I support teams and help businesses grow.
I bring my 20+ years of experience in product design leadership to every engagement, drawing from my experience in branding, identity and product design across a range of companies. I am passionate about creating innovative and impactful design solutions that align with brand identity and market trends. My approach integrates mentorship and management, connecting creative decisions to business outcomes and ensuring that creative decisions align with business goals (while also helping individuals advance in their careers).
I love designing products and building teams
I focus on translating creative intuition into data-driven results through systematic brand development, product innovation, and organizational growth for various clients and agencies, mentoring designers for career growth, and collaborating with clients on product design projects from initial concept to final execution.
In short: I support teams and help businesses grow.
Hiring and Mentorship
Hiring the best design talent to scale teams and building a design-centric company culture.
Team Management & Advocacy
Mentorship, career development, and design advocacy for small to medium size design teams.
Service Design
Creating seamless experiences by aligning an organization’s operations, technology, and people
Design Systems
Developing themable, large-scale design systems in Figma. Working with FE to optimize design system implementation.
Visual Design
My work focuses on beautiful visual design to enhance user experiences.
Copywriting
Micro copy, marketing copy, and more. Leading copywriting workshops for designers.
Jack of Most Trades, Mentor to Some
Throughout my design career I have had the chance to hire and build design teams; partner with PMs, engineers, VPs, and copywriters; and advocate for design’s role in the org. I’ve helped scale teams as the org grows and thrive best as a player/coach design leader and individual contributor.
Product Design
- User-centered design thinking
- Two-sided market for e-commerce, video streaming, and more
- Business-minded design thinking
Design Management
- Team building, hiring, recruitment
- Mentoring designers in their IC/management carreer paths
- Advocating for design team growth and balancing personnel budgets
Branding and GTM
- Branded and launched new products
- Rebrand/reposition without loss of existing brand equity
- Lead the organization in branding definition to create brand guidelines and positioning
Copywriting
- Copywriting for marketing/funnel as well as micro copy throughout the user journey
- Style guides for copywriting
- Lead workshops to teach copywriting to others
“What Justin accomplished at TPT was impressive – he grew our team from two to twelve designers while significantly improving how design functioned across the company. He implemented systems that measurably increased our efficiency and has a real talent for connecting design decisions to business outcomes. He consistently translated complex design concepts into clear business value, backing his recommendations with data.
Any organization looking to strengthen their design practice and better connect it to business strategy would benefit from Justin’s leadership. If you want to build something meaningful and have a strong design impact, Justin is your person.”
James Aylward
CPO, Teachers Pay Teachers
Design Portfolio
Design Skills, Leadership, Recent Writing Samples
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Design Advocacy and Leadership
Design’s role in an organization changes as it grows. I like to use the metaphor of a restaurant. At first, the design team is like a diner—there to serve up the expected results. The homepage is a grilled cheese. User onboarding is pancakes. Checkout flow is a BLT. These are the basic things necessary to…
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Hiring and Mentorship
“One of Justin’s standout strengths is building strong design teams. He put in place clear career paths and promotion criteria that led to multiple promotions across both management and IC tracks. He’s got a great eye for talent and knows how to develop designers to do their best work.” – James Aylward, CPO TPT Building…
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Brand Design and Development
Branding is a powerful tool that helps businesses tell their story, define their identity, and build lasting connections with customers. In my work, I’ve had the opportunity to help shape and evolve brands for startups, new products, and established companies. From the ground-up creation of a startup’s visual identity to rebranding efforts for established companies…
Justin Dickinson 