Design
Be A Flexible Thinker.
Flexible thinking is solution oriented.
There are many ways to get to a desired result, and the paths most often traveled are not always best suited to a particular client or project. Sometimes it's a good idea to leave the freeway behind and motor through the water.
My name is Sarah Soward (pronounced SOH-wurd), and I do UX/UI, web, and print design. I animate using Adobe Animate, and I code HTML and CSS. In addition to actively working in the design and development field, I spent a decade training others how to do the same. I developed the first UI/UX curriculum for the Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC) in San Francisco and was an instigator for their move to teach HTML5 when it was still considered new.
New things excite me. Measured risk can be useful.
Graphic Design
Cross Channel Marketing
Below: Print marketing for Maris Collective. Elegant resort living/shopping was the overall theme. Inside that theme, subtle changes were needed to differentiate the various featured designers.
Below: Web and print work for Cal Shakes' Summer Shakespeare Conservatory for kids age 8 to 18. The designs needed to be inviting for children, young adults, and their parents. The brochures, specifically, needed to convey a lot of information in a confined space.
Below: Cal Shakes' Romeo and Juliet. Examples shown include the play program and various ads. My favorite part about this project was the color story.
Above: The white area in the design above is left blank for an ad block.
Below: Web ad and design roughs for T-shirts and hoodies.
Business-to-Business
Below: Excerpt from various B2B documents designed by Sarah Soward for a cybersecurity company that develops software to secure and protect cryptographic keys and digital certificates for Fortune 500 companies. Part of my role was to streamline and update their designs for legibility and usability as well as style.
Below: I created drawn vector elements from scratch as well as edited already existing elements to create an overall sense of visual cohesion. Click or tap the image to see a PDF version of the slideshow.
Infographics
Below: This is my most well-known infographic. It's about Endometriosis treatment options. It is still being used in medical presentations and web media far and wide. It is one small piece of an epically thorough, larger infographic. The full infographic inspired someone to create an entire blog and supplementary set of graphics to continue to help Endometriosis sufferers. (We emailed; she has my permission to make derivative works as long as she credits me.)
Below: Clean up of an existing design that was made available by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). This cleaner version was embedded into a volcano updates app.
Below: B2B Infographic
Device and Apple Watch Icons
Below: Icons to represent various apps as well icons for in-app use, logos, and other collateral for various projects. Some apps are still in development.
Below: Wrinkle Free in-app icon, animated, and examples in use in Apple Watch. Icons were designed from scratch, with some reliance on industry standards (down arrow, settings, etc.).
Logo Design
Responsive Web Design
Foxy Rocket, LLC
Foxyrocket.com contracted for website design and development for both desktop and mobile deployment. This was a complete site overhaul in preparation for release of the Volcano Updates app, hence all the lava and volcano photos. Work included 301 redirects and SEO consultation and implementation. Logo design for Foxy Rocket, LLC, app icon creation, and app user experience consultation were also part of the contract.
The following pages of the website maintain the overall look of the client's brand but the graphics are more specific to the apps in question: Volcano Updates and a washing machine timer.
Artist Website
Artist contracted for website redesign, collateral management, consultation, and OpenCart implementation.
Client's main request was simplicity with a spark. They requested an elegant website with slick tricks. This was also an exercise in balancing file size with image quality. Image quality was the priority for this client.
A rotating slideshow, CSS rollovers, iframes, Lightbox, and calendar integration are implemented on the main website. The OpenCart shopping cart incorporates variations on the client's branding and maintains the clean aesthetic they prefer. It was requested that the cart be set up and then turned over to the client for additions of descriptions, tags, and the like.
Web Development
Salesforce Foundation
I like to think of this section as proof that I can follow directions and think on my feet.
Front end HTML and CSS code and modified javascript plugins delivered for implementation on salesforcefoundation.org.
Designs were cemented in one of the best style guides (by 17FEET) I've ever seen. It was one of the most complete and more in depth projects I translated into validated code.
Marjorie Liu
Below: Website update for Marjorie Liu. Design by Ilsa Brink. The main website is intentionally designed to have a different look, feel, and user experience from the blog section of the website. I also made the website mobile-friendly even though those designs were not included in the package.
This project involved a complete recode and unification of Marjorie Liu's multiple existing blogs/websites into one WordPress site. HTML, CSS, PHP, and plugin modification were used.
UI/UX Design
Below: This was a project for an instructional app regarding proper procedures for medical staff to prep themselves for different disease situations in the field. I was asked to prep 3 levels of navigation to enter into a lesson. The CDC logo was required to be included in full on the splash screen.
Below: Click on the images to view the PDF of the UX/UI documentation.
Apple Watch App
For this project, my role was designer, animator, and UI/UX consultant.
Animation
Above and Below: The LMPartnership loves happy animations at a moderate pace. The purpose of this app is to encourage employees to adopt and maintain a healthy lifestyle while informing them about the benefits to their employment situation based on the Total Health Incentive Plan.
Design and storyboard by the Stoller Design Group. Animation by Sarah Soward
Below: Samsung likes their animations fast.
Challenge: Animate and code AS3 based Flash file estimated to take 10–14 business days in 4 business days or less. Deadline was met with no bugs. Minor tweaks to the HTML and CSS wrapper after delivery.
Strict adherence to style guide/design files and UX research. Subcontractor for Stoller Design.
Below: Now for something peaceful. Logo design and frame-by-frame animation of a tree growing from an acorn seed. Design and animation by Sarah Soward.
If you made it this far, please take a deep breath. Then consider freshening your imagination by looking at my fine art portfolio. It's "Wildlife Art with a Twist."