Matthew Cantrell

Matthew Cantrell

Matthew Cantrell

Creative leader | Product, brand & experience designer

mattcan.xyz

Linkedin

Email

Central Coast, CA

SUMMARY

18 years of shipping products to global audiences. My work spans UX, UI, product, creative direction, art direction, illustration, motion, and front-end development. A player-coach by nature, I'm known for hands-on leadership from early concept through global deployment. I'm equally comfortable owning creative output or embedded within a large cross-functional team.

EXPERIENCE

Razorfish - Publicis Sapient

Razorfish - Publicis Sapient

Associate Creative Director | Product & Experience Design

Associate Creative Director | Product & Experience Design

Samsung • UPS • T Mobile

2020 - 2022

2020 - 2022

Central Coast, Ca

Recruited back to Razorfish by the VP Group Creative Director to lead experience design initiatives across Samsung's device launch ecosystem, enterprise UX, and Samsung.com apps and services.

  • Led UX and creative direction for Samsung Galaxy Retail Mode across multiple device generations, deployed to 200,000+ devices in 60+ countries and reaching 10M+ consumers.

  • Directed user research and usability testing across multiple product launches, identifying key friction points and improving completion by ~10%.

  • Led the redesign of UPS.com's core flow with an always-visible navigation system built around a client-defined need, helping secure a multi-year partnership renewal.

  • Led design and evolution of Samsung.com Apps & Services, overseeing a portfolio of 10+ native app pages reaching 3 million+ visitors monthly.

  • Built and led a multidisciplinary team of 8 designers, researchers, copywriters, and strategists, partnering directly with client stakeholders to align design decisions with business goals.

Firestone Walker - 805

Firestone Walker - 805

Global Creative Director | Experience Design & Content Systems

Global Creative Director | Experience Design & Content Systems

Firestone Walker • 805 Brewing

2019 - 2020

2019 - 2020

Central Coast, Ca

Recruited by the former Ernie Ball CMO to lead digital transformation for Firestone Walker and 805 during a period of 28% growth.

  • Led the redesign of FirestoneWalker.com and 805Beer.com, creating a shared CMS framework while maintaining distinct brand identities and experiences.

  • Built a new content ecosystem supporting 20+ ambassadors and dozens of annual productions, directing an external network of photographers and filmmakers across episodic films, editorial, product photography, and digital content.

  • Extended the new visual system across dozens of large-format billboard OOH placements, reaching millions of consumers across key West Coast markets.

  • Launch work was recognized with a Davey Award and two W3 Awards.

Razorfish - Publicis Sapient

Razorfish - Publicis Sapient

Senior Designer → Art Director | Product & Experience Design

Senior Designer → Art Director | Product & Experience Design

Samsung • T Mobile

2018 - 2019

2018 - 2019

San Francisco, Ca

Joined Razorfish as a Senior Designer and promoted to Art Director, helping expand its digital experience and interaction design practice for Samsung across device launches, enterprise UX, and Samsung.com.

  • Defined interaction models, user flows, wireframes, prototypes, and visual systems for Samsung Galaxy Retail Mode, deployed across 200,000+ devices in 53 countries and 41 languages.

  • Designed across web, mobile, and device-based applications, creating brand toolkits, iconography, motion systems, and supporting web experiences for native Galaxy products.

  • Partnered with UX, strategy, development, and client teams to translate complex product requirements into intuitive customer experiences across multiple Galaxy launches.

Lincoln Design Co.

Lincoln Design Co.

Design Lead | Illustration & Brand Development

Design Lead | Illustration & Brand Development

Crocs • Nike • Mattel • Black Rifle Coffee

2016 - Present

2016 - Present

Vancouver, Wa

10-year creative partnership with Lincoln Design Co., first as an independent collaborator and later joining the studio full-time as Design Lead and Art Director.

  • Established and grew Lincoln's relationship with Crocs from an initial engagement into an ongoing creative partnership, serving as Creative Director across 6 major programs spanning Crocs at Work, Slides, Star Wars, The Simpsons, Realtree, and NASCAR.

  • Led the brand redesign for SKB Cases, creating a new identity, logo, brand system, photographic direction, tone of voice, and original brand tagline deployed across packaging, digital, catalogs, trade shows, and product graphics.

  • Created and directed hundreds of illustration and product art executions for global entertainment and consumer brands including Fortnite, Hot Wheels, Hasbro, and Mattel.

  • Operate as a player-coach across multidisciplinary teams, leading creative direction, client presentations, and stakeholder relationships while remaining hands-on from concept through final production.

NHS Inc.

NHS Inc.

Design Lead | Art Direction & Brand Development

Design Lead | Art Direction & Brand Development

Independent Trucks • Santa Cruz Skateboards

Independent Trucks • Santa Cruz

2021 - 2026

2021 - 2026

Santa Cruz, Ca

Served as the sole creative resource for Independent Trucks, functioning as the de facto Creative Director across one of skateboarding's most established brands.

  • Operated as a player-coach across 300+ annual softgoods and hardgoods SKUs, setting creative direction while remaining hands-on through seasonal product launches, catalogs, digital marketing, email, retail, and brand communications.

  • Transitioned product imagery from traditional photography to a scalable 3D rendering system, creating consistent assets across hundreds of annual SKUs while streamlining production.

  • Built and implemented a design system and templated production framework for digital marketing, improving consistency and production efficiency while helping increase D2C revenue from weekly email campaigns by 300%.

  • Directed global licensing across 5 international markets, overseeing locally developed product lines for Europe, Argentina, Australia, Japan, and China while maintaining global brand consistency.

Ernie Ball

Ernie Ball

Art Director

Art Director

Ernie Ball • Music Man

2017 - 2018

2017 - 2018

San Luis Obispo, Ca

Led a digital transformation for Ernie Ball and Music Man, working directly with the CMO to modernize the brands' digital presence across web, content, and social.

  • Rebuilt the web presence from an outdated static experience into a global digital platform spanning content, e-commerce, and localized brand experiences.

  • Led the launch of the St. Vincent signature guitar, developing the digital and creative campaign that generated 500M+ impressions in its first 30 days.

  • Led art direction for original television and digital content including the AT&T Original Series Pursuit of Tone and web series String Theory, featuring some of the world's most recognized musicians.

  • Led the Colors of Rock 'N' Roll campaign with Aaron Draplin, extending the across digital, film, OOH, packaging, and retail in 10+ languages worldwide.

SELECTED IMPACT

GLOBAL SCALE

10M+

Consumers reached

60+

Country localization

200k +

Device installs

Led product and experience design for Samsung flagship mobile device Retail Mode, deployed globally.

DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM

Led the design and evolution of Samsung.com Apps & Services over multiple years, building a portfolio of product pages while contributing new components and interaction patterns to Samsung’s One UI design system.

DESIGN STRATEGY

Led the experience design strategy for the UPS.com RFP, translating the vision into UX, interaction design, and high fidelity prototypes that helped Razorfish secure the redesign engagement.

Led the UPS.com core flow redesign, translating the client vision into UX, interaction design, and high fidelity prototypes that helped Razorfish secure the redesign engagement.

CORE EXPERTISE

Leadership

Creative Direction, Design Leadership, Strategy, Team Building

Product & Experience

Product Design, Ux / UI, Interaction Design, Design Systems, Prototyping

Brand & Content

Branding, Art Direction, Illustration, Motion Graphics, Video

TOOLS

AI Stack

Claude • ChatGPT • Perplexity • Grok • FigmaAI • Framer Workshop • Lovable • MidJourney

Design & Build

Figma • Framer • Webflow • Adobe CC

Motion

After Effects • Lottie • Rive

User Research

Maze • Lookback • Hotjar

Collaboration

FigJam • Notion • Asana • Trello • Basecamp • ClickUp

STRENGTHS

Listening

Good solutions start with understanding. I ask the right questions and the answers are present in the work.

Collaborating

I've never made anything great alone.

I'm good at making sure everyone is heard.

I've never made anything great alone. I'm good at making sure everyone is heard.

Meticulous

I notice the thing nobody else caught.

Sometimes annoying, always useful.

I notice the thing nobody else caught. Sometimes annoying, always useful.

PASSIONS

Illustration

Outdoors

Music

Running

SELECTED IMPACT

GLOBAL SCALE

10M+

Consumers reached

60+

Country localization

200k +

Device installs

Led product and experience design for Samsung flagship mobile device Retail Mode, deployed globally.

DIGITAL ECOSYSTEM

Led the design and evolution of Samsung.com Apps & Services over multiple years, building a portfolio of product pages while contributing new components and interaction patterns to Samsung’s One UI design system.

DESIGN STRATEGY

Led the experience design strategy for the UPS.com RFP, translating the vision into UX, interaction design, and high fidelity prototypes that helped Razorfish secure the redesign engagement.

CORE EXPERTISE

Leadership

Creative Direction, Design Leadership, Strategy, Team Building

Product & Experience

Product Design, Ux / UI, Interaction Design, Design Systems, Prototyping

Brand & Content

Branding, Art Direction, Illustration, Motion Graphics, Video

TOOLS

AI Stack

Claude • ChatGPT • Perplexity • Grok • FigmaAI • Framer Workshop • Lovable • MidJourney

Design & Build

Figma • Framer • Webflow • Adobe CC

Motion

After Effects • Lottie • Rive

User Research

Maze • Lookback • Hotjar

Collaboration

FigJam • Notion • Asana • Trello • Basecamp • ClickUp

STRENGTHS

Listening

Good solutions start with understanding. I ask the right questions and the answers are present in the work.

Collaborating

I've never made anything great alone.

I'm good at making sure everyone is heard.

Meticulous

I notice the thing nobody else caught.

Sometimes annoying, always useful.

PASSIONS

Illustration

Outdoors

Music

Running

Light Mode aktiv