← tauss.me
A design leader with experience in agencies, startups, non-profits, global companies, and higher education.
Digital experiences are not only changing human behavior, they are architecting society and impacting the human narrative globally.
I feel a strong responsibility to learn better truths, leverage understanding, and care to solve interesting problems.
I believe design delivers visual artifacts using critical & resourceful thinking to help communicate ideas that solve real problems and provide real value.
My Principles
001
Give a hoot.
Kindness, care and respect to all people and things. A banner I carry into all relationships. The world is crazy enough without us adding to it.
002
Solve for simplicity.
Creating simple solutions is a challenging process. I'm an advocate for simplicity in all things: process, research, and execution.
003
People > Products.
Kind & caring humans build delightful experiences. Value people more than the products they build.
004
Document over create.
Creating from nothing is no fun. Taking time to document provides a well of resources to create from.
005
Right over easy.
Making the right call is not always the easiest decision. It's important to do whatever it takes to make sure the right thing is done the right way at the right time.
006
Speak clearly.
It's important to let others know where they stand, what they are doing well, and highlight opportunities to improve. Feedback is a gift we can all give.
Experience
Bestow
Product Designer Manager • 2022-Currently
Bestow knows the peace of mind that can come from feeling prepared for an uncertain future. We’ve reimagined life insurance, driving innovations in technology and data to expand access and opportunity to more families. I joined the team as a design manager focused on improving our design ops and growing the team. I also contribute as a lead designer on several platforms.
Lead Design
Operations Portal
Admin Portal
Design Systems
Underwriter Portal
SaaS platforms
Enterprise partnerships
Endeavors
Design Ops
Design Manager
Tide Cleaners
Associate Director of Product Designer • 2018-2022
I joined team Solvent not knowing anything about the dry cleaning industry. I saw tons of opportunity and a fun problem to solve. We built something that no one had yet to been able to accomplish in the industry, and we built a team and process at the same time. I jumped right in and enjoyed every moment of it. As Associate Director of Product Design, I lead the thought and design of all applications.
Tide Cleaners
RaidersLead Design
Operations Tool
Point of Sale
Driver App
Guest App
Guest Care
Endeavors
Head of Design
Marketing
Branding
User Research
User Testing
Design Systems
Agile
Design Ops
Design Manager
Life.Church
Graphic Designer • 2012-2015
Product Designer • 2015-2018
My longest employment to date (5 years 6 months). I begin my time as a graphic designer as part of the Creative Media team. Life.Church is America's largest church with roughly over 100,000 in attendance over 30+ locations. I started when there were only 14 locations. My time as a graphic designer, I developed direction and artwork for kids, youth, and adult curriculum, crafting template creative to be used for global communications and signage, and worked with filmmakers to deliver motion graphics.
The design team over saw the creation and roll out of new branding when lifechurch.tv became Life.Church. It was a huge undertaking. We explored and pitched ideas and took inventory of hundreds of materials and print assets including outdoor signage on all our properties.
About three years in, I had an ever growing interest in product development. Life.Church is a tech forward organization. They have developed several digital platforms to serve many communities as well as deliver their own content. I joined the interactive team as a product designer and quickly learned under the guidance of Clint McManaman. During my time, we completely overhauled Life.Church site, internal media distribution, built an attender app, our own giving platform that integrated with our app and site, along with many updates to ministry digital experiences. I learned a ton around the traditional practices of product development in an agile environment and what it takes to grow a team from just a few friends hanging out to a full stack product team delivering on multiple products simultaneously.
Endeavors
Creative Direction
Art Direction
Branding
Motion Graphics
Rebrand Life.Church
Life.Church Site
LC App
Series Campaigns
Social Media
Marketing
Events
LifeGroups Tool
Adjunct Professor Oklahoma State University
Adjunct Faculty • Fall 2015 • 5 months
One of my college professors reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in teaching his Typography I class. I highly admired Phil Choo and didn't take his request lightly. Teaching was something I definitely wanted to accomplish at some point in my career, so when the opportunity presented itself, I took it.
Going back to my Alma Matter as faculty brought on new meaning. I had to overcome my fear of public speaking. Putting together a collegiate syllabus and project planning was a bit of a chore, but left me feeling accomplished. Working with students was inspiring. Many of them are insanely talented. I enjoyed ever minute I was able invest into this season of my life.
Endeavors
15+ Students
Developed Curriculum
Type Foundation
In Class critiques & presentations
Ghost Advertising
Designer • 2011-2012 • 1 year 5 months
I was fortunate to land my first design gig as I was completing my final semester of college. Ghost was an amazing experience! It was a small shop in an up and coming part of Oklahoma City. I was able to experience the full range of projects and clients. Corporate internal work, full scale branding and campaign, and art directing for commercials were just some of the experiences. Ghost is still running and still doing amazing work!
Endeavors
Branding
Marketing
Campaigns
Web
Events
Commercials
Education
Graduated from Oklahoma State University 2011
BFA Graphic Design • Minor in Marketing
I began my studies in Architecture, but my attraction to art and design grew. I eventually switched my major to pursue a BFA in Graphic Design with a minor in Marketing. Combining art with how that art is applied turned out to be a great pairing.
My senior year, I was gifted the experience of interning at ULAE in Bayshore, New York. It was an incredible experience that me and my newly wedded wife got to experience together. For a semester, I worked at a print studio assisting master printers and artist as they created new prints.
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Family
Married 12yrs • 3 Beautiful children.
I live in Rockwall, TX with my beautiful wife Jennifer and our three amazing kids (Oliver, Elliot, and Addison). We've settled into our new home in March 2018. We love being outside and being active. With two boys, there is never a dull moment.
February 2020, we welcomed our 3rd, Addison. She is so lovely and always smiling! She brings a bright light into our family everyday.
Hobbies
Small Batch Coffee Roasting
Green Coffee Beans • Popcorn Air Roaster
My friend Jason Inman introduced me to roasting coffee. All you need is a cheap air popcorn maker and some green coffee beans. When the quarantine started, I had to find a way to keep good coffee in my life. So I began weekly roasting my own coffee. I've been able to have that premium cafe experience on a very affordable budget without the need to visit a cafe. It's been a fun outlet and is bit of a nerdy habit I admit.
Cycling
Giant TCR 2 • Road / MTB
I bought a 2006 Giant TCR 2 about 6 years ago. It was a way for me to fit a workout into my day. I commuted to work a few times a week. My coldest ride was around 28 degrees! Tips of my toes froze a bit that day. Since moving to Dalllas, rides have been a quick way to ride to the nearest cafe to work remote and grab a tasting cup for a bit. The quarantine has got me back out on the ride more consistently. I log about 20 miles a week and really enjoy bringing my two sons along with me in a trailer.