cara rearick

Systems Thinking

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Big Scale

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Visual Craft

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Systems Thinking 〰️ Big Scale 〰️ Visual Craft 〰️

I turn complex product experiences into effortless ones

Some examples

  • Empty state art direction for consistency across desktop and mobile

    How a collaboration with an illustrator and content designer turned fragmented empty states into an unexpected canvas for brand personality.

  • Post-GA optimization after a major redesign

    The reintroduction of the "unread dot” — which directly resulted in a 10% increase in message opens — is one of the many successful fast-follows that shipped.

  • Restoring user confidence with information architecture

    When a core product undergoes a massive transformation, user dissatisfaction is inevitable. But Settings alone, can’t be a personalization solution for everything.

  • Design system migration

    Aligning a redesign with an evolving universal design system, without stripping its identity.

Products are only as strong as the teams building them. I love designing processes and workflows that remove friction, because clear structure gives creative people the room to actually breathe. I bring the natural energy and optimism that keep cross-functional teams inspired and connected.

Before product design, I was an editorial art director at People, Cosmopolitan, and HGTV Magazine. It all started with an internship at Harper’s Bazaar, which ignited a lifelong obsession with styling and visual storytelling. My editorial experience brings visual clarity and order to all the work I do.

Pre-pandemic life at Hearst: My daughter, visiting my office for the morning, helps by clearing off the mini wall for the next month. Meanwhile, I am making last-minute layout adjustments before shipping the Jan/Feb issue of HGTV Magazine.

Outside of design I like to stay busy. Daily essentials include espresso and feeling the sun on my face. The rest is just a beautiful exercise in human serendipity, usually involving thewhirlwind of raising two kids and ongoing sewing projects.

get in touch!

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get in touch! *