learned that while technology, trends and media rapidly change, the working friendships forged with my clients, agencies and in-house teams have been the key to finding those ‘game changing’ solutions. I live for creating those meaningful connections and experiences — with brands, with products, with people —while challenging the status quo and driving disruption. This is my approach in both my working relationships and design thinking: people first, product second.
skillset
Creative // creative strategy, brand development, integrated marketing strategies, information architecture, prototyping, UX & UI, traditional print, prototyping, visual design, Illustration, copywriting, advertising campaigns, hands-on design & production
Management // creative direction, design thinking workshop practitioner, project & team management, art direction, team building, mentorship, creative workflow process
Sectors // enterprise solutions, product software, cryptocurrency, SaaS, higher education, healthcare & pharmaceutical, retail, entertainment, technology, start-ups, non-profit
Channels // digital, direct, print, brand, video, social, experiential, email, b2c, b2b
Technology // Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite, Invision, Slack, Basecamp, CSS, HTML, WordPress, Keynote
experience
Creative Director / SE Region Experience Design Lead
Avanade Raleigh, NC January 2019 – present
Creative Director and Experience Design Lead for the Avanade Raleigh Digital Studio, as well as the Southeast regional XD lead for various teams and projects in the Atlanta, NYC, and Chicago (midwest region) studios. Leading XD talent community and product development teams with a human-centered mindset implementing Microsoft software innovation and their emerging technologies for Fortune 500 companies. This includes a wide gamut of best practice design solutions— from workplace experience, data visualization, product dashboards, digital marketing, mixed reality (AR + VR), UX & usability testing, and UI design. Responsible for assisting and shaping market offerings for business development teams, pitch presentations to clients, team scoping and cost proposals, XD integration solutioning, recruiting and mentoring talent (outreach), and providing holistic creative direction for Fortune 500 companies on both a large scale and granular levels for XD.
KEY CLIENTS
SeaWorld, McDonald’s, Lenovo, SeaWorld, Syneos Health, Carnival Cruise Line
Principal / Creative Director
Petrie Creative Raleigh, NC 2004 – 2018
Strategic branding, creative direction, integrated marketing, UI / UX design and design services for higher education, disruptive technologies, remotely distributed teams, SaaS companies, and start-ups. Worked as a creative strategy consultant for agencies and technology companies on XD and branding best practice integration, as well as team leadership for their in-house departments.
KEY CLIENTS
Buildcoin Foundation, NC State University, Golden Corral, Phononic, ViiMed, Duke University, Triangle AMA
AGENCIES
McKinney, Walk West, T3 Advertising, Howard Merrell, Rella:Cowan, Mellonaid, Drumroll Media
KEY PROJECTS
BuildCoin Foundation 2018
Identity, branding, infographics and website for this emerging cryptocurrency and blockchain non-profit, domiciled out of Zug, Switzerland, whose aim is to accelerate strategic infrastructure and construction projects globally. Led creative, research, strategy and design for the foundation’s partner companies (CG/LA and OpCenter) and their marketing teams. Established brand and product trust in an unproven market space —which resulted in a partnership with the government of Sao Paulo, Brazil to complete feasibility studies for lighting projects in 30+ municipalities. buildcoinfoundation.org
ViiMed (SaaS) Company Rebrand 2017
Worked remotely with the ViiMed marketing team in Washington D.C. to rebrand and relaunch their identity, create a comprehensive brand guide, and redesign digital and printed marketing materials and visual design for their SaaS product release —in preparation for their next round of funding. petriecreative.com/portfolio/viimed
Consultant — Creative & UX Strategy
Walk West Marketing Raleigh, NC 2017
Creative Strategy Lead for XD, research and creative direction on digital branding / UX— competitive research and feasibility of solutions, authoring creative briefs and strategy documents, client meetings, creative presentations, hands-on design in Sketch, UI prototyping, copywriting, and mentorship of the design and UX team members.
KEY PROJECTS
InMotionNow (SaaS) Creative Strategy / Website Rebrand / Product UX
Hands-on UI/UX design and production with a strategy shift to personalization of user-paths and product relevance to personas. Conducted a full competitive analysis, established brand visual concepts and streamlined messaging. Two months after launch: 43% increase in organic referrals, 11% increase in session duration, 11% increase in conversion KPIs, 6.6% decrease in bounce rate. petriecreative.com/inmotionnow
Fayetteville Tech (HigherEd) Creative Strategy / Website Rebrand / 2017-18
Creative Direction, strategy briefs on redefining the online experience / messaging of ‘community college’ for this 45K student enrolled school. Rebrand and website design focused on personalization of persona pathways, increased engagement.
Acting Creative Director
Mellonaid Agency Raleigh, NC 2013 – 2015
Head of Creative — leading strategic vision, development and management of creative department process and strategy. Rebranded and relaunched the agency’s identity, brand esthetic, visual language and messaging. Early adopter of Sketch app and Sketch on-boarding into their prototyping and UI process. Sector focus on disruptive technologies, product naming, and start-ups for Phononic, MedFusion, Rex Healthcare, and Stop Hunger Now.
KEY PROJECTS
Phononic (Product) Software / Hardware Product Launch
Creative direction and design of launch marketing materials, company brand standards, and UI software / hardware interfacing for this disruptive technology company. petriecreative.com/phononic
Senior Interactive Art Director
T3 Advertising
2003 – 2004 Onsite in Austin, TX
2004 – 2006 Remotely for NYC Office
Leading and managing national multi-channel digital campaigns, and advertising projects at a large, fast-paced agency environment for Dell SMB, Ingenix / i3 Research, JC Penney, Universal Studios Florida, Courtyard Marriott, and the Wall Street Journal.
KEY CLIENTS / PROJECTS
Dell SMB (Small to Medium Business)
Led the account for Dell’s SMB global digital advertising campaigns online. Redefined their global product photography library, and worked with the development team to push the boundaries of new media with flash and cross-talk digital ads.
Courtyard Marriott
Worked remotely with the NYC office on gameplay design and UX for a microsite that targeted business class engagement.
Wall Street Journal
Execution of the WSJ’s “Every Journey Needs a Journal” campaign into engaging interactive digital ads.
Senior Art Director
Jolly Design Austin, TX 2002 — 2003
Senior Interactive Art Director
BAM! Advertising Austin, TX 2001 — 2002
Senior Art Director
American Pie Design Austin, TX 2000 — 2001
Creative Director / Partner
Nsomnia Design Austin, TX 1996 — 2000
industry involvement
AIGA Austin and Raleigh-Durham / Triangle AMA: High Five Conference Creative Director & Advisory Board Member / AAF / IXDA / Pictoplasma / Medium Writer / Prototypr.io Staff Writer
Awards
2000 – 2016
Local & Regional District ADDY
Silver & Bronze ADDY
HOW Magazine, Self-Promotional
National Citation of Excellence ADDY
How Magazine, Self Promotional Issue
Print Magazine, Regional Design Annual
10th District ADDY
Local Gold ADDY
Education
University of Texas at Austin
B.F.A. in Design 1996, Magna Cum Laude, GPA 3.9
Luma Institute Certified Practitioner of Human-Centered Design – July 2019
My Sites
Portfolio petriecreative.com
Strategy Documents & Agency Work petriecreative.com/client_resources
Linkedin linkedin.com/in/michellepetrie
Writing medium.com/@michelle_46064
Illustration mambosaki.com
