Rachel Yaros

Senior Art Director & UI Designer

Rachel Yaros

Senior Art Director & UI Designer

about

Attractive design is nice, but effective design changes the world. With experience spanning brand design, advertising, and strategic positioning, I bring a unique perspective as a designer who thinks like a strategist. My marketing and advertising background means I don't just make things look good, I make sure they're solving the right problem in the first place.

experience

Senior Art Director

Penta Group | Remote | 2024 - Present

Lead end-to-end design on brand systems for enterprise clients, including a Speed & Scale website refresh that drove a 300% increase in viewership, while mentoring junior designers one-on-one and owning workback plans and process improvements that keep delivery on track. Drive new business by concepting dynamic creative for RFP pitches and presenting live to clients, adjusting in real time to win buy-in.

Freelance Brand Designer

Chicago, IL | Remote | 2017 - Present

Develop full brand identities for small businesses and legacy organizations, including a rebrand for a 90-year-old independent school that modernized their look while honoring their history, grounding the work in market research and discovery conversations that deliver data-backed design recommendations rooted in advertising strategy. Manage all client relationships end-to-end, from initial inquiry through final deliverables, across logo systems, websites, and collateral.

Art Director

Hughes Leahy Karlovic | Remote | 2022 - 2024

Designed large-scale advertising campaigns for legacy clients like Medicaid across multiple states, tying creative execution to broader strategic goals, while building UI for high-profile websites including Marriott, Audible, and &Partners, blending originality with polished, on-brand design systems and creating scalable templates like an ENVU email campaign adopted across every sector of their business. Represented the agency at Adobe Max, networking with industry leaders and bringing fresh insights back to internal creative work.

Art & Communications Director

Lakewood POA | Kansas City, MO | 2020-2022

Owned all branding, marketing strategy, and website restructure as the sole creative lead, producing two monthly publications end-to-end from content collection through print and digital delivery, while selling advertising partnerships and cultivating community relationships. Planned events for the company's 50th anniversary as part of that role.

AIGA Member

Education Chair | Kansas City, Missouri | 2021 - Present

Served as the Education board chair programming events for emerging designers in KC. Currently a member of the AIGA Chicago Chapter pursuing a board seat.

education

Bachelor of Science | Marketing & Advertising Promotion

Missouri State University (MSU) | Graduated 2020

Krakow University of Economics, Kraków, Poland | 2019

Design Minor

Missouri State University (MSU) | Graduated 2020

skills

Branding & Identity

Logo design, typography, conceptual campaign creation, short and long form print materials and style guides.

UI/UX Design

Wireframing, light prototyping, storyboarding, and responsive web design.

Project Management

Team leadership, client relations, presentation skills, and deadline management.

Tools

Figma, Adobe, AI-Assisted Design & Content Tools (Chat GPT, Claude, Midjourney, ElevenLabs)*, Asana, Airtable, Notion

*Stance on AI as a creative

In this ever-evolving world of technology, it’s inevitable that AI reaches every corner of our work and lives. My current company is very AI-forward, as are most companies today. We use AI to craft descriptions, develop clearer ways to explain our work to clients, generate ideas, and kickstart new projects. One of the most valuable ways we’ve leveraged AI is for creating proof-of-concept visuals for ambitious ideas that would otherwise be difficult to illustrate. I love using AI in this way: it speeds up processes, makes sharing ideas easier, and eliminates the need to search endlessly for reference images that match what’s in your head.

However, as a creative (and as someone whose profession revolves around producing images, ideas, brands, and experiences), I want to be an advocate for keeping human creativity at the forefront. For example, I believe in hiring illustrators or allowing more time for internal designers to take on projects, rather than relying on “original” creative pulled from AI stock platforms. I like being able to confidently tell clients that the work they’re receiving is truly unique (as much as any piece of work can be). At the same time, I’m transparent in sharing that we use AI to help generate more curated ideas and results during the brainstorming process (which I think is a plus).

I’m adaptable and eager to learn new tools. At the same time, there should always be transparency, limits, and oversight.