i'm dave         
visual
 designer

Bay Area visual and UX design leader most recently at IDEO.org, using human-centered design to tackle systemic challenges. Experienced in early childhood education, criminal justice reform, healthcare, and so much more.

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experience

Visual and UX design leader based in the Bay Area, applying human-centered design. Focused on beauty, fairness, and data to address systemic challenges.

Design Lead - IDEO.org
SEP 2020 - present
Chief Creative Officer - UMI
JUL 2018  - SEP 2020
Art Director - purehope
JAN 2015 - jul 2018
UX/UI Designer - H. Creative Group
jan 2016 - JAN 2015
Designer - Blueprint
aug 2012 - AUG 2013
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bio

Dave is a visual designer who wields beauty for justice and belonging. As a design lead at IDEO.org, he applies human-centered design through an equity lens to address systemic challenges.

Deeply invested in working on issues that are immediate, but in service to the larger picture, Dave has worked within systems to advance youth education, gender equality, health care, publishing, refugee resettlement, and government services. Before joining IDEO.org, Dave served as Chief Creative Officer for one of the country’s largest African American-owned and operated publishing firms—seeking to change the view of what is seen as “good design” by re-centering perspectives of the global majority.

An artist by training, Dave has a unique ability to communicate deeply philosophical thoughts through beautiful visuals. Throughout his career, he has worked across multiple mediums—from building a system of scalable chicken coups in Ghana to creating more accessible health communications for refugees and immigrants in the United States. He’s also worked on films, co-designed new school environments, and helped launch a collective of local and national leaders invested in transforming early learning. A skilled facilitator, Dave’s purpose is to make design accessible by inspiring confidence in others.

Dave holds a BFA from the University of Houston in studio arts painting. On any given day, you can find him exploring the Bay Area with his family or going for a nature hike while tuning into a podcast on physics, politics, or blackness.

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speaking and consulting

Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts
Guest Lecturer
Ashesi University — Ghana
Innovation Consultant
Rutgers Business School
Key Note Speaker at NPCC
Talks on_ with Mia Birdsong
Host and Interviewer
IDEO RAW
Session Speaker

methodology

I specialize in human-centered design with a deep focus on coalition building, co-design, and healing centered design.

define

Listening, inviting, learning, noticing, and sense-making to understand the challenge at hand.

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research

Looking in and looking out. asking questions to define what good looks like from a desirability, feasibility, and viability standpoint.

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design work

Imagining, building, co-creating, and testing to build evidence towards solutions that work.

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implementation

Stitching learnings together into solutions that drive bolder action and meaningful impact.

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follow up

There are always questions after implementation. The final handoff is full of celebration, but impact can only be measured when the design is allowed to live in the world for a while. Follow up to refine assets and deliverables.

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MY CORE
SKILLS

HUMAN-CENTERED

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Human-Centered Design for Systemic Change.

Skills
Empathize and define
Co-designing and ideating
Workshop facilitation
Scrappy prototyping
Implementation
Evaluation and analytics

VISUAL DESIGNER

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Designing preferred futures.

Skills
Communication design
Rapid iteration
Visual concepting
Brand consistency
Digital and print
Videography

STORYteLLer

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Championing fair, data-driven design.

Skills
Compelling narratives
Key note speaker
Tone of voice
Key messages
Creative/UX writing
Authored posts

ARt director

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Directing systemic issues like healthcare, education, and gender equality.

Skills
Brief Development
Visual strategy
Moodboarding
Project management
Client communications
Quality control