29th Annual DES Alumni “Virtual” Portfolio Nite

As an established leader in Experience Strategy and Design, Beth’s 15+ years of expertise have sharpened her ability to transform chaos and ambiguity into structured, comprehensible systems. She approaches both life and work with the three Cs: compassion, curiosity, and courage. Whenever she encounters a decision, Beth invariably finds herself questioning: Should I take the familiar path, or venture into the unknown? More often than not, she chooses to explore the uncharted. This adventurous spirit has enriched her life and career with extensive experiences across a diverse spectrum of cultures and disciplines. Beth excels in building cross-functional relationships and fostering shared responsibilities by seamlessly integrating strategic visions with operational excellence. This approach empowers teams to consistently achieve impactful results. Her strength lies in leading global design and research teams, fostering a culture of innovation, and creating environments that promote continuous learning and creativity. Through storytelling, Beth engages, inspires, and empowers her teams, guiding them to make strategic decisions and deliver outstanding value.

Breena Nuñez is a cartoonist and adjunct part-time professor living in San Francisco, CA. She creates diary comics that often explore themes surrounding the awkwardness of racism, being a queer Afrodescendiente from the Bay Area, and understanding what it means to be Central American from the US. Their hope as a cartoonist & educator is to help BIPOC folks give themselves permission to express their personal stories through the language of comics. Breena’s comics are primarily self-published as zines through the family run small press she co-founded with her husband, Laneha House. You will also find some comics in other publications such as The New Yorker: Daily Shouts and The Nib, as well as in anthologies like Tales From La Vida: A Latinx Comics Anthology, Drawing Power (Eisner Award Winner 2020), and Be Gay, Do Comics! (Ignatz Award Winner 2020).

LA-based Motion Design Director with 7+ years of experience as a creative problem solver for clients across music and entertainment industries. At RCA Records, He had the pleasure of working on incredible campaigns that include Steve Lacy, SZA, Latto, Nardo Wick, and more. Chris also leads the team of motion designers who help tackle creative across the entire roster of artists. His accolades and awards include: 2020 Webby Award Winner; 2023 Clio Award Winner; along with his work across multiple Grammy-Winning artist campaigns.

Durojaiye is a San Francisco-based digital product designer with experience ranging from consulting for companies like Zoosk and Moving Brands to shipping end-to-end corporate and consumer products for First Republic Bank. He is enthusiastic about developing assumptions to validate as solutions, delivering simplistic and elegant experiences for everyone, and collaborating with cross functional teams. Durojaiye has multi-industry experience ranging from in-person and call center customer service, music production for TV and Film to personal training, and managing a staff of twelve to fifteen trainers. His goal in every industry was to create memorable experiences and help everyone accomplish their goals.

Kemi is a first-generation Nigerian-American, born in Los Angeles and raised in Oakland, CA. She started her career in graphic design over 20 years ago that has been a steady evolution from development, marketing, design strategy and communications, largely within the public sector. Kemi is led by an entrepreneurial spirit. Kemi is a professional development facilitator and communicator helping professionals to develop the sovereignty to be creative, effective and yourself. Kemi uses various modes of guidance from design thinking to Human Design to support individuals and teams in professional and business transformations through one-on one guidance and workshop facilitation. Everything she does, from business to facilitation, is approached with the question: “How can we create autonomy, build effectively and nurture creativity?” Within this framework of inquiry, Kemi works with teams to develop a culture of curiosity and impact”.

Melina has a robust background that includes branding and identity design, UX design, and creative strategy. Her sensibilities are steeped in process-driven, human-centered methodologies. She has a fervent passion for translating concepts into visual stories, applying design-thinking to processes that optimize team workflow, and identifying hidden gifts to achieve business goals. Melina’s distinct approach involves investigating real-world human experiences, then applying those scenarios to product creation and brand development. Her main goal is to help companies increase their value by strategizing their vision and creating meaningful product experiences and visual stories that empower people every day.

Peter is a veteran marketing and product management executive who has led teams at three mid-sized brand leaders, one Fortune 500 public company, and seven startups backed by top-tier venture capital firms. He has held positions of Board Chairman, CEO, President, and Vice-President in market sectors as diverse as the Internet of Things (IoT), consumer electronics, mobile communications, digital storage, aging/digital health, and scuba diving equipment. Peter has managed teams of marketers, product managers, hardware and software engineers often bringing disruptive new-category products and services to market. He is currently principal analyst and founder of Customer Experience Optimizer™ a consultancy focusing on the intersection of design, story, and user experience. Peter has also taught undergraduate and graduate courses at San Francisco State University’s School of Design, and currently lives in Silicon Valley

Sima has a diverse range of work experience in the field of lighting. She started her career in 2014 as an Application and Technical Engineer at Lighting System. In 2017, she became an Instructor at Illuminating Engineering Society, and in 2018, she took on the role of SF-LUX Award Chair at Illuminating Engineering Society. Sima also held the position of Vice President at the Illuminating Engineering Society and later served as the President of the San Francisco and Sacramento Section. Currently, Sima is an Assistant Professor at Cañada College. Her expertise lies in providing complete lighting system solutions, with a focus on architecture and wired or wireless devices. Sima Tawakoli holds a Master's Degree in Design and Industry with an emphasis on Architectural and Theatrical Lighting Design from San Francisco State University, which was obtained from 2008 to 2010. Sima also has a Master's Degree in Architecture from IAUT, completed from 1992 to 1998. Sima has obtained various certifications in lighting and color rendition from institutions such as Acuity Brands, Illuminating Engineering Society, and Pacific Gas and Electric Company.

Vanessa is an SF Bay Area native. She studied for a degree in Psychology (B.S.) before she became a major Bachelor of Science in Visual Communication Design (BSVCD) at San Francisco State University. Vanessa incorporates principles from her background in psychology into her designs to effectively engage her audience and evolve the visual language of a product. Her personal ethos is to collaborate and craft products/designs that amplify historically excluded voices. She took the foundation that she had in psychology and began to apply it to her research and design process. By incorporating cognitive and behavioral psychology into her designs, Vanessa can effectively inform her audience and evolve the visual language of a product. Ultimately, Vanessa’s goal is to humanize and evolve the visual language of the products we use every day.