Design Systems
Brand Marketing
Wheels Up
IPO-Stage Aviation Brand • 2021–2023
Lead Designer — Visual & System Identity for an IPO-stage luxury aviation brand
Overview
At Wheels Up, I worked as Lead Designer on a range of visual and digital initiatives that supported brand identity, system thinking, and campaign execution during a pivotal growth period following the company’s IPO. My role encompassed translating brand strategy into visual systems across social, email, and operational channels, always balancing clarity, cohesion, and scalable design practices.
My Role
Lead designer collaborating with marketing, social, PR, and operations teams during a critical pre- and post-IPO growth period
Built scalable visual systems to support rapid growth and brand consistency
Translated high-level brand strategy into practical systems used by production and non-design teams
The Challenge
Wheels Up was preparing for and transitioning through an IPO, creating pressure to move fast without sacrificing brand quality
Visual systems needed to scale across digital, marketing, and real-world touchpoints
Non-design teams required flexible, high-quality templates they could deploy independently
Collaboration
This project was deeply collaborative:
Worked with marketing and PR to align visual executions with strategy
Partnered with social teams to tailor formats for platforms like Instagram
Supported operations by designing ground-crew visual assets that reflect brand values
Collaborated with email developers to ensure cross-platform readability and system fidelity
Design Systems & Visual Strategy
I established a shared visual language for Wheels Up that scaled across channels while preserving a premium brand experience. This included defining hierarchy rules, layout logic, and reusable component patterns to support consistent execution.
Social content system
Designed a modular social system for posts and stories that supported fast iteration, consistent framing, and subtle motion — allowing teams to execute campaigns without redefining visual logic each time.
Email framework
Created a flexible email design system optimized for mobile and desktop, prioritizing clarity, accessibility, and production efficiency. Templates were built to support scale while maintaining brand integrity.
Operational brand extensions
Extended the system into real-world applications, including ground-crew vehicle graphics, ensuring the brand remained cohesive beyond purely digital touchpoints.
Outcome
Rather than one-off assets, I designed modular templates with defined hierarchy, spacing, and content zones — enabling non-designers to produce consistent, on-brand outputs without redesigning layouts.
A flexible visual and digital design system that empowered marketing and production teams
Reusable social templates that maintained brand consistency across campaigns
A coherent email design system that reduced assembly time and increased visual clarity
Operational visuals that reinforced brand presence at scale
Impact
While this work was more visual-system and brand-driven than product-data driven, it delivered:
Higher consistency and faster execution across cross-channel campaigns
Increased efficiency for social stakeholders and email teams
Design system structures adaptable across digital and physical environments
What I learned
Visual systems have to live in behavioral context, not just aesthetic context
Templates succeed when they solve actual workflow problems
Systems must be flexible enough for both non-designer users and future product evolution
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