chill caffeinated

steve Shaka Icon Chemex Icon nelson Steven Wingdings

A man in a khaki baseball hat and dark shirt hunches over smiling as he climbs a steep hill in front of evergreen trees.A dishevled man with glasses looking confused.

email steve@planetresin.com

I’m a digital experience designer and strategist who gets tapped when requirements are vague and expectations are high.

My work bridges the gaps between content strategy, information architecture, UX, design, and front-end development—frequently leading projects from discovery through implementation and launch.

I’ve delivered college-level website redesigns, co-led the development of a Craft CMS-based platform that powers 30+ Penn State websites, contributed project identity and collateral design to conferences and nationally-released documentary films, and helped bring design thinking to online admissions processes.

The son of a graphic artist and an economist, I’m innately drawn to both the craft of design and the question of why people make the choices they do.

I work remotely from Issaquah, Washington—affectionately known as Trailhead City—where I trail run, fulfill the clichéd coffee-drinking, flannel-and-beanie-wearing PNW stereotype, and care fervently for my friends and neighbors.

  • digital design
  • html & css/scss
  • web strategy & consulting
  • translating across disciplines
  • information architecture & UX
  • content development & editing

select work

ai.psu.edu

I completely re-themed our Craft CMS-based website development platform in just three weeks to accommodate a rapidly-evolving, provost-level website.

Mobile screenshot of a website highlighting AI initiatives. Text reads Driving discovery, empowering learning, and advancing responsible AI across research, education, and practice. Mobile screenshot of a circular bloom icon and a swirly logo for AI Studio along with a rainbow-colored logo for Copilot. Screenshot of a webiste highlighting AI initiatives. Text reads Driving discovery, empowering learning, and advancing responsible AI across research, education, and practice.

Craft CMS Site Builder Platform

I co-led the architecture and development of a custom Craft CMS-based web development platform to streamline rollout of Penn State sites with a shared component system. Flexibility is pre-baked for rapid deployment of sites that require design customization outside of “standard” specifications. We currently host 30+ college-branded sites as well as a variety of more custom sites.

Website screenshot featuring a brick building with large windows and three tall doors overlaid with the text Big School Resources, Small School Feel. Collage of graphic design work including an album labelled Seafoam Green and a book cover. Mobile screenshot of a choice between account creation and login options. Collage of website preview cards. Mobile screenshot of some large statistic cards on a purple and blue gradient background. Screenshot of an alumni spotlight feature with three images of landscape architecture work and the name Demetrios Staurinos.

Admissions Application Experience

I facilitated UX analysis of the Penn State Undergraduate Admissions online application experience, developed comprehensive user flow diagrams and interactive prototypes, and provided production-ready HTML/CSS for efficient handoff to their development team.

Illegible screenshot of a Miro board featuring a user-flow exercise. Illegible screenshot of a Miro board featuring a highly-detailed, branching user-flow. Application setup screen featuring simple selection boxes. Application setup screen with progress displayed across the top and selections below. Website screenshot of an Undergraduate Admissions application dashboard. Mobile screenshot displaying a success message: Major selection complete. Screenshot displaying the Undergraduate Admissions application dashboard in mobile view.

impactforum.psu.edu

I provided design, full collateral, and website implementation for a new education, entrepreneurship, and technology conference developed by Penn State Outreach.

Mockup of large-scale banners and wayfinding signage inside Philadelphia's Pennsylvania Convention Center. Large green and blue printed banners drying in a hallway. Closeup of a conference badge and printed lanyard featuring a blue and white arrow pattern.

Public Media Project Branding & Identity Work

Though I would not call myself a logo designer, I completed design strategy and project identity work for a broad array of Public Media projects. These collaborations with video production colleagues often began as conceptual work in development and fund-raising phases, continuing through video support, print, and web throughout production.

Mobile screenshot of a woman standing in a field of thistles with text overlaid that reads Hear from the Experts. Silhouette of a laptop with a website called Follow the Nudge with a photo illustration of a woman with a purple fuzzy creature on her shoulder. Ochre and yellow logo with the P15 element stylized to read The P15 Paradox. Bright blue and dark blue logo that depicts an abstract robot with the words Blue Robot Dark red sketchy text logo that reads Geospatial Revolution. Photo illustration of a car with Lat/Long data overlaid and another with a man speaking from an office with a historic timeline overlaid. Photo composite primarily composed of a green roof and the words Water Blues Green Solutions Watercolor effect photo illustration of a winding road and a woman holding a child - overlaid with the words Telling Amy's Story. Photo composite of a tap and filling water glass with the words The Story of our Water Infrastructure - Liquid Assets.

the details

capabilities

Skills

  • Digital Design
  • Front-end Development: HTML, CSS, SCSS, Twig
  • Web Strategy & Consulting
  • Information Architecture & UX
  • Content Development & Editing
  • Design Systems & Brand Extension
  • Translating Across Disciplines
  • Stakeholder & Client Management
  • Project Planning, Budgeting & Proposal Writing
  • Accessibility, Validation & Optimization
  • Project Identity & Print Design

Tools & Tech

  • Development
    • Craft CMS
  • Design
    • Sketch • Illustrator • Photoshop • InDesign
  • Strategy & Collaboration
    • Miro
  • Emerging
    • AI-Assisted Workflows (actively exploring) • Figma (developing proficiency)

experience

Web Designer & Digital Experience Strategist

Penn State Strategic Communications // Dec 2025–Present

Member of Penn State’s central web strategy and development unit, serving as primary designer and front-end developer for high-profile college and unit websites on a shared Craft CMS platform—with increasing involvement in strategic planning and discovery work.

  • Designed and built Penn State’s AI website on a three-week turnaround, earning recognition from university leadership and cross-functional partners
  • Engaged in early-stage strategic planning for Human Resources and the Office of Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research—analyzing complex organizational structures and audiences to inform future platform, design, and information architecture decisions
  • Actively contributing to content planning and design efforts for major redesigns of the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, the College of Nursing, and Schreyer Honors College
  • Designed the Center for Performing Arts website, companion Arts Ticket Center platform, and led a full redevelopment of the Bellisario College of Communications website

Web Designer & Strategist

WPSU Creative Services // Jan 2014–Dec 2025

Led web design and experience efforts for a growing roster of Penn State clients. Evolved from custom-site work to platform-scale thinking, co-leading the architecture and development of a Craft CMS-based platform (known as Builder) that now powers 30+ university websites.

  • Served as primary developer converting Penn State Strategic Communications’ component system into the Builder platform, extending the system for design and technical flexibility
  • Completed major re-design projects for college-level sites including Arts & Architecture, IST, Dickinson Law, and the Graduate School
  • Provided full design support—conference identity, website, physical signage, and print collateral—for the inaugural Global Impact Forum, an education, entrepreneurship, and technology conference
  • Led design and implementation efforts for the online resources companion site for the documentary, Speaking Grief. Project led to ongoing funding by the New York Life Foundation for additional work related to grief awareness and support.
  • Served as the organization’s primary designer for mission-critical clients such as the Vice Provost for Online Education and the first-ever online commencement ceremony during the COVID-19 pandemic
  • Facilitated UX analysis of the Undergraduate Admissions online application experience, developed comprehensive user flow diagrams and interactive prototypes, and provided production-ready HTML/CSS for efficient handoff to the development team
  • Led design development of Penn State’s on-brand WordPress/Divi “Elements” platform in collaboration with Strategic Communications
  • Established proposal templates, participated in project discovery sessions, contributed to timeline and budget estimates, and produced project briefs and proposals

Hybrid Designer—Web & Print

Penn State Public Broadcasting & WPSU // Jan 2008–Jan 2014

Contributed design, brand identity, and web work across WPSU’s public media and work-for-hire divisions. Supported nationally-released productions from concept through distribution and helped build our unit’s reputation as a trusted “in-house” creative resource for university clients.

  • Built custom web and online training sites across Penn State colleges and units
  • Designed project identities including logos, brand systems, websites, DVD packaging, and on-screen elements, for nationally-released documentary films
  • Part of a team that received a 2013 Webby Awards Official Honoree in the education category for the online course, Beekeeping 101
  • Produced fundraising collateral to support documentary development
  • Penned the tagline, “The Location of Anything is Becoming Everything,” for The Geospatial Revolution documentary series
  • Designed and managed ladylions.com recruiting site and Player of the Year promotional websites for WNBA draft picks Maggie Lucas and Alex Bentley

Design & Communications Specialist

Murphy/Carpenter Marketing and Advertising Agency // May 2001–Jan 2008

Full-spectrum design and communications work across web, print, copywriting, email marketing, and project management.

  • Designed and developed websites for a diverse client range, from small businesses to database-driven corporate platforms
  • Managed email marketing campaigns for a national education technology company with 2,000+ clients in 40 states
  • Developed identity systems, brand standards, and designed advertising, packaging, trade show displays, and collateral
  • Assisted in preparing client proposals and budgets and managed vendor relationships and print production timelines

Early Career

Early roles spanned web site implementation and maintenance, technical writing and editing, and newsletter and publication design.

  • Internet Producer
    KnightRidder.com // 1999–2001
  • Writer/Editor/Designer
    Northeast Regional Center for Rural Development // 1996–1999
  • Research Technologist
    Basin Research Lab, Penn State Geosciences // 1994–1997

Education

Geosciences, B.S.
Technical Writing Minor
Penn State, 1995