I love solving problems beautifully and creatively.
I’m a web and brand designer with a passion for creating great things. Some of my best work is below.
A local sports league spun into a wearable identity
I’ve been playing with the Memphis Ultimate Disc Association (MUDA) for over 15 years. So, as a player and member of this community, I jumped at the opportunity when this beautiful group of circular plastic-chasers approached me to take on their brand identity design work.
Photo: instagram.com/aubreydnelson/
“Grape Jelly,” shown above, is one of eight MUDA Summer League teams sporting the octogram-based insignia. They beat my Green team, “Wildfire,” on the night of my writing this. 😒
The concept and shape of the iconic Memphis Bridge are foundational to the identity system. This and the following two images are from the rationale presentation I made to sell the big idea.
Historically, the league had utilized a squid as a symbol for the group. I noticed if the bridge was duplicated and rotated eight times, it created an intricate cephalopod-like shape.
Enclosing that shape in a circle felt right for a frisbee league. The star or “octogram” in the middle provided a unique graphic twist—paying tribute to the stars on the Tennessee state flag.
Ultimately, after working through typography, color, and graphic element creation, I provided a set of standards and usage rules in document form. You can download it here.
A unique user experience on sixteen global sites
Since 2011, I’ve worked in the User Experience group at Hilton—one of the highest-regarded companies in the global hospitality and travel industry. I’ve had the honor of working on sites for some beautiful properties and leading brands.
Of the projects I’ve worked on over the years, the redesign of Hilton.com, including all of Hilton’s brand’s websites, has been the most challenging. I acted as design lead on the project. The redesign deployed as a minimum viable product (MVP) and its creation was taken on by an integrated team via agile design methodologies.
Our team spent much time analyzing spreadsheets and pouring over backlogs—all part of the process of incremental design.
One exercise we went through early on was to develop personas to guide our decision-making as we enhanced the customer journey.
We spent time honing “how might we’s” and brainstorming with marketing stakeholders to leverage their knowledge of our customer base.
We used the same framework for each brand—so to give them as much of a distinct look and feel as possible, we made web standards like these.
The result, sixteen phase-one sites, out the door faster than you can make a bed! Progress over perfection was a driving rule. Also, it’s exciting to see how these sites are poised for test and learn evolution and growth.
A team-building event where what’s made are friendships
Obsessive Type was an afternoon typography-themed workshop I coordinated as an outing for designers in Hilton’s User Experience Group. The Stefan Sagmeister quote, “Obsessions make my life worse, but my work better” inspires the concept behind the event.
Photo: Ryan Rhea
This workshop was one of a few our group enjoyed covering design-friendly topics like typography and printmaking, tools and photography.
“Obsessions make my life worse and my work better.”
— Stefan Sagmeister
It’s always nice to have an opportunity to flex my headline writing and advertising muscles. These posters promote the event with a little inside typography humor.
Workshop space and “L” woodcut photo: instagram.com/luistoro
The day began with a conversation over a short slide presentation and ended by producing letter-based wood block prints (shown above).
About me
Hi! I’m Carl Fox—an award-winning graphic designer living and working in Memphis, Tennessee. I currently work for the User Experience group at Hilton where my focus lies in creating digital experiences that inspire people to book our world-class hospitality and travel offerings.
When I’m not being creative, I’m hanging out with my wife, three awesome kids, and my wee pup, Frankie. You can also find me after hours at Shelby Farms painting landscapes or dropping dimes playing the emergent game of Goaltimate.
I truly love the practice and process of design, no matter the form, need, shape or function. If you have a need, I’d love to connect. Cheers!
Contact
901.634.7432
cfox@carlfox.com
