Matthew Cantrell
Creative Director, Product & Experience Design
mattcan.xyz
Central Coast, CA
Summary
Creative Director & experience designer with 18 years of shipping products to global audiences. My work spans UX, product, art direction, illustration, motion, and front-end development. 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
Associate Creative Director | Product & Experience
Samsung, T Mobile
2018 - 2022
San Francisco, Ca
Progressed from Senior Designer to ACD over four years, working across Samsung's device launch ecosystem, enterprise UX, and apps and services design.
Led UX, UI, and art direction for Samsung Galaxy retail mode experiences across multiple device generations, interactive in-store software deployed to tens of thousands of retail locations in 60+ countries and reaching 10M+ consumers
Drove the UPS.com redesign pitch as ACD, leading navigation strategy, interaction design, and a fully functioning prototype under CCO
Fully allocated in final years to Samsung's apps and services ecosystem building brand toolkits, iconography systems, web experiences, and motion design to support Galaxy adjacent apps including SmartThings
Led user research and usability testing using Maze and in-person sessions to validate design decisions and drive iteration
Firestone Walker - 805
Global Creative Director | Experience & Content Systems
Firestone Walker, 805 Brewing
2019 - 2020
Central Coast, Ca
Hired by the CMO, formerly of Ernie Ball, to lead a full digital transformation for two of California's most recognized craft beer brands simultaneously.
Directed the complete redesign of FirestoneWalker.com and 805Beer.com, building a shared CMS framework with ANML while maintaining two distinct brand identities
Built a content ecosystem from scratch including episodic lifestyle film series, ambassador program, photography shoots, and editorial platform
Led all art direction for photo and video production, bringing in an external network of photographers and directors to establish a new visual language for both brands
Recognized with a Davey Award and two W3 Awards upon launch
Lincoln Design Co.
Design Lead | Brand Development
Crocs, Nike, Mattel, Black Rifle Coffee
2016 - Present
Vancouver, Wa
Creative development across product, brand, and digital for clients including Fortnite, Nike, Crocs, SKB, Realtree, and NASCAR.
Partnered with clients and internal teams to create work that was both strategically sound and visually distinctive.
NHS Inc.
Art Director | Brand Development
Independent Trucks
2021 - 2026
Santa Cruz, Ca
Sole creative resource for Independent Trucks, one of skateboarding's most iconic brands. Functioned as the de facto Creative Director for the brand across all channels and categories.
Managed cross-department collaboration and creative review across sales, product, and marketing.
Created and implemented a design system and templatized asset creation for all digital marketing assets.
Optimized a weekly product email strategy to increase it's revenue by over 300%.
Designed or directed all apparel, hardgoods, catalogs, email campaigns, digital assets, and retail materials.
Coordinated company wide brand presentations and facilitated internal feedback for all product offerings.
Ernie Ball
Art Director
Ernie Ball, Music Man
2017 - 2018
San Luis Obispo, Ca
Led a full digital transformation for the world's most recognized guitar string and instrument brand. Working directly with the CMO to modernize Ernie Ball's digital footprint across web and social.
Rebuilt the web presence from the ground up, moving the brand from an outdated static site to a content-forward digital platform
Established a new art direction system for social photography style, editorial voice, and visual language across channels
Built the foundation of a content library that carried the brand's digital presence forward after my tenure
Toolbox
Design & Build
Motion & Interaction
AI Stack
User Research & Testing
Collaboration
Skills
Strengths
Listening
Collaborating
Meticulous
Passions
Illustration
Music
Outdoors
