Behind the pixels
Good afternoon! My name is Brendan Bax and I'm a designer who codes. Over the last 9 years of my career I've honed my skills as a graphic, UI, UX, and product designer while growing as a full stack Web and JavaScript developer.
As an entrepreneur at heart I bring a level of vision, grit, and determination to every project. I deliver value early and capitalize on my diverse abilities to bring winning projects across the finish line. You can learn more about my process and read my career highlights below.
Design thinking
I seek to understand the problem by conducting user research, contextual inquiries, user studies, workshops, journey maps, and more.
I look for patterns and distill my findings into neat artifacts that help tell a story.
Failing fast
Given what is known, I work to produce an MVP solution using wireframes, Figma, Sketch, or even coding up a quick UI with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
I strive for maximum fidelity to immerse users in the product and get serious feedback.
Code that clicks
As part of an agile software team I continue to shepherd products towards production as a front-end engineer and occasional back-end developer.
I ship tested, DRY code to users using modern JavaScript frameworks like Vue and React.
Continuous iteration
In between releases I work to build active and passive feedback channels to monitor how product updates are being received by users.
Features are measured against KPIs and the cycle continues to iterate and improve the product.
Work
UX Architect
Intrusion, Inc. 2021 to Present
Currently designing and building user interfaces for Intrusion network products. Migrated app code to Vue 3, implemented unit and integration tests, and built a new dashboard to support data viz and mapping features.
UX Architect
Bayer (Crop Sciences) 2021 (Contract)
Partnered with agile software teams to humanize data visualization apps used by various user groups. Was a contributor to Bayer global design system standards and documentation, improving design consistency and culture.
Full Stack Developer
World Wode Technology 2020 to 2021
Built user interfaces and back-end services for the WWT corporate website which has over 30,000 monthly visitors. Reduced time on task and improved edit accuracy by building a POC for editing content live from the website instead of using the legacy proprietary CDN.
Sr. Software Design Engineer
Mercy 2019 to 2020
Improved virtual visits during COVID-19 by building a point-to-point video chat app, supporting 2k-3k video visits per day. Reduced pediatric ER visits and improved patient quality of life by creating a patient portal that connects sick kids and their caregivers to medical staff for 24/7 support.
Sr. UX Designer
Coolfire 2018 to 2019
Led design for multiple client projects including a roadside call center app that reduced call times and costs, a private security app that simplified Person of Interest management, and a real-time logistics tracking and ordering platform that enabled drop shipments to resupply partners. Operated as practice lead for a small design team and handled idendity design for new SaaS products.
Product Designer
Monsanto 2018 (Contract)
Drove vision behind software solutions related to plant breeding and geospatial data collection. Supported agile development teams by working as an embedded designer and facilitating user testing sessions.
UX Designer
WWT Asynchrony Labs 2017 to 2018
UX Designer and Front End Developer for various client-service projects. Transformed the online mortgage application for a major bank using conversational UI, massively growing online form submissions. Reduced product loss for WWT logistics by improving the UI for a damage control application.
Owner / Chief Designer
Bax Art & Design Co. LLC 2015 to Present
Chief designer, accountant, HR, customer service, and head of sales and marketing. Made people happy by pushing pixles as a graphic designer, web designer, and 3D artist.
Senior Designer
Controller Chaos 2013 to 2015
Led design for a new online product builder that increased sales and profit margins. Reduced costs by digitizing new product pipelines, reducing time to site by 75%. Maintained revenue through dry seasons by developing an auxiliary brand and managing operations of that business. Trained up the next generation of designers by providing thought leadership and mentorship.
Adjunct Instructor
ITT Technical Institute 2011 to 2013
Warped the minds and inspired the futures of eager students in the field of graphic design, 3D modeling, and computer animation. Gave lectures, provided life skills, and occasionally took attendance.
Learning
I've always been interested in art, design, and technology. Growing up I had a passion for illustration and loved making things with MS Paint. I took a lot of art and architecture classes in High School and spent a year as an understudy draftsman before deciding on a career path for college.
This happened to be during the recession, and the home builder I worked for was struggling - so I pivoted from designing houses to designing video games, moved to Florida, and attended Full Sail University.
After graduating from Full Sail I moved back to the midwest and taught at a technical college for 3 years. Teaching was inconsistent so to suppliment income I juggled a few jobs including retail management, hand-dying yarn, and being a licensed realtor. After dabbling in web development at an e-commerce company I decided to go all in learning to code. I went through the Free Code Camp and have completed 4 certifications to date.
Formal Education
Bachelor of Science, Full Sail University (2010)
Valedictorian. Recognized for perfect attendance. Received 2 Course Director's awards for design work.
Free Code Camp Certifications