About Me
The story behind the work.
Historian. Banker. Prepress designer. Web design manager. The path wasn't straight — and that's the point.
"I came to UX through the back door — and I wouldn't change a thing."
Ohio University · 2014
B.A. History
EDUCATION
Southern New Hampshire University · 2020
B.A. Graphic Design
EDUCATION
Nutis Press · January 2022 – Present
Web Design Manager
CURRENT ROLE
Open to remote · Hybrid · In-Office
Pickerington, OH
LOCATION
jpalmdesign.com
Available
FREELANCE
What I'm looking for next is a role where systems thinking, visual craft, and a genuine interest in how people interact with things all have a home — whether that's UX, web design, or graphic design.
Outside of Nutis Press, I've designed event materials for Epiphany Lutheran Church for three consecutive years, created brand identities and illustrated book covers for freelance clients, and built my own print-on-demand platform at creativepalmer.com to sell original illustrated artwork.
The platform now generates $151,174+ in revenue with 130% year-over-year growth and 2.3× the original order volume. I'm proud of those numbers — and more proud of the thinking behind them.
I built templates. I tested platform features. I documented what was broken. Within 18 months I was promoted to Web Design Manager — not because the opportunity landed in my lap, but because I'd already been doing the work. That promotion came with a bigger challenge: converting the platform into a fully branded enterprise web store for Coke Consolidated, coordinating across four external vendors, implementing a Punchout-to-Ariba procurement integration, and collaborating with their internal UX team on brand compliance. We launched in May 2024.
When I transitioned into design, I joined Nutis Press as a Prepress Graphic Designer — learning digital, screen, and offset print methods from the ground up. But I kept noticing problems with the company's web-to-print platform: poor navigation, missing product mockups, cluttered templates, no SEO. Nobody had asked me to fix them. I started working on it anyway.
"Analyzing where processes broke down, where people got frustrated, and how restructuring systems could make things work better — that was my first real UX work."
My first career was banking. I managed a branch, led a four-person team, and eventually landed on the Branch Transformation team — a cross-departmental initiative tasked with analyzing and modernizing how a billion-dollar institution operated for the people inside it and the customers it served. I didn't have the vocabulary for it at the time, but that was systems thinking and user-centered process design. It shaped everything that came after.
I didn't plan to end up in design. I planned to be a historian.
My Story
Research, analysis, and the ability to synthesize complex information into coherent narratives — skills that show up in every case study and design document I write.
Ohio University
B.A. History
2014
Formal design education in visual communication, typography, layout, and brand identity — completed while working full-time at VCNB Bank.
Southern New Hampshire University
B.A. Graphic Design
2020
↳ Systems thinking, process design, stakeholder communication
Led a 4-person team across operations, marketing, and compliance. Served on the Branch Transformation team — analyzing bank-wide processes to position the institution for growth as it crossed the billion-dollar threshold. Completed the Bank Management Program, developing cross-functional knowledge across 10–12 departments.
VCNB Bank
Branch Manager
November 2015 – September 2021
Brand identity, print collateral, event design, illustration, and book cover design for small businesses and non-profits. Ongoing work for Epiphany Lutheran Church. Illustrated book cover for Jake Brown's novel Reincarnation.
Independent
Freelance Graphic Designer
August 2018 – Present
↳ Core UX work
Rebuilt the platform's information architecture, navigation, and checkout experience. Led the Coke Consolidated enterprise platform conversion — wireframing, vendor coordination, Punchout-to-Ariba integration, brand compliance. $151K+ revenue, 130% YoY growth.
Nutis Press · Promoted from within
Web Design Manager
June 2023 – Present
↳ Where design and production thinking merged
Learned digital, screen, and offset print production. Identified UX problems in the web-to-print platform on personal initiative — built the foundational template library, tested platform features, and established preflight QA procedures. Earned the promotion through the work itself.
Nutis Press
Prepress Graphic Designer
January 2022 – June 2023
↳ Core UX work
Rebuilt the platform's information architecture, navigation, and checkout experience. Led the Coke Consolidated enterprise platform conversion — wireframing, vendor coordination, Punchout-to-Ariba integration, brand compliance. $151K+ revenue, 130% YoY growth.
Nutis Press · Promoted from within
Web Design Manager
June 2023 – Present
The non-linear path — and why it makes the work better.
Every step led here.
Career Journey
Logo design, brand identity systems, event collateral, editorial layouts, and print production - from concept through prepress and press-ready files.
Brand & Print Design
Illustrator
InDesign
Photoshop
Prepress
Print Production
End-to-end WooCommerce platform management - from catalog architecture and product page design through checkout optimization and SEO.
E-Commerce & Web
WooCommerce
WordPress
HTML/CSS
SEO
Information architecture, user flows, wire framing, and conversion optimization. Designing experiences that reduce friction and serve the people using them.
UX Design & Strategy
Figma
Wireframing
User Flows
UX Audit
What I work with.
Technical Skills
Tools and disciplines across UX, development, and design production.
Open to UX design, web design, and graphic design roles. Available for freelance projects.