Shawn Petersen
I’m a designer, educator, and business owner with extensive experience building solutions to complex user and client problems. I’ve worked across a diverse set of industries, disciplines, and projects, from the launch of the world’s first rechargeable battery-driven scooter in Taiwan to the development of a global climate initiative aiming to activate 1 billion people to take small practical steps for the climate.
I’ve led multi-disciplinary agency teams (creative-technologies, industrial and digital product designers, strategists, UX researchers and more) to design new physical and digital product experiences, new brands, new market strategies--and always with an innovative focus on changing the way things work and how people interact with products and services.
Recently, I have…
Not Boring Software Company – Advising on brand/design development for a boutique software design company.
Count Us In – Product visioning, GTM strategy, brand, and design system development.
Aspen – Bridging digital and physical experiences through a holistic digital product strategy and an end-to-end e-commerce redesign.
Technology innovation and integrated team building
Nelson Cash, co-founding a design practice from scratch
With a business partner, I co-founded and built a boutique design company in Portland from the ground up, starting with two employee-owners and growing to a team of 24+ over a four-year timeframe.
Gogoro, integrated launch in Taipei
Prior to starting a design agency, I successfully led the design and brand launch for Gogoro, the first rechargeable battery-driven scooter company in Taiwan. This two-year, comprehensive engagement included developing their brand platform, product naming, defining their identity and bringing it to life through a unified design strategy across the full spectrum of customer experiences. Gogoro successfully launched their new product in their pilot market, the mega-city of Taipei.
Instrument, building an agency from 16 to 150
At Instrument, I led a group of digital thinkers — creative technologists, user experience leads, designers and developers. I provided insights, creative guidance, and leadership to both internal teams and global brands, including Levi's Commuter, Google, Facebook, Nike, Red Bull, and Flipboard. Our collaborative spirit and vision fueled my team's and the agency's creative growth. Helped Instrument leap from 15 -150+ strong in a little under 3 years, and secured and grew major client relationships with Levi's, Red Bull, Google, and Nike.
Carbon, unveiled a scientific breakthrough
With a small nimble creative team, we successfully unveiled and brought to market the scientific breakthrough behind Carbon Digital Light Synthesis™ (DLS™) technology, launched for the first time at TED. Carbon introduced their company through a world-class TED Presentation, stunning CG-content and a smart and memorable Digital Experience. Up against a tight timeline, we developed an agile approach that allowed us to solve problems in real-time through close collaboration with the Carbon3D CEO and CSD in Redwood City, CA.
Get in touch for bookings
& collaborations.
Selected Accolades
Not Boring Software Co - Advisor
VSCO - Advisor
The Wild - Advisor
Semi-Permanent, Speaker
DesignThinkers / Toronto, Speaker
Google Design Workshop, Mentor
Selected Clients
Gogoro, Carbon, VSCO, The Tech Interactive, Alphabet, Google, Indeed, Mercari, FICO, Nike, FiftyThree, Asana, Lean In, Autodesk, Netflix, All Raise, YouTube, Anki: Cozmo and Overdrive, Microsoft, Nixon, Day Dream, Quora, Adidas, and Trunk Club.
Selected Interviews
FWA, Judge 2015
FWA Interview, 2015
AWWWARDS, Judge 2014
Design Week Portland, Interview
Design Week Portland, Workshop
Webvisionary, Award
FWA Meet the Judges, 2016
FWA Interview with Rob Ford, 2015
One Of Many, 2014
Design Week Portland, 2014
Lost At E Minor, 2013