Portfolio
Joined CDK Global (formerly Cobalt) in a contract Web Builder role for a six-month website migration project.
Participated in an early phase of the rebranding of the Athletics Department at California State University, San Bernardino during my internship as a Graphic Designer. Collaborated with Athletics r...
Took over all design and development responsibilities for the Cobalt/CDK Global Under the Hood Digital Newsletter. Took on a Lead role for a small design team, leading efforts to compile newsletter...
Joined Gearcritech, an entertainment and technology news website, as writer, associate editor, and admin.
Finished the first draft of volumes I-IV of The Dark Hand Covenant, a series of fantasy novels. Now working on second draft rewrites and will hopefully be ready for publishing in the next year. “Fo...
Started developing and writing a series of fantasy novels, The Dark Hand Saga, starting with Book One: The Dark Hand Covenant.
Read Design Engineering Handbook from InVision https://www.designbetter.co/design-engineering-handbook
Updated my personal website to a more modern theme with a balanced focus on my portfolio and blog. NCC version 4.0, "Response".
Hired a new teammate to join me on the AXE Team. Personally vetted and interviewed a handful of candidates to work with me on the AXE suite of enterprise web applications and selected the one I fel...
Updated my personal website to reflect more of my recent work, including UX case studies, graphic/visual design work, and digital art. http://www.nicholascristo.com/ NCC version 5.0
Contributed to the Innovation Days event for CDK Global, a week-long series of ideation, brainstorming, and project-pitching across the organization with the focus of giving a platform to associate...
Produced a promotional video for the STAR Program. Wrote the script, filmed and directed the video, designed all collateral, sounds, and effects, and edited using Adobe Premiere Pro.
Contributed to the Collaboration Days event for CDK Global, a week-long series of internal conferences led by various teams and leaders within the organization. Directly supported executive leaders...
Created the Deskshare Manager enterprise web application. An internal application for associates to submit requests for Work Location Rearrangement such as homeshoring, desksharing, or cubicle loca...
Created [Cosmic Cube] Tessellation. Cube-003 in the Cosmic Cube series on Rarible.
Created Ether Nature on Rarible.
Read The Elements of Content Strategy for A Book Apart by Erin Kissane. https://abookapart.com/products/the-elements-of-content-strategy
Read HTML5 for Web Designers for A Book Apart, by Jeremy Keith and Rachel Andrew. https://abookapart.com/products/html5-for-web-designers
Read the Design Leads and the Value of Design Report for the 2021 AIGA Design Points of View Research Initiative. https://www.aiga.org/design/design-research-insights
Read Product Development for Distribute Teams by UXPin https://www.uxpin.com/studio/ebooks/distributed-product-development-teams/
Read The Agile UX Best Practices Bundle by UXPin. • The Guide to Agile UX Design Sprints • Real-Life UX Design Processes • Agile UX in the Enterprise https://www.uxpin.com/studio/ebooks/agile-ux-be...
Attended Emerald City Comic-Con 2010 reporting for SNN Core. https://www.emeraldcitycomiccon.com/
Attended San Diego Comic-Con 2006 reporting for SNN Core.
Attended Comic-Con 2007 in San Diego reporting for SNN Core.
Read Minimalist UI Design Trends 2016 from UXPin. https://www.uxpin.com/studio/ebooks/minimalist-ui-design-trends-2016/
Read the Design Maturity Report from InVision. https://www.invisionapp.com/design-better/design-maturity-model
Read Benchmarking Your Design System from InVision. https://www.invisionapp.com/lp/design-system-benchmarking-guide
Read The Business Impact of Design: Five Best Practices For Measuring It from InVision. https://www.invisionapp.com/lp/business-impact-design-forrester
Read the Design Trends Report: Talent from InVision. https://www.invisionapp.com/design-trends-report-talent
Read the Building a Design System Community guide from InVision. https://www.invisionapp.com/lp/design-system-community-guide
Read the Scaling Remote Collaboration for Digital Product Teams report by InVision. https://www.invisionapp.com/lp/collaboration-at-scale-report
Read the 2021 Product Design Trends Report from InVision. https://www.invisionapp.com/lp/2021-product-design-trends-report
Read The 5x5 Guide to Online Brainstorming from InVision https://www.invisionapp.com/lp/the-5x5-guide-to-online-brainstorming-b
Started attending California State University, San Bernardino, majoring in Graphic Design with a minor in Web Design. Transferred in from Riverside City College where I studied Graphics Technology ...
Attended the E3 Expo 2005 on a Media pass as a journalist reporting for Gearcritech and SNN Core.
Attended Google I/O 2021 virtual event https://events.google.com/io/?lng=en
Attended Designing 2021: Emerging UX & Product Design Trends hosted by InVision https://www.invisionapp.com/talks/designing-2021-emerging-ux-product-design-trends
Created [Cosmic Cube] Transformation on Rarible. Cube-002 in the Cosmic Cube series.
Created Lunar Wolf Ghost on Rarible. The third entry in the Lunar Wolf series.
Created Lunar Wolf Cycle on Rarible. The first entry in the Lunar Wolf series.
Travelled to Detroit, MI for two weeks to mentor onboarded Content Team associates for the newly established Cobalt/CDK Global Detroit offices.
Redesigned the STAR Program enterprise web application
Attended the E3 Expo 2004 on a Media pass reporting for Gearcritech and SNN Core.
Redesigned the MEBO Digital Message Board to reflect new company branding following the divestiture from CDK Global to Sincro.
Launched the MEBO Digital Message Board to the Client Services business unit
Founded the Associate Experience Engineering (AXE) Team, an operational design team specializing in custom-built in-house enterprise web applications. This was a team focused on the Associate Exper...
Moved to Seattle from Southern California
Created my first NFT, [Cosmic Cube] Configuration. Cube-001 in the Cosmic Cube series on Rarible.
Became a Content Team Lead and a mentor, coach, trainer, liaison to other teams, a subject matter expert, and head of the Bug Team.
Scripted, filmed, and edited a promotional video for the STAR Program. Worked with a group of co-workers to film a comedic and informational narrative skit to promote the program.
Launched the STAR Program for Employee Recognition.
Joined a committee to develop the STAR Recognition Program.
CDK STAR Awards, Overall Annual Winner for calendar year 2015, recognized for having a significant impact on the company as an individual. This was in recognition of my efforts in product design fo...
Launched the Feedback Manager enterprise web application for CDK Global. It was a tool for collecting, reviewing, and acting on feedback submitted by internal associates and external customers. The...