About Erin Hovland
Visual & UX designer from Seattle, WA
In 2003, Erin Hovland took a “Graphic Design I” college course thinking it would kick off her career in game art. Little did she know, one year later she’d be wholly committed to design, working on campus as the lead graphic designer and later transferring to UW to major in Design Studies.
An artist at heart, Erin may have started her career as a visual designer, but her high-level of curiosity and user empathy have also led her to the fittingly analytical field of user experience design. Because of this, Erin has a diverse portfolio, including everything from silly t-shirts once sold on the LOLcats website, to branding & marketing, to app wireframes.
Erin attributes her creative + analytical process to attending two colleges with two distinct approaches to design. From Highline College, she learned “the Rules of Design”, the ability to create with and without a computer, and the merit of a Really Good Idea. At UW, she went beyond aesthetics to understand how design can influence systems, how to design with a human-centered approach, ways to gather data, and ways to measure success.
At home, Erin rotates between reading up on UX, diving into the latest health & nutrition research, and enjoying nature.
FUN FACTS:
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Erin has played ukulele, the happiest of musical instruments, since 2004.
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Erin lives in a zoo with her hairless Sphynx cat, pug, two cockatiels, and massive ever-expanding indoor garden.
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Hailing from Seattle, Erin is a cheerful morning-person who has never had coffee.
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Erin once worked for the circus! … as a graphic designer.
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Erin is a swing & blues dancer.
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Erin is a health-food and lettuce addict (favorite variety: Flashy Troutback).
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Looking to better understand the rules of design, Erin often creates large-scale abstract paintings in her free time.
2003-2007, Highline College, received A.A. with an emphasis in Visual Communications
Worked on campus as lead graphic designer for Student Programs
Projects: Highline Student Handbook 2007 & 2008, Arcturus 2007 (Highline’s literary journal), campus events & campaigns
2007-2010, University of Washington, received B.A. in Design Studies
Final project: social game that inspires confidence in dancing
2013-2014, Senior Graphic Designer at Solitude Creative
Projects: Events & presentations for Bing, Yahoo! Bing Network brand, UX for Voicebox car interface, Last Wear brand & website, Ledger Pros website, internal Microsoft & Adobe presentations
2014-2016, Graphic Designer II at Big Fish Games
2016, Creative Group Lead at Extreme Arts & Sciences
2017, Senior Designer (contract) at POSSIBLE
Personal & Freelance projects (2013-present)
