Design leader with more than 18 years of experience and the ability to visualize the big picture with a combination of business and creative expertise—bringing innovation, strategy, and unity to teams and projects.
EXPERTISE
Leadership and collaboration – Adept at establishing creative vision aligned with business strategies and a holistic approach to execution. Formulating strategic plans, road maps, ongoing development and evolution of the brand, and overseeing design. Leading and facilitating meetings and work-sessions and building partnerships with other internal teams and external partners.
Management – Over five years of creative team management experience, leading in fast-paced, high-growth organizations—including hiring, managing, mentoring, setting expectations, assigning work, and retaining talent. With an adaptive style to best support individuals to do their best work and enabling groups to come together to create compelling solutions that drive the business.
Design – Driven to create effective strategies for projects and campaigns; directing and leading all design activities from concept to completion—ensuring quality, managing budget, priorities, and timelines. With a very thoughtful approach to design consider ethics, integrity, accessibility, and sustainability.
Process, systems, and infrastructure – Skilled at evaluating and establishing or evolving design processes, systems, and tools to improve efficiency, scale and meet business needs (including tracking and reporting).
Design Thinking
Leadership
Branding
Team ManagemenT
Human-centered design
Design Management
Service Design
Change Management
Systems Thinking
Coaching & Mentorship
Co-creation
Collaboration
Design (CD/AD/UX/UI/GD)
“Heather is a collaborative and detail-oriented with a unique ability to build relationships and facilitate communication between teams. During my time at lynda.com, she played a key role in ensuring that creative, marketing, and UX teams were working together towards a consistent brand language. Heather strikes a balance between enforcing established guidelines and encouraging new ideas. As a designer, I always felt heard and knew my contributions were valued. Heather’s collaborative communication style, keen design sense, and positive attitude make her an asset to any team.”
EXPERIENCE
LinkedIn
• Senior Designer, UX [2017-present]
• Senior User Experience Designer [2016-2017]
• Senior Art Director and manager [2015-2016]
Developing marketing and advertising across all LinkedIn products for both consumers and enterprise clients. Leading or directing work from concept to completion. Responsibilities include design, prototyping, wireframing, customer journeys, research, testing, and more utilizing Sketch, Adobe Creative Suite, Invision app, and various CMS systems and other tools.
Led design team for the large-scale efforts to create co-branded product marketing material for Lynda.com and LinkedIn, including large microsite, email campaigns, product collateral, and long-form content.
Oversaw agency executing design and provide direction for the 3rd Annual LinkedIn Learning Workplace Learning Report and website, following the new LinkedIn brand style—with the website getting hundreds of thousands of views and higher than expected conversion rates.
Received a Limelight employee award for contributions to LinkedIn Gigs product. Directed the design of a pilot program addressing the emerging gig economy; including product naming, launch plan, marketing, and promotion—which was tested in two cities and exceeded expectations by 300%.
Lynda.com
• Senior Art Director, director and manager of design team [2011-2015]
• Art Director and manager [2010-2011]
• Lead Designer [2008-2010]
Advanced to leader and manager of the design team from contractor and designer for this leading online training and tutorial company serving global audiences. Developed and oversaw designs across a variety of disciplines, which entailed brand, product (UX/UI), advertising and marketing, experiential and event materials, and print. Directed resource planning and outsourcing of design and creative work.
Launched successful large-scale product redesign, which impacted every part of the platform and the first mobile app for the product.
Established and developed brand guidelines and asset libraries (patterns, iconography, photography, and more) for the design teams—and ongoing change management.
Prioritized and aligned on business goals in collaboration with executives including the Chief Creative Officer, VP of Marketing, and VP of Product.
Transformed the companies approach to design, championed new processes, and implemented new tools and systems to support the team and allow us to scale. By 2015, the team was managing hundreds of projects a year, tracking, and reporting on progress.
Independent Consultant [2000-2010]
Provided creative direction, art direction, design, and illustration. Developed brand and design strategy and created work from logo design to collateral and marketing for a variety of clients (including creative agencies).
and more…
“Heather Stallings is a talented senior art director with an exceptionally strong work ethic, who pays great attention to detail, and exercises extreme dedication to brand integrity. She worked directly with me and my husband Bruce Heavin for much of her tenure at lynda.com and we can personally vouch for her initiative, commitment, and high standards. Heather is not just talented at doing her work, but she is also an excellent project and brand manager. She has a great personal demeanor, is consistently helpful, and is often the first one in and the last to leave. She takes pride in her projects and takes strong personal accountability. She is good at both print and web, and has supported a state-of-the-art digital marketing team for a high-growth company.”
EDUCATION
Master of Fine Arts: Design
Academy of Art University / San Francisco, California
Bachelor of Art: Graphic Design, Illustration, and Drawing Cum Laude
California State University Northridge / Northridge, California
Associate of Arts: General Liberal Arts and Sciences
Ventura College / Ventura, California
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT & CERTIFICATIONS
Conscious Business Training Program
Fred Kofman is the author of Conscious Business: How to Build Value Through Values
LinkedIn internal employee training program
Design Thinking & UX Design Workshop
In-Person Workshop by Chris Nodder
Featured in a number of LinkedIn Learning courses, including this one
Design as a Strategic Partner
Design Management Institute Workshop
Creative Leadership with Prasad Kaipa
Prasad Kaipa is the author of From Smart to Wise: Acting and Leading with Wisdom
Design Management Institute Workshop
Service Design for Personalized Experiences
Design Management Institute Workshop
Certified Scrum Product Owner
Scrum Alliance
Awards
Communication Arts Award of Excellence 2011
Award of Excellence in the 52nd Annual Design Exhibition for Miscellaneous Company Literature for: The Art of Lynda.com book
Illustrations by: Don Barnett, John Derry, Richard Downs, Bruce Heavin, John Hersey, and Maria Rendon
Stefan G. Bucher, graphic designer, 344 Design
344 Design, LLC, design firm
Heather Stallings, art director, lynda.com
Robert Giaimo, creative director, lynda.com
Lynda Weinman, lynda.com, client
AFFILIATIONS
DMI / Design Management Institute
AIGA / the professional association for design
OTHER ACTIVITY
Cresta International Advertising Awards
Preliminary Jury Member [2014]
Portfolio Day, AIGA, Santa Barbara
Reviewer and Advisor [2014, 2013, 2012]
TOPICS I’m curious about now
• The intersection of tech, business, design • AI and ways it can be used for good • Biomimicry • Mindfulness • Meditation • and more
classic art & design BACKGROUND
• Illustration • Drawing • Sacred geometry • Silkscreen • Bookmaking • Puppetry • Photography • and more
PERSONAL INTERESTS
• Enjoy nature • Animals • Dance • Art • Motorcycle riding • DIY/Construction projects • Discovering new things
/// Build Understanding
/// Shape Options
/// Make Decisions
METASKILLS
Metaskills include: feeling, seeing, dreaming, making, and learning. In Marty Neumeier’s book, METASKILLS: FIVE TALENTS FOR THE ROBOTIC AGE, he presents these five metaskills as what will accelerate success for people in an age of nonstop innovation.
Learn more about metaskills: http://www.martyneumeier.com/metaskills/
