Avianca, one of Latin America's largest airlines, was struggling with fragmented email marketing operations across multiple markets. The existing system couldn't handle personalized content at scale, resulting in inconsistent brand experiences across English, Spanish, Portuguese, and German campaigns. Manual production processes were slowing down campaign delivery and limiting revenue opportunities. The challenge: build a modular, scalable email ecosystem that could deliver personalized experiences to millions of subscribers while maintaining brand consistency across four languages.
Lead Multimedia Designer & Design Lead — Responsible for end-to-end email system architecture, HTML/CSS/JavaScript development, multilingual template localization, and cross-functional team coordination. Worked directly with stakeholders from Avianca's marketing and IT teams to define requirements and ensure technical feasibility.
Conducted stakeholder interviews with marketing, legal, and IT teams to identify pain points. Key findings: The email templates were rigid and required developer intervention for minor changes. The team spent 40% of their time on manual localization and quality assurance. There was no standardized system for dynamic content personalization, leading to lower engagement and conversion rates.
Designed a modular email component library with reusable sections for headers, footers, product grids, calls-to-action, and dynamic content blocks. Each component was built with responsive HTML/CSS and tested across 30+ email clients.
Implemented dynamic content logic using AMPScript and Salesforce Marketing Cloud's templating syntax. Created conditional rendering rules for subscriber-level personalization, including location-based offers, loyalty status messaging, and multilingual unsubscribe workflows.
Engineered a streamlined localization process where copywriters could input translations without touching code. The system automatically generated language-specific versions while maintaining design integrity.
📧 Revenue Impact: Email campaigns consistently generated $4–5M per campaign cycle in attributed revenue.
🌍 Scale: Modular system deployed to 3–4 million recipients per campaign across 4 languages simultaneously.
⚡ Efficiency: Template production time reduced by 65% for new campaigns.
📈 Engagement: Personalization implementation led to measurable improvements in open rates and click-throughs (exact metrics vary by campaign).
🔄 Sustainability: The modular system enabled self-service for non-technical team members, reducing developer dependency.
This project taught me that designing for enterprise scale requires thinking beyond aesthetics. The real value comes from creating systems that enable teams to work faster and smarter. I learned to balance technical constraints with creative ambition, and to advocate for design decisions with data. Most importantly, I discovered that collaboration between design, engineering, and marketing is not just beneficial—it's essential.
Merchco Inc. was operating on DecoNetwork, a platform that wasn't scaling with their growing business. The existing infrastructure had limited automation capabilities, rigid pricing structures, and fragmented order management. The team was spending excessive time on manual processes for quotations, order tracking, and client communications. Additionally, there was no cohesive visual identity system connecting the e-commerce experience with the physical retail showroom.
Senior Digital & Multimedia Designer — Led the complete migration from DecoNetwork to Shopify, architected the Shopify ecosystem (automation, shipping logic, pricing, third-party apps), engineered automated communication systems, and implemented YoPrint as a centralized production platform.
Conducted user research with sales, production, and leadership teams to understand pain points in the current workflow. Key insights: Quotations took 2-3 days to process manually, order tracking was non-existent for clients, pricing rules were inconsistently applied, and showroom visitors had no way to browse products digitally.
Developed a phased migration plan from DecoNetwork to Shopify, including data mapping, product catalog restructuring, and custom theme development. Ensured zero downtime during transition.
Designed an integrated Shopify ecosystem covering automation rules, shipping logic calculators, dynamic pricing systems, and third-party app integrations for inventory management and customer support.
Engineered HTML/CSS email templates for quotations, order confirmations, shipping notifications, and client follow-ups. Replaced manual processes with automated workflows that improved response consistency and speed.
Implemented and customized YoPrint as a centralized production and quotation management platform, providing visibility across sales, production, and leadership teams.
🛒 Operational Efficiency: Complete elimination of quotation delays and manual order processing friction.
🏆 Award Recognition: Designed the Canada's Best Design & Screen Printing Award 2024 campaign, earning industry recognition and generating $40,000 CAD in product sales.
📦 Scalable Foundation: The new Shopify infrastructure supports business growth without technical debt, enabling new features and integrations as needed.
🤝 Team Alignment: YoPrint implementation provided unified visibility across departments, reducing communication gaps and improving production planning.
💬 Automated Communications: Response consistency improved dramatically, with automated emails replacing manual follow-ups.
This project reinforced my belief that design and operations are inseparable. A beautiful storefront means nothing if the backend processes are broken. I learned to think of e-commerce as a complete system—from the user's first click to the final delivery—and to design every touchpoint with intention. The experience also taught me the value of building strong relationships across departments to ensure successful implementation.
Merchco Inc. needed a campaign that would elevate their brand positioning in the competitive screen printing and apparel decoration market. The goal was to showcase not just technical capability, but design excellence that could compete with industry leaders. The challenge: create a campaign that demonstrates mastery of both print production and creative design, while driving tangible business results.
Lead Designer — Responsible for full campaign creative direction, concept development, artwork production, Pantone color planning, packaging design, and final production files. Collaborated with production team to ensure print feasibility and quality control.
Analyzed award-winning print campaigns from previous years to identify patterns in design excellence. Interviewed judges and industry experts to understand evaluation criteria. Key insight: Winning entries combine technical mastery (color separation, registration, production quality) with distinctive creative vision that stands out in the market.
Developed multiple design directions, converging on a concept that celebrated both the art of screen printing and the precision of modern production techniques.
Created a strategic Pantone palette that maximized impact while ensuring printability across multiple substrates. Worked closely with production team to test color combinations and optimize for consistency.
Produced press-ready artwork with precise color separation, trapping considerations, and registration marks. Delivered files that minimized production time while maximizing quality.
Designed custom packaging that extended the brand experience from product to unboxing, reinforcing premium positioning.
🏆 Industry Recognition: Won Canada's Best Design & Screen Printing Award 2024, establishing Merchco Inc. as a design leader in the industry.
💰 Revenue Impact: Campaign generated $40,000 CAD in product sales, proving that award-winning design drives business value.
🎨 Brand Elevation: The campaign became a flagship portfolio piece, attracting higher-value clients and projects.
📈 Marketing Leverage: Used as a case study in sales presentations, helping close deals by demonstrating design and production excellence.
This project taught me that awards are not the goal—they are a byproduct of doing exceptional work that solves real business problems. The campaign's success came from balancing creative ambition with production realities. Every design decision was made with the end product in mind, from color selection to substrate compatibility. I also learned the importance of documenting the process thoroughly, as the story behind the work is often as valuable as the work itself.
Across multiple projects, teams were spending excessive time recreating similar assets from scratch. Email templates, social media graphics, mockups, and video assets required repetitive effort. This not only slowed down production but also led to inconsistency across touchpoints. The challenge: create a unified system that enables faster execution without sacrificing creative quality.
Design Systems Architect — Led the creation of modular component libraries, reusable templates, and AI-assisted workflows across email, web, social, and video production. Trained team members on system usage and maintained documentation.
Conducted time-tracking analysis across design teams to identify most time-consuming tasks. Key findings: Creating variations of existing assets accounted for 60% of production time. Teams were building similar components repeatedly without standardization. There was no central repository for reusable assets or design tokens.
Designed a modular library of reusable components for email, web, and print. Each component was built with clear usage guidelines, making it easy for team members to combine them into new layouts.
Created master templates for mockups, video intros/outros, and social media assets. Templates included pre-defined typography scales, color palettes, and spacing rules.
Integrated AI tools to automate repetitive tasks like image resizing, color palette generation, and copy localization. Developed scripts that reduced manual effort.
Created comprehensive documentation and conducted training sessions to ensure team adoption. Established version control and update processes for the system.
⚡ 75% Faster Production: Asset creation time reduced from hours to minutes for common variations.
🎨 Consistent Quality: Standardized components eliminated brand inconsistency across departments.
🧠 Knowledge Retention: Centralized documentation meant no loss of capability when team members changed.
📈 Scalable Growth: System enables rapid onboarding of new team members and quick adaptation to new project types.
🤖 AI Integration: Automated workflows reduced human error and freed designers for higher-value creative work.
This project taught me that design systems are not just about creating consistency—they are about enabling speed and scale. The 75% efficiency gain came from eliminating redundant work, not from rushing creative decisions. I learned that the best systems are those that empower team members rather than restricting them. Documentation and training are just as important as the technical implementation. And most importantly, AI tools are not replacements for designers—they are amplifiers that make good designers even better.