Hey there, I'm katie valenti!
I'm a Detroit based designer with a passion for product design, visual design, branding and illustration. I'm a book lover, coffee addict and self-proclaimed Gilmore Girls super-fan. In my spare time, I run an Etsy shop where I sell artwork centered around the things that inspire me.
experience
Senior Experience Designer at Rocket Mortgage
July 2022 - Present
July 2022 - Present
Product designer focused on applying my UX/UI, visual design, illustration, animation and art direction skills to consumer facing financial products like dashboards, landing pages and application flows. Collaborates with team members, provides feedback on the team’s work, lead weekly design critiques and focuses on building relationships with designers, product managers and leadership. Defined design guidelines for a major product launch to ensure consistent design treatments across multiple teams who contribute to the product. The product experience won a Hermes Gold Award in 2023.
Team Leader, Creative at Rocket Mortgage
July 2021 - July 2022
Led a team of creatives, provided feedback on their work, coached their performance and supported their career development. Key stakeholder in the intake, planning, execution and delivery of the team’s work to ensure quality, accuracy and brand alignment. Set the strategic vision for the team, led quarterly goal setting and improved team culture by requesting and addressing team feedback. Performed and delivered a communication audit based on client interviews and feedback. The findings from this audit impacted the future scope and priorities of the team by identifying key communication opportunities and proposed solutions for more effective communications.
July 2021 - July 2022
Led a team of creatives, provided feedback on their work, coached their performance and supported their career development. Key stakeholder in the intake, planning, execution and delivery of the team’s work to ensure quality, accuracy and brand alignment. Set the strategic vision for the team, led quarterly goal setting and improved team culture by requesting and addressing team feedback. Performed and delivered a communication audit based on client interviews and feedback. The findings from this audit impacted the future scope and priorities of the team by identifying key communication opportunities and proposed solutions for more effective communications.
Senior Graphic Designer at Rocket Mortgage
April 2018 - July 2021
Lead designer for the branding and visual design for internal and external communications for the Technology team. Contributed to a variety of print and digital design mediums. Mentored junior and mid-level designers to provide feedback on their work, share resources and encourage their growth. Consistently recognized by my peers, clients and leaders for building strong relationships and delivering high-quality designs. Led an initiative to internally re-brand the Technology team to ensure brand alignment after a company name change. Responsible for planning, launching, marketing and ensuring adoption of the re-brand for a team of over 2,000. Designed, launched and maintained a robust Microsoft SharePoint site with relevant team information and design templates that was accessible by over 2,000 team members.
April 2018 - July 2021
Lead designer for the branding and visual design for internal and external communications for the Technology team. Contributed to a variety of print and digital design mediums. Mentored junior and mid-level designers to provide feedback on their work, share resources and encourage their growth. Consistently recognized by my peers, clients and leaders for building strong relationships and delivering high-quality designs. Led an initiative to internally re-brand the Technology team to ensure brand alignment after a company name change. Responsible for planning, launching, marketing and ensuring adoption of the re-brand for a team of over 2,000. Designed, launched and maintained a robust Microsoft SharePoint site with relevant team information and design templates that was accessible by over 2,000 team members.
Freelance Graphic Designer
September 2015 - April 2018
Developed brand identities and design materials for clients in industries including entertainment, technology, education and fashion. Designed and animated rotating promotional and informational graphics for office spaces at the Walt Disney Studios. Formatted and designed a multiple page printed catalog of product offerings for the educational company Social Thinking. Redesigned their website to provide a cleaner and easier to navigate experience, while incorporating the new brand colors and elements into the new site. Worked directly with engineering to implement the designs. Developed social media graphics and printed one pagers for the educational technology company Development Group Inc.
September 2015 - April 2018
Developed brand identities and design materials for clients in industries including entertainment, technology, education and fashion. Designed and animated rotating promotional and informational graphics for office spaces at the Walt Disney Studios. Formatted and designed a multiple page printed catalog of product offerings for the educational company Social Thinking. Redesigned their website to provide a cleaner and easier to navigate experience, while incorporating the new brand colors and elements into the new site. Worked directly with engineering to implement the designs. Developed social media graphics and printed one pagers for the educational technology company Development Group Inc.
education
Michigan State University
BFA in Studio Art, Concentration in Graphic Design
BFA in Studio Art, Concentration in Graphic Design
skills
Tools
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe After Effects, Figma, Microsoft SharePoint
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe InDesign, Adobe After Effects, Figma, Microsoft SharePoint
Design Skills
Brand identity, illustration, UI design, typography, motion graphics, print design, digital design, art direction
Brand identity, illustration, UI design, typography, motion graphics, print design, digital design, art direction
Professional Skills
Writing, project management, leadership, mentoring
Writing, project management, leadership, mentoring
while I'm designing, I'm probably listening to:
feedback from my peers
Don't just take my word for it! Here are some things my peers have said about me.
Don't just take my word for it! Here are some things my peers have said about me.
"Katie has an excellent eye for visuals and is serving as a much needed bridge between our illustration and graphics teams and our UX teams. A position that has made bringing high level visuals to our design so much easier. Aside from her role as a liaison, Katie is a brilliant designer. She is constantly bringing valuable insights, she brings ideas into reality quite effortlessly and a fantastic collaborator!"
- Experience Designer
"Katie is an organized, self-starter and is able to deliver exceptional work. She is realistic about her bandwidth and communicates well to the team what she can commit to and what she will need to delegate. I know that Katie takes great pride in her work. Katie’s designs find new ways to ensure that we’re building a product that will delight our clients. "
- Product Manager
"Working with her you will quickly notice her attention to detail, her ability to ask thoughtful questions, and the easy going nature in which she approaches collaboration with other designers."
- Experience Designer
"Katie moves fast. She is not afraid to jump into a Figma file or hop on a last min meeting to make sure we get things done not only fast but packaged in the best possible way, ready to be show around different teams and with stakeholders."
- Experience Designer
"I see Katie as a key reason our team has the awesome culture it does. She fosters camaraderie, collaboration and inclusivity through her kind, candid and passionate demeanor."
- Content Strategist