Entrepreneurs, Experts, & Organizations

I strengthen the brand and experience of solutions that have found their market fit.

Hi, I'm Justin Johnson

Experience Designer, Operator, & Business Builder

I've spent 15+ years working with entrepreneurs and early stage companies to solve creative challenges and build exceptional brand and user experiences. From collaborative client engagements to sitting in operator roles within fast growth organizations, I've accumulated creative skills, insights, and strategy that will propel your vision forward.

My Services

I do a lot. But it's all by design.

I work collaboratively across disciplines because I love the variety and opportunities that come with each. By nature I'm well-rounded, relentlessly curious, and bring a problem solving creative mentality to everything I do.

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Brand Design

Transform how prospects, clients, and users perceive your company and solution with an identity rooted in discovery, personality, and connection.

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Web Design

Move beyond simply being found in the market to being remembered. Build your most valuable marketing asset to inform, delight, and convert.

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Product Design

Create a deeper level of appreciation and effectiveness with a product design and experience that your one-of-a-kind platform deserves.

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Consulting

Bring your challenges and questions into a short burst engagement for quick iteration and ideation. We'll get tactical, hands-on, and move you forward.

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My Background At Work For You

I've spent 20 years building brands, products, and campaigns.

I've grown and led teams, pitched investors and executives, and implemented AI tools and workflows. My experience has covered early stage startups and a Fortune 5 behemoth. The roles I've played equip me with a well rounded and entrepreneurial approach, most recently including:

Head of Marketing for a ~$45M ARR fintech processing $10B in business payments yearly.

Head of Product & Design for a proptech facilitating $2B of disbursements on commercial construction projects each quarter.

Creative Director for the largest health insurer, responsible for building consumer experiences used by 20M members.

The best way to think of me might be as a design co-founder. Not in the cap table sense, but in the collaborative, all-in, let's freakin' go sense.

More About My Background

Samples of Work

Brand Design

See examples of brands I've developed across industries like philanthropy, healthtech, proptech, and fintech.

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Website showcasing ConnexPay virtual card payments platform with mobile menu and call-to-action buttons.

Website Design

View website projects I've led that range from B2B lead gen in fintech to B2C marketing in private mental health practice.

View Web Design Work

Product Design

Explore products I've created including multiple enterprise healthcare consumer experiences and commercial construction draw processing.

View Product Design Work

Charis Courses

A project I built within mental health

Mental health and wellness is a growing category that needs more experienced clinicians and humans working to deliver compelling solutions. I took a career pause to collaborate with licensed therapists to create on-demand courses across a variety of topics.

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Client & Peer Testimonials

These are just a few of the sentiments I've received from others along the way.

"I worked with Justin through a full brand refresh for our company. The result wasn't just clean, it was sharp, cool, and modern without losing what made it recognizable. He has a rare combination of deep creativity and thoughtful detail. Beyond the brand, he also untangled and built a genuinely complex client application product with the same precision. He hears what stakeholders really mean, not just what they say, and holds his creative point of view firm enough that it never gets diluted by committee. If you want design work that surprises people and sharpens the essence of your brand, he's your guy."

Kristin Sitarz

Chief of Staff, ConnexPay

"I've worked alongside Justin at two companies and can say he's one of the most collaborative, insightful, and genuine leaders I've encountered. His eye for talent, keen awareness of situations, and amazing creativity are unmatched. I consider myself lucky to have worked with and seen him in action."

Blair Jeffery

Tech Investor & Entrepreneur

"Justin approaches visual storytelling with a business-mind and great design taste, which is rare. He asks the right questions to have collaborators understand the "why" behind decisions or direction. That increases the quality of both thinking and creative output. I can tell that he is always multi-solving to embrace complexity while also recognizing that we need to deliver something."

Abby Ross

CEO, The Resiliency Company

"Justin was invaluable to me as a startup founder. His designs were beautiful and his work product helped push us forward as a business. He is the type of person who would take on and crush any project I threw at him."

Chris Hill

Founder & Investor,
Chairman @ Perkspot

"Working with Justin was my first experience in the creative space. It was a formative stage in my life and in my career, and I still reflect fondly upon my time being mentored by him. What struck me then and continues to resonate with me now is his calm demeanor and thorough approach to the practice, execution, and delivery of design. He doesn't let things fall through the cracks, whether that be a user's need or a stray pixel. In a world that seems to be increasingly chaotic, I have no doubt he continues to maintain an unparalleled methodical approach to his work."

Nicole Hunt

Associate Design Director, Optum

"I had the privilege to work on Justin’s team for six years, and he played an integral role in developing my skills and guiding my career. I witnessed him lead many successful projects from ideation to launch with a passion for creating exceptional user experiences. He supported our team through complex organizational changes with humor and empathy. As a leader, he was inspiring, patient and perceptive. I’m grateful to have had such an outstanding role model early in my career, and look back fondly on our time working together."

Bridget Albiero

Design Director, Briefpoint