Mark Grambau

Catch is the first personal benefits platform for freelancers, contractors, and other non-traditional workers.

In addition to the design and refinement of product features, I led an audit of the app's user experience, information architecture, and content model, the learnings from which shaped a restoration effort by the design and front-end teams. We standardized core components, expanded and refined the design system, and eliminated cruft, establishing a stabler, more scalable foundation for Catch's future growth.

I also art directed product marketing and brand materials and provided guidance for the future evolution of Catch's website.

Circle is a crypto finance startup dedicated to building a fairer, more inclusive global economy. My job was to visualize and humanize the weird, wild world of crypto.

I led the design of Circle Pay web, spearheaded the adoption of Sketch and Abstract, and made significant contributions to Circle Invest, Poloniex, the USDC Tokenizer, and Circle’s overall product strategy.

I owned and advanced Circle’s use of illustration across product and brand. I defined look and feel, established usage guidelines, and crafted countless icons, characters, editorial illustrations, and spot graphics for use across multiple products, platforms, and campaigns. This meant constant collaboration with the brand creative team. I art directed campaigns, helped evolve Circle’s corporate brand and identity, and made significant contributions to the launch of Circle Invest, CENTRE, and USDC.

Perhaps most importantly, I won two consecutive Halloween costume contests and sang baritone in Circle’s barbershop quintet, “The Coin Minors.”

How to Draw a Startup is a podcast miniseries about illustration's evolving role in the technology industry. Over seven narrative-style episodes, I explore why illustration blossomed in tech, how illustrated brands are crafted, and where illustrators fit in creative teams. The show features sixteen leading illustrators, designers, and creative leaders from Google, Apple, Dropbox, Facebook, Intercom, and more.
This was a year-long, fully independent project. I conducted each interview, designed the website and brand, and wrote, produced, edited, scored, transcribed, and promoted every episode.

Refresh Boston was a free meetup for Greater Boston's design and development community, and the local chapter of the international 'Refreshing Cities' collective. We featured extraordinary speakers and regularly drew an engaged, inquisitive crowd.

Along with my fellow organizers, I set the group's goals, booked speakers, coordinated with sponsors and venues, promoted and emceed the events, and more.

After two years as co-organizer, I stepped down from event planning and assumed an advisory role.

Advanced Practice Strategies helped healthcare organizations build the best patient care teams. I worked directly with the CMO, CTO, and CEO to rebrand the company, refine product line positioning, and begin a redesign of its flagship product.

Fresh Tilled Soil is a product-focused experience design and strategy firm. In addition to traditional UI & UX work for clients like Rethink Robotics, Titleist, Cengage Learning, and Jibo, I was Fresh Tilled Soil’s go-to resource for experimental and unusual projects. I designed an early gesture-control prototype for Intel R&D, a location-based AR game with a motion-sensing magic wand (years before “Pokémon Go” and “Harry Potter: Wizards Unite”), and a mapping system for Boston Logan International Airport.

In addition to client work, I redesigned Fresh Tilled Soil’s visual identity, I co-organized two design conferences, mentored two excellent apprentices, and co-created the firm’s podcast, The Dirt.

To Boldly Fold was an independent bookbindery and paper goods studio led by my wife, Melissa Chao. I designed our visual identity and brand collateral, collaborated on product design, and managed dozens of retail relationships across the United States, Canada, and Japan.

Apartment Therapy aims to "help people make their homes more beautiful, organized and healthy by connecting them to a wealth of resources, ideas and community online." As a writer for Apartment Therapy Tech, I covered the intersection of technology and creative culture, bringing news and insights to the blog's design-savvy readership.

CloudKid was an Emmy-nominated children’s media studio. I contributed to UI design, iconography, branding and identity, illustration, and concept art for major projects with PBS KIDS and Scholastic.

Vistaprint is an international printing and marketing services company. I designed and deployed email marketing campaigns and created automated design tools to streamline repetitive processes.

Between facilitating sales, leading workshops, and teaching one-on-one lessons, Apple Retail was a master class in making complex concepts accessible to all. A decade later, these experiences still inform my approach to design and communication.