about

my name is kurt tacastacas.

I get users the most
out of what you do best.

Senior Product Designer — Sniffies

Full Time | June 2023 – August 2026 | Remote (New York, NY)

Owned end-to-end UX/UI design for the high-scale consumer web app serving millions of users globally. Designed and shipped a compliant native iOS app with full App Store approval. Contributed to scaling the product team through knowledge transfers, design reviews, and process improvements.

Led the UX strategy behind a proximity-based map radius monetization feature that converted free users into paid subscribers. Small change, big results.

Senior Product Designer — OpenComp

Full Time | July 2021 – May 2023 | Remote (New York, NY)

Drove UX/UI consistency across the compensation intelligence SaaS platform — owning the design system, visual language, and component standards. Expanded the product's branding into a full marketing ecosystem complete with investor presentations, social media templates, email banners and print collateral.

Contributed to a 34% conversion lift and 25% increase in upgrade clicks through user-centered onboarding and product design improvements.

Art Director — The National Society of Leadership & Success

Full Time | August 2020 – July 2021 | Remote (Jersey City, NJ)

Built a design system, complete production-ready templates for the Marketing Department — email templates, editorial layouts, video graphics, social media assets, and podcast branding — with work that remained in active use long after moving on.

Drove 20%+ growth in honor student signups through targeted email campaigns, social content, and user-tested onboarding flows.

Associate Creative Director — Ara Inc. (f.k.a. Cargo Systems Inc.)

Full Time | May 2018 – March 2020 | On-Site (New York, NY)

Built the complete branding and product experience for an early-stage rideshare vending startup — brand identity, B2C UX/UI, B2B UX/UI, and multiple production-level presentations that landed major brand partnerships. Supported the South American expansion through brand localization and managing international team relations.

Art directed the Series A pitch deck that secured the multi-million dollar funding and, in a future phase, a key presentation that formalized a partnership with Uber. Led the full rebrand effort when the business pivoted to cartop advertising.

Associate Creative Director — BrandShare US

Full Time | October 2014 – May 2018 | On-Site (New York, NY)

Art directed multi-million dollar partnerships with clients like Walmart, Mondelez, and Nestle. Designed the company brand, product sampling collateral, subscription box productions, and fully-customized client presentations from concept to delivery.

Developed a consistent brand guide for one-sheets, presentations, and graphics to support deal acquisition efforts.

Led a tradeshow production end-to-end — strategy, vendor management, logistics, and onsite execution.

Digital Designer — Ferno-Washington Inc.

Full Time | October 2012 – August 2014 | On-Site (Wilmington, OH)

Produced product one-sheets, magazine catalog spreads, and website graphics for the emergency response

equipment company. Shot and edited product materials — instructional videos, product photography, and

motion graphics.

Graphic Designer — Cleveland Medical Devices Inc.

Part & Full Time | June 2010 – August 2012 | On-Site (Cleveland, OH)

Designed web graphics, print collateral, and multimedia tradeshow materials. Maintained UX/UI consistency

across the first-party sleep tech analytics platform. Executed brand transition materials after the company was

acquired by a major health equipment brand.

EDUCATION

BFA — Digital Media | Cleveland Institute of Art

2007 – 2011 | On-Site (Cleveland, OH)

SKILLS

proficiency