I grew up playing hide and seek with my brother in a 40,000 square foot furniture factory. It was full of everything we would need for every school project. 

The family owned-and-operated manufacturing company in the small town of Newark, NY was a playground and classroom for learning about design, management and product development. Daily lessons were the Simple Things like "How do I rethread a sewing machine?" (patiently) to more complex issues like "How can we design an ideal arm chairs for nursing homes?" (bring your grandma in to test it out). 

I attended Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University, to major in Apparel. There, I sought to combine my sewing skills in multimedia disciplines. I took dance, economics, French and theater at Brown, and pushed my department for multimedia courses. I created a independent study of the history and modern function of fashion in dance. Two years later, the RISD fashion department created a similar, full credit course. 

After freelancing in fashion styling (Century 21, ABC, Lindsay Lohan), I was hired by KD New York - a fashion/fitness knitwear company with a manufacturing facility in the Bronx. I rose from patternmaker to designer to ecommerce art director within 2 years and spent the next years project managing and designing the online store and marketing collateral.   Unbeknownst to me, during this time I was becoming what was (barely yet) called a "UI/UX designer".  

My varied experiences in visual design, performance and interaction design have revealed to congruent philosophies:

A good costume is noticed because it is, effortlessly, a part of a dancer's body and movement.

A good lyric is heard and appreciated but does't distract from the mean of the song.

Good UX makes a positive impression in a user's subconscious, in service of a bigger journey. 

I now work at an HR software company, write & record music, and never stop dancing.

Contact: Susannahwinspear@gmail.com