Dakota Nguyen ︎ Design & Direction

Art director + multidisciplinary designer in Toronto. I build brands, sandbox systems, and move between realms of digital & tactile design.


Currently Art Director @ Endy and Casper Canada.


︎︎︎ Read More
︎︎︎ Behance
︎︎︎ LinkedIn

Selected Works

Design & Direction
2021 —
Branding
2022
Branding
2021
Packaging
2021
Branding
2021
Branding
2021
Illustration
2021
Fine Arts
2018
Fine Arts
2017 —

︎︎︎ Full resume available upon request.

Endy




In 2021, I joined the Creative Team at Endy have since spearheaded the company's consistent and impactful creative transformations. Some of my highs include leading record-breaking sales and having my work on a giant billboard. Some of my lows involve an unsuccessful pitch. Below are select projects.




Brand Type Refresh


One of my early initiatives at Endy was researching a replacement for Utopia, our then primary typeface who had earned its retirement after serving in the initial growth phase.

Role

Researcher, Lead Designer

Tools

InDesign, Illustrator, Notion

Scope

Brand Design, Project Management

Team

Chris Pangan, Zac Spurling, Natalie Shum



I fostered a collaborative research space for a team of Senior Designers. We went crazy with Notion’s database and even gave each candidate a 🌶️ rating (Utopia is very mild).



My pitch for Wulkan Display emerged as the frontrunner. It complements our sans-serif Calibre beautifully, shares a Transitional root with Utopia but has a more refined anatomy, and displays an editorial quality. Wulkan embodies the Endy story.

Wulkan Display was implemented within 6 months of research and development, with joint efforts from The Designers Foundry. I developed new typography guidelines in anticipation of the digital launch, followed by a phased integration into our printed materials.

Wulkan was a humble 🌶️/🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️.



Wulkan’s debut at the Gardiner Expressway (Toronto, ON)




Email Design Templates


Role

Researcher, Lead Designer

Tools

Sketch

Scope

Design System

Team

Natalie Shum


Endy dispatches emails at lightning pace, but a robust design framework was lacking. Three biggest pain points arose:
  • The bulk of our day was spent designing emails from scratch.
  • Visual disparities across different emails.
  • Misalignment between briefing and design outcome, or unclear expectation from stakeholders. Sometimes both.

My teammate and I dove headfirst into a comprehensive audit of our entire email archive. We established a fundamental anatomy that was shared by the majority of our emails, as well as naming conventions for best performing layouts.



We then evaluated each design component’s impact. Our UX/UI team assisted by offering valuable insights on user flow, accessibility, and email marketing trends that could be integrated.

Armed with these learnings, I developed an email design system using Sketch. This involved consolidating variations of design molecules into defined styles, and pre-templating best performing layouts.

The objectives? Minimal effort, maximum output, targeted feedback.





I categorized 2 groups of templates:
  • Promo emails to communicate all sale types and offers. 3 template options.
  • Last chance emails to indicate urgency. 4 template options.

The design system and templates are optimized for both desktop and mobile viewing.

Promo email templates


Last chance email templates

With these templates in action, our workflow is streamlined as follows:

  1. Briefing:
    Email Manager builds a wireframe by selecting an email template and any pre-designed feature block layouts.

  2. Pre-production:
    Copywriter tailors content and generates copy in accordance to the wireframe.

  3. Production: Creative develops visual design for emails based on the wireframe and copy, then sends off for approval.




Product Bundles


In preparation for our highest value sale to date, the project brief called for a fresh creative direction and photography to highlight our product bundles offer. I led our Creative Team to generate these new assets under an ambitious one-week timeframe.

Role

Lead Designer, Art Director

Tools

Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom, Sketch

Scope

Photography Production, Art Direction, Marketing Collateral

Team

Daniel Erse, Natalie Narbutt, Jesse Daley, Byron Chan


We shot these gorgeous lifestyle images under my art direction in our 200 sq. ft. office studio. Lived-in bed, dramatic window lighting, accentuated colours and materials. I got micro-managey and colour graded every photo.

I also designed a gradient motif to pair with the photography, and extended this creative concept across various sale touchpoints. We were on a time crunch, but our work should never look it. Shout out to Natalie Narbutt for being my partner-in-crime.



“Team Endy! I wanted to congratulate you ALL on possibly the MOST successful sale in the company’s history!!!🎊”

- Alya, President & GM


I woke up to this 9 a.m. announcement from Julia, our VP of Marketing after the launch date.

Canada Day/Moving Day was another record-breaking sale I led a few months prior.




Endy Blog Art Direction


Reading before bed > scrolling TikTok. The art direction for the Endy blog was inspired by risograph prints, utilizing both photography cut-outs and graphic forms to build a dreamscape. Below are cover artworks I made for some of our most scathing articles.

Role

Lead Designer

Tools

Photoshop, Illustrator, Notion

Scope

Design System, Art Direction

Team

Catherina Walrond

RV Mattress Guide: Why a Quality Mattress Matters on the Road

How to Choose a Bed Frame: 5 Tips for Support and Comfort

The Ultimate Guide to Calming Sleep Anxiety

3 Signs It’s Time to Replace Your Pillow




Hudson’s Bay Retail Activations


Endy products don’t just belong on digital shelves. We pitched an exclusive collaboration with The Bay to make the best Canadian mattress and showcase our portfolio in luxury brick-and-mortar.

The long term goal? A blooming partnership with the True North giant. It begins humbly with my little sketch.

Role

Designer

Tools

Illustrator

Scope

Retail Design

Team

Chris Pangan, Zac Spurling



My teammate Zac and I each designed a concept. I explored a dynamic, open structure with Canadiana themes, and the integration of kinetic art to diverge from traditional static retail displays. The wooden slats (right side) are angled to allow for perspective art, enticing customers even from a distance.










The project was unfortunately shelved shortly after, as The Bay went MIA on us.