I started in branding and storytelling, then followed my curiosity into UX and product design. Fifteen years later, I still love the same thing I did at the beginning—using design to bring clarity to complex ideas.
These days, I blend strategy, structure, and creative direction to build thoughtful, intuitive experiences across digital and print. Whether I’m shaping a brand from the ground up or refining an existing system, I care deeply about typography, cohesion, and the details that make things feel intentional.
Below is my (ATS-friendly) resume — or you can download a PDF here.
Product Designer
Tradier, Inc. Remote (NC)
Jun 2023 – Present
At Tradier, I design cross-platform brand and product experiences within a regulated fintech environment—partnering with product, marketing, engineering, and compliance teams to build scalable visual systems that strengthen clarity, credibility, and user trust.
My work blends strategic thinking with disciplined craft. I focus on typographic hierarchy, layout systems, and reusable templates that reinforce brand consistency across mobile, web, campaigns, and educational touchpoints.
Mobile Experience & Product Evolution:
Led the full-scale redesign of Tradier’s mobile app, refining visual hierarchy and interaction patterns to align complex trading functionality with clearer educational pathways. Delivered high-fidelity Figma prototypes that balanced user goals, business objectives, and technical constraints under aggressive timelines.
Brand Systems & Education Platforms:
Reimagined the UX and visual system for our Live Education platform, improving navigation and content discoverability while establishing scalable design patterns to support future growth.
Onboarding & Lifecycle Brand Ecosystem:
Spearheaded the creation of a comprehensive onboarding and education ecosystem—including a dynamic knowledge base, guided tours, and modular templates for complex product features. Contributed to lifecycle campaigns across email, in-app messaging, launches, and events, maintaining brand governance and visual consistency across customer touchpoints.
Across product and campaign work, I continually strengthen cross-platform brand consistency by refining typographic hierarchy and scalable visual systems that make complex information feel accessible and trustworthy.
Art Director
Simpler Trading — Austin (TX)
November 2015 - May 2023
After establishing Simpler’s foundational brand identity as Senior Graphic Designer (2015-2021), I stepped into the Art Director (2021-2023) role to evolve and scale the system—expanding creative frameworks, leading high-impact campaigns, and strengthening brand consistency across all touchpoints.
Brand Evolution & Creative Leadership
Directed the evolution of Simpler’s visual identity across digital, video, and print environments. Expanded the brand into new formats while maintaining cohesion, typographic discipline, and scalable visual standards aligned with company growth.
Campaign Strategy & Execution
Led the design and execution of multi-channel campaigns—including product launches, promotions, educational series, and event marketing—tailored to a trader-centric audience. Balanced clarity, urgency, and brand integrity to drive engagement while reinforcing long-term credibility.
User Journey & Experience Optimization
Partnered with product and marketing teams to map user journeys and refine critical conversion flows across landing pages, onboarding sequences, and webinar funnels. Focused on simplifying complex decision paths while strengthening brand alignment.
Team Leadership & Process Development
Guided and supported a growing team of designers, establishing creative standards and scalable workflows that maintained quality while increasing campaign velocity and complexity.
When I joined Simpler Trading, there was no brand system—just a growing company with a strong point of view and no visual language to express it. So I built one.
Brand Identity Development
From the ground up, I created Simpler Trading’s core brand identity—a system designed to be bold, clear, and conversion-oriented. Everything from the logo mark to the typography to the digital color palette was designed with both performance and longevity in mind. That system still defines the company’s look and feel across all platforms and touch points today.
Performance-Driven Creative
Once the brand was established, I set about crafting assets that didn’t just look good—they worked. From lifecycle email design and webinar landing pages to social campaigns and promotional funnels, every touchpoint was designed with conversion and clarity in mind.
Cross-Functional Collaboration
I partnered closely with marketers, copywriters, product managers, and executives to ensure our visuals matched the tone and strategic intent of each campaign. I helped shape everything from early brand messaging to complex funnel logic and content hierarchy.
Hands-On Execution
This wasn’t just a leadership role—it was sleeves-rolled-up, hands-on design. I contributed photography, illustration, motion experiments, and digital layout expertise. I knew the work inside and out because I was building it—pixel by pixel.
Graphic Designer
Sport Clips (Georgetown, TX)
Apr 2015 – Nov 2015
While at Sport Clips, I led the development and launch of Vent Blotique, a women-focused brand designed to complement and extend the established Sport Clips experience. Working with executive leadership and a dedicated budget, I built the full brand identity from the ground up—tailored to the needs and lifestyle of a female audience.
Brand Strategy & Identity Development
Developed the visual identity system, positioning, and brand standards for Vent Blotique, ensuring cohesion across print, digital, in-store, and broadcast environments. Partnered with a PR firm to establish brand voice and messaging, supporting radio, TV, and integrated campaign rollouts.
Digital & Experience Design
Collaborated with a digital agency to design and launch a responsive website and mobile app, creating a seamless brand experience from in-store interaction to digital engagement.
Community Launch & Local Marketing
Co-led a neighborhood-focused launch strategy utilizing targeted promotions, local events, and community partnerships to build early awareness and drive customer acquisition.
This project reinforced the power of aligned strategy, disciplined design systems, and cross-functional collaboration in bringing a new brand to life.
Graphic Designer
AffiniPay (Austin, TX)
Feb 2012 – Apr 2015
At AffiniPay, I supported brand and marketing initiatives within a regulated financial software environment—balancing creative execution with operational oversight and cross-functional collaboration.
Brand & Campaign Execution
Designed digital and print advertising materials, lifecycle email campaigns, and foundational brand assets, ensuring visual consistency across marketing and customer-facing touchpoints.
Website & User Experience Design
Led the design and ongoing maintenance of the company website, refining layout systems and user flows to improve clarity and usability. Developed user manuals and product packaging aligned with brand standards and customer education goals.
Creative Operations & Vendor Partnerships
Managed Creative Services budget tracking, purchasing workflows, and relationships with external vendors. Implemented structured inventory systems for digital and physical assets to improve organization, accessibility, and production efficiency.
Graphic Designer
Minuteman Press (Georgetown, TX)
Oct 2010 – Jan 2012
At Minuteman Press, I became fluent in the language of paper stock, Pantone values, and real-world constraints. It was fast, it was hands-on—and it sharpened my instincts for quality, speed, and precision.
High-Volume, High-Stakes Design
I designed everything from business cards and brochures to oversized signage, trade show materials, and full-vehicle wraps. These weren’t just digital mockups—they were physical, high-visibility deliverables that had to hold up under scrutiny… and weather.
Client-Facing Collaboration
This was a client-facing role, through and through. I regularly presented design options to business owners, internal managers, and production teams—refining concepts based on feedback and guiding clients through the design and print process.
Pre-Press & Quality Assurance
I became borderline obsessive about pre-press prep—proofreading every line, checking dimensions, adjusting bleeds, and ensuring color accuracy. From die lines to dot gain, I learned how to make files print-perfect every time.
Production Oversight & Workflow Optimization
Beyond the design files, I monitored the actual print runs—checking for ink consistency, registration, and finish quality. I also helped streamline internal workflows to keep projects on schedule without sacrificing quality.
Graphic Designer
Sharp End Publishing (Boulder, CO)
May 2008 – Nov 2011
This was where it all began. My love for print design. My obsession with craft. My belief that design—real, tactile, story-rich design—could be both a utility and a legacy.
End-to-End Book Design & Layout
At Sharp End, I designed climbing guidebooks from cover to cover—sometimes over 500 pages deep. I built intricate character and paragraph styles to ensure every edition could scale, flex, and stay consistent across years of updates. These books weren’t just information—they were lifelines for people navigating vertical landscapes.
Field-Tested Creative
Designing for the climbing world meant I didn’t just sit behind a screen—I hit the crag. I tested routes, verified map accuracy, and in some cases, found myself in the very photos I curated. This wasn't theory. This was ink-stained, chalk-dusted design in the wild.
Creative Partnership with Authors & Photographers
I worked closely with authors from their first draft to the final press check—editing content, guiding pagination strategy, and proofreading with the eye of someone who knew how high the stakes were. I also managed relationships with photographers and advertisers to ensure each book met both artistic and publishing goals.
The Women of Climbing Calendar
Every year, I curated and designed the globally loved Women of Climbing calendar—sourcing images from photographers around the world and shaping them into something bold, inclusive, and worthy of the athletes it celebrated.
Pre-Press & Production Craftsmanship
Once design was locked, I handled all pre-press setup: pagination checks, color proofs, printer coordination, and final file prep. There’s something deeply satisfying about holding your work in your hands, printed perfectly, built to last.
That was A LOT!
I have enjoyed every position I have held over the many years that I have been a designer. Time flies when you're having fun! I've learned SO much, made life-long friends, and enjoyed truly privileged connections with some of the most creative, passionate, and inspiring entrepreneurs in the world. I'd certainly be remiss if I didn't say a virtual "thank you" to all those who have given me the opportunity to create a career out of my passions.
Also thank you (to whoever you are) for taking the time to look over my resume :) You can check out my Education and Skills below...if you intend to keep reading or you can check out a VERY small portion of my curated work over these years HERE on my site.
Education
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor
Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Graphics Design
Minors in Art & English
Technical Skills
I speak fluent software. And when one tool doesn’t do what I need, I don’t complain—I invent workflows.
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Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, XD)
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HTML/CSS, responsive design, prototyping
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Jira, GitHub, Monday, Basecamp
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Remote Work
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AI-assisted design tools, design systems, UX research platforms
Creative Expertise
I combine sharp creative instincts with systems thinking, storytelling, and cross-functional know-how. From scrappy startups to regulated platforms, I’ve built brands, scaled campaigns, designed products, and led teams—all while staying pixel-aware and people-first.
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Brand campaigns (B2B & B2C)
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Go-to-market creative strategy
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Paid media, video, and social ad design
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UX/UI & interaction design (mobile + web)
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Lifecycle, onboarding, and email design
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Design systems & creative operations
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Knowledge base & guided content development
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Accessibility-first & compliance-aligned design (SEC/FINRA)
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Cross-functional collaboration (product, growth, dev, execs)
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Mentoring & leading creative teams
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Vendor management & production oversight
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Print design, pre-press, and large-format execution
[Sarah's] kind personality and compassion for helping others sets her apart. Her creative capacity would undoubtedly benefit any organization looking to add her to its arsenal.
— ANGELA GARZA —