NOTE: the website is currently live, but the content and design may have changed since my time there.
Over the course of ~2 months, I worked on multiple mission-critical tasks for the company: Website & Branding
- Redesigned, rebuilt, and redeployed the company website (migrated from Squarespace to SvelteKit with Sanity CMS and Stripe).
- Collaborated with the brand designer to establish brand voice and align visuals with company direction.
- Designed the landing page and created content pages with CEO/COO feedback loops. Packaging Design
- Investigated packaging standards through lab observations, prototypes, and discussions.
- Designed two separate packages: trial packs and cryobox-based solutions for future products.
- Created dielines, liaised with manufacturers, and adapted quickly when the initial supplier proved unresponsive. User Research
- Conducted 18 interviews with scientists to understand workflows, brand preferences, and adoption drivers.
- Synthesized findings into a report of product recommendations for the company. Additional Design Work
- Explored package add-ins and features (e.g., magnetic flip-top lids) to enhance the opening experience and reinforce branding. Prototyped and sketched a small comic strip to include in the box.
Going into this role, I expected to be comfortable with web design and development, but stretching into packaging, manufacturing coordination, and synthetic biology was new territory. Prior to last year, I would have felt comfortable committing to perhaps two of the four major tasks outlined above. Delivering across all areas has given me confidence in managing multiple parallel projects under tight timelines. This was my first experience in biotech, and I now see significant value in the tools it provides to design engineers. I anticipate returning to this space as DNA synthesis costs continue to fall and new opportunities emerge. The experience also broadened my professional network; I connected with individuals exploring diverse applications of biological systems, which will enrich my future interdisciplinary work and I found lots of inspiration throughout my summer working in the space.
