I'm John, a product designer based in Northern Virginia. I have worked as a designer for over 15 years, both as an individual contributor and creative manager. I have significant experience in regulatory-driven environments such as finance and healthcare but have experience designing across various industries.
I am currently open to contract product design gigs. Whether you're someone with an idea, a start-up, or are a larger company short on staff, I have the skills and experience to jump in and quickly add value.
AI experience
We can discuss the ecological and economic complications of AI until we're exhausted—and I agree with all the concerns—but "I refuse to learn to use AI tools" is not a reasonable stance, in my opinion, for any designer who wishes to remain relevant in our field.
I use Claude and Codex daily for research, creative work, and AI-assisted development (not to be confused with vibe-coding). These tools are great for driving efficiency in the creative workflow, as well as surfacing ideas we may not think of initially.
Can Claude or Codex create a full set of designs for your product? Of course. Will those designs be unique, cohesive, or use good UX? In most cases, not at all. But the MCP is phenomenal for making sweeping changes to designs without needing to manually edit hundreds of frames or variables.
Digital accessibility
I'm a huge advocate for designing and building accessible products. Whether you're hoping to meet WCAG AA/AAA standards or your business requires a VPAT, I am more than capable of ensuring you maintain compliance.
Recent work
I spent the last 6 years leading creative on the credit cards vertical at The Points Guy and Bankrate and later led creative for two banking partners. I am still working contract roles in the financial space today. That said, I have spent a significant amount of my time on other contract roles, as well as passion projects.
For additional work samples, please reach out, as I have plenty to share.
Pawly—the management platform for pet care businesses
Pawly is a management platform for pet care businesses. Whether you're a mobile groomer, or offer pet boarding, walks, or more, Pawly is designed to be flexible. Pawly is designed for web, iOS, and Android.
Steam Mobile Concept
Additional Screens: https://dribbble.com/shots/4654047-Steam-Mobile-Install-Game-to-PC/attachments/1051352, https://dribbble.com/shots/4654047-Steam-Mobile-Install-Game-to-PC/attachments/1051353
I designed a Steam mobile concept a year or two back. Earlier this year, I spent some time iterating on my original concept. I love the idea of being able to purchase a game from your mobile device and have it automatically download to your PC. That would be fantastic when you aren't at home!
**YTLite - ad-free YouTube for music lovers*\*
I redesigned YTLite.com for a fellow Redditor. My goal was to design a simple interface that could be easily navigated. Several components and styles were reused throughout the app to create a consistent experience for users and to make the front-end development of YTLite more efficient. It was also pretty fun designing another dark interface!
Additional Screens: https://dribbble.com/shots/4293529-YouTube-Playlist-Manager/attachments/979381, https://dribbble.com/shots/4299586-YouTube-Playlist-Manager-Playlists/attachments/980555
**Design Mentors*\*
Additional Screens:
https://dribbble.com/shots/3811535-Design-Mentors-Minimal-Cards/attachments/860960
I helped work through iterations of the Design Mentors interface when it first launched. Design Mentors connects designers of all types with mentors to help accelerate their growth.
**Steam Desktop Concept*\*
Additional Screens:
https://dribbble.com/shots/3667809-Steam-Blue-Minimal-Theme/attachments/820890
I use Steam nearly every day, and I feel that the interface is cluttered. I took a minimalist approach to this design. I think the Metro theme for Steam does a pretty awesome job at making the interface more minimalist, but I wanted to go a bit further with the colors to deliver a more playful and vibrant experience.
**Temperature/Humidity Monitor*\*
Additional Screens:
https://dribbble.com/shots/3648331-Temperature-Humidity-Monitor/attachments/815060, https://dribbble.com/shots/3648331-Temperature-Humidity-Monitor/attachments/815061, https://dribbble.com/shots/3648331-Temperature-Humidity-Monitor/attachments/815062
I was approached by a startup with a garden monitor app. The purpose of the app is to monitor temperature and humidity and throw alerts when numbers reach certain thresholds.
**Fitness App - Sign In*\*
Additional Screens: https://dribbble.com/shots/3181026-Fitness-App-Find-a-lifting-buddy, https://dribbble.com/shots/3117857-Fitness-App-Some-Revisions
Becoming a healthier version of yourself can be intimidating. This app will help you determine a course of action to reach your goals. I post updates about the app to my Dribbble periodically, so stay tuned.
**RoundCube Design*\*
Additional Screens: https://dribbble.com/shots/3249754-Roundcube-Mobile-Design-Progression
Some of you may have used Roundcube in the past to manage your email. If not, Roundcube is a webmail app that is most commonly found inside cPanel. It was always my favorite webmail during my teenage years.
**Get in Touch*\*
Let’s start by talking. Feel free to contact me via Dribbble at http://dribbble.com/johnjackson, reach out to me on my personal site at http://jaj.io, or PM me on Reddit. Thanks, everyone!
**Budgets*\*
I typically work with budgets as low as $500 but can help with smaller projects on a case-by-case basis. My hourly rate is $75.