Reactionary Design: The Art of Rapid Concept Execution

In 2005, I started my professional career in advertising production design. UX wasn’t even a thought, and design buzzwords like Design Thinking, Human-Centered Design (HCD), Prototyping, and Scalable Design Systems were far from anything I expected to encounter.

Fresh out of college, I had a solid grasp of Photoshop and Illustrator, envisioning myself as the next breakthrough designer like David Carson. But I had no experience in the retail world or agency design practices. That lack of experience quickly became evident when I stepped into an agency environment that, by today’s standards, would be considered toxic.

I remember the agency owner hovering over my shoulder, frustrated that there were too many blue lines on my screen. Exasperated, I turned around and explained they were guides—but that didn’t stop the yelling. I was told I was not good enough, I was too slow and needed to work faster.

2005 was a tough year. I started doubting whether I could make it as a designer. I had been trained as a fine artist, drawn to illustration since I could pick up a pencil, with dreams of becoming a comic book artist. But walking into that agency every day felt like it was breaking me down little by little.

During this difficult time, I found an ally. A seasoned web designer and 3D animator took me under his wing and told me, “I will make you a design machine.” And he did. Within six months, I became a machine that rapidly produced designs. Under his mentorship, I learned how to be reactionary—able to quickly execute concepts and adapt to fast-paced creative demands.

AMA Multimedia Design

Working at AMA, my small design team and I were constantly challenged by the diverse range of design media we had to produce each week. With little downtime for deep research, most of our work was highly reactive—though we gathered insights when possible. Often, marketing reps would present a campaign vision, and we had to bring it to life quickly. Here are some successful social media banners and event posters that emerged from this fast-paced environment.

Beauty and Fragrance

My time in the beauty and fragrance industry was defined by fast-paced, reactionary design work, primarily focused on email marketing campaigns and banner designs for in-house marketing teams. At Perfumania, I collaborated closely with the main design team to ensure that our digital assets aligned seamlessly with in-store campaigns, maintaining brand consistency across both e-commerce and brick-and-mortar experiences. The workload was demanding, with tight deadlines for daily e-blasts promoting various campaigns and loyalty programs.

Beyond Perfumania, I also worked with Temptu and their airbrush makeup products, widely used in the modeling industry. This role deepened my understanding of luxury branding and how high-end products should be presented in an e-commerce sales environment. My design approach evolved to become more product-focused and minimalist, adapting to different brand aesthetics. In my first year at Perfumania, my team and I helped drive an increase of over $50,000 in revenue compared to the previous year, with continued growth that neared $1 million annually.