Environments designer + ux designer

Hi there! My name is Natalie, I am an experienced multidisciplinary UX Designer, Branded Environments Designer, and Creative Director based in sunny Los Angeles, CA. 

Why so many titles you may ask? I have 8+ years of creating branded environments across a variety of spaces for retail, restaurant, universities, events, and customer experiences with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry as well as the Design and Architecture industry. 

I am the sole owner and Creative Director of my design business I run part-time out of my home: Studio Benos LLC, which provides design services for a variety of different clientele.

My passion and expertise lie in artful illustrations of spaces through hand sketching, Photoshop renderings, and Sketchup modeling. I excel at creating brand moments for clients that their customers truly connect with through creating spatial experiences that align with the brands’ needs, aesthetics, and vision. 

I have a strong art and design background with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Interior Design from the Cleveland Institute of Art. Art and design have always been the focus of my daily life and the connection within the communities I create and join. These communities keep me grounded, focused, and inspired!

I recently decided to take my design skills in a new direction and become a more well-rounded designer. I enrolled in the UX Academy course through DesignLab in November 2020 to study and become a UX Designer. I am incorporating my years of experience in retail design and experience design into my new User Experience career. 

Today I work and design physical spaces as much as I do digital. I am, and always will be passionate about crafting stories, solving problems, and designing a more beautiful world in which to be inspired to live in. 

UX, Environments, Director… my first title will always be Designer. 

 

LANDOR + FITCH - Designer UXUI/Environments

REMOTE / LOS ANGELES, CA

MAY 2021 - Present

STUDIO BENOS LLC - CREATIVE DIRECTOR + OWNER

Cleveland, OH / LOS ANGELES, CA

May 2020 - Present

Interior DESIGN CONSULTANT - ETHAN ALLEN

CLEVELAND, OH

DEC 2020 - MAY 2021

Built professional relationships with clients across northeast Ohio. Created custom floor plans and 3D models with Ethan Allen furniture and decor for clients to envision their beautiful new spaces and feel comfortable in their purchase.

SPARKS - DESiGNER

Los Angeles, CA

Feb 2018 - March 2020

Responsible for being the full-time 3D Designer for Salesforce real estate projects encompassing Salesforce lobby designs, partner spaces, international lobbies, and any and all branded permanent spaces in the Salesforce towers. Reported to a Creative Director and worked closely with the project managers and Salesforce clients from brief to build. Developed conceptual designs for various other clients while managing and maintaining the steady income of work from the Salesforce real estate client.

Had a significant hand in developing the visual identity for Google Next 2018 as well as designed multiple event fixtures from sketch to build. Continued to develop designs for the following years in the Google Next shows for 2019 and 2020.

Developed multiple iterations of consumer marketing stunts for T-Mobile. Worked closely with Sparks strategy team on copywriting in tandem with producing visuals for phone launches, sale promos, un-carrier events, and consumer activations inside and out T-Mobile stores.

Responsible for creating environmental visuals, such as floor plans, renderings, Sketchup models, fixtures, specifying furniture and decor, producing presentations, graphic design mockups, storyboards, and a variety of other tasks for various other clients and projects.

Salesforce / T-Mobile / Google NEXT 2018 + 2019 / Lego / Netflix / Spotify

NVIRONMENT - DESIGNER

Columbus, OH

May 2017 - Feb 2018

Developed Interior Design packages for Universities dining halls across the country for Nvironment’s main food service client Chartwells. Developed brand identities for food stations in the dining halls, including graphics and sometimes menu designs, as well as the overall dining hall look and feel. Worked on multiple university dining hall projects at a time. Specified furniture, created material boards, renderings, SketchUp models, floor plans, and FF&E schedules. Had close relationships with material vendors and worked side by side with the architecture team at Nvironment on kitchen layouts, lighting plans, and documentation drawing.

Eastern Michigan University / Tennessee Tech

West Elm - In-Home Stylist Sales Associate

Columbus, OH

May 2017 - Feb 2018

Worked part-time as an In-Home Stylist and in-store Interior Design consultant at the West Elm. Built professional relationships with clients and traveled to their homes to help style and decorate their spaces with West Elm furnishings. Created custom floor plans when need be for client’s homes to ensure the best space planning. Worked on the retail sales floor and POS at flexible times.

FITCH - 3D DESIGNER

Columbus, OH

April 2016 - March 2017

Reported to the Creative Directors and worked closely with Graphic Designers, Strategists, Architects, and Project Managers to design branded environments and experiences for national retail brands in the US. Provided drawings, renderings, Sketchup models, material boards, inspiration boards, floor plans, elevations, presentations, and brand narratives, for each client. Worked with the Project managers to ensure designs were meeting deadlines, projects were on a budget, and client’s needs were being met and exceeded.

Had a large role as a 3D Designer in creating a new concept store for PetSmart. Worked with the client and communicated with them weekly. Presented conceptual designs to PetSmart’s leadership as well as presenting new thoughts on digital implementation in the store. Created all of the environmental renderings for this client, delivered FF&E schedules, communicated with the material vendors, and worked on the final design documentation alongside Fitch architects.

Petsmart / Ford / Lincoln / Dell / Walmart

Chute Gerdeman - BRAND ENVIRONMENTS DESIGNER

Columbus, OH

Jan 2014 - April 2016

Assisted alongside Senior Designers, Directors, Visual Merchandisers, Graphic Designers, and Strategists to produce strategic designs for a wide range of national retail, restaurant, and grocery clients. Provided visuals from sketches, finished renderings, floor plans, and complete 3D models. Worked on multiple projects at a time, some from the concept phase to completion of the build, with a variety of different project timelines. Worked closely with material vendors to develop and deliver material boards and FF&E schedules.

Verizon / Whole Foods / Dylan’s Candy Bar / Bealls / Goodyear / Target Optical / Intel / M&M’s World / Orange Leaf / Chop 5 / Wing Stop / Kay Jewelers

INTERBRAND DESIGN FORUM - ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGNER

Dayton, OH

Jun 2013 - Jan 2014

Reported to the Creative Directors and Senior Designers to help deliver environmental design visuals for large retail brands. Often worked under tight deadlines to understand the client’s needs and apply consumer insights to each design sketch, floor plan, or material board. Provided illustrative renderings for multiple projects, and assisted in creating planograms for Interbrand's P&G client.

Megamart / Haggen_Dazs / Wawa | Mazda / Emma & Roe / P&G 

WD PARTNERS - ENVIRONMENTS DESIGN INTERN

Columbus, OH + San Francisco, CA

Summer 2011 + Summer 2012

Little Tikes - DESIGN INTERN

Hudson, OH

Spring 2012

Cleveland Institute of Art - Student Ambassador

Cleveland, OH

Sept 2012 - May 2013

skills

  • Rapid Ideation

  • Hand Sketching

  • Design Strategy

  • Design Visualization

  • Concept Development

  • Trend Research // Copywriting

  • Design Documentation

  • Material Documentation

  • FF&E Specifications

  • Furniture + Fixture Design

  • Design-Build Methods

  • Workflow Improvement

UX tools

  • Figma

  • Sketch

  • Adobe XD

  • Miro

Design tools

  • Photoshop

  • Indesign

  • Illustrator

  • Sketchup

  • Layout

  • Autocad

Designlab

UX Academy

Feb 2021 - Present

28 Week Program - 20+ hrs a Week

Designlab

UX Academy Foundations

Nov 2020 - Jan 2021

8 Week program - 15+ Hrs a Week

3D Basecamp

SKETCHUP USER CONFERENCE - 3 Day

PALM SPRINGS 2018

CLEVELAND INSTITUTE OF ART

Bachelor of Fine Arts - Interior Design

Class of 2013

AWARDS

2018 - Experience Design & Technology Awards - Best Overall B-to-B Environment - Google Cloud Next - Sparks

2015 - Multiple Awards - Verizon’s Destination Stores - Chute Gerdeman (design) & Sparks (fixtures)

2013 - Retail Design Institute - Second Place Student Competition - Individual Entry

2012 - Retail Design Institute - First Place Student Competition - Group Entry

2011 - Erwin J. Paulli Memorial Scholarship for Excellence in Interior Design

Interests

Exploring National Parks // Cycling with my road bike // Hiking // Vintage shopping // Brunching with friends // Gallery openings & art museums // Collecting art // History & architecture