Creative Careers
Designing a system that uses visual language to make fragmented information accessible and personal.
Overview
- Outputs
- Website (digital resource hub)
Digitized resources
3 Interactive Tools
Illustration System
Infographic - Role
- Design Lead, PM
- Timeframe
- 8 months
Context
Background
The Career Development + WIL Office provides career advising and career-related programming for Emily Carr University students and alumni.
Problem
Career resources were siloed across multiple university departments and even when students could find them, career information for creative fields can be hard to navigate and connect with.
Opportunity
Centralize the information in a comprehensive hub, design three interactive tools to address the most common challenges students bring to advising, and build a visual language that makes it all feel approachable and relevant to the students using it.
Advisors noticed a pattern: students were coming into advisory meetings unprepared, not because they weren't motivated, but because they didn't know how to prepare. Emailed instructions were not enough.
The Resource Hub
The final design of the resource hub is organized around how students think. We structured everything around the questions students ask, using plain language in the copy. Advisors helped surface the most common questions and those questions informed the architecture.
The Tools
The office knew they needed three interactive tools, one for each recurring challenge students brought to appointments.
The Resume Builder helps students build a master resume — a comprehensive document they can draw from when tailoring job applications.
The closet analogy came from something an advisor said in a meeting. When we needed a way to explain what a master resume actually is, I drew it: your master resume is a closet, the resumes you send to employers are the outfits.
Students often struggle to identify and name their transferable skills. The design starts broad by asking for your degree, and narrows toward more specific and personal content: your actual skills.
"What are your skills?" is an intimidating question. Instead, the design starts with users selecting their degree and major, then the specific software tools associated with their coursework. From these selections, the associated skills are surfaced.
This tool took the longest to develop and was designed by me, after the students' early concepts kept producing the same result: degree name → job title. I wanted to challenge that and present something more expansive.
The Reframe
Instead of degree → career, the tool became a self-reflection instrument. It asks about passions, skills, and workplace values, then surfaces career directions based on that combination. Your degree is one input, not the answer.
Drag and drop interaction
With each question, students drag and drop floating shapes into a holding circle — claiming their selections rather than typing or checking boxes.
Q1 — Industries
circle bubbles
Q2 — Skills
semi-circle bubbles
Q3 — Values
pill bubbles
Results
At the end, students receive a four-page PDF worksheet to bring to an advising appointment. This tool is a starting point, not a verdict.
Resume Builder
The Resume Builder helps students build a master resume — a comprehensive document they can draw from when tailoring job applications.
The closet analogy came from something an advisor said in a meeting. When we needed a way to explain what a master resume actually is, I drew it: your master resume is a closet, the resumes you send to employers are the outfits.
Skill Identifier
Students often struggle to identify and name their transferable skills. The design starts broad by asking for your degree, and narrows toward your actual skills.
"What are your skills?" is an intimidating question. Instead, the design starts with users selecting their degree and major, then the specific software tools associated with their coursework. From these selections, the associated skills are surfaced.
Career Pathfinder
This tool took the longest to develop and was designed by me, after the students' early concepts kept producing degree name → job title. I wanted to challenge that and present something more expansive.
The Reframe
Instead of degree → career, the tool became a self-reflection instrument. It asks about passions, skills, and workplace values, then surfaces career directions based on that combination. Your degree is one input, not the answer.
Drag and drop interaction
With each question, students drag and drop floating shapes into a holding circle — claiming their selections rather than typing or checking boxes.
Q1 — Industries
circle bubbles
Q2 — Skills
semi-circle bubbles
Q3 — Values
pill bubbles
Results
At the end, students receive a four-page PDF worksheet to bring to an advising appointment. This tool is a starting point, not a verdict.
Impact
Students, alumni, and prospective applicants supported annually
Transformed in-person services into an accessible digital resource
Resources consolidated, streamlining access for students, alumni, and advisors
Adopted by faculty and shared across other institutions
Update
Since launch, the Creative Careers site has continued to evolve. While the current design reflects updated university branding, the core functionality, layout, and structure remain true to our original goals of making career resources more accessible, student-centered, and actionable.
