Kathy Nardini

Senior Designer and Art Director with strong hands-on experience leading branding materials, campaign art direction, visual storytelling, and UX design across regulated and technical industries, including healthcare, manufacturing, and federal. Translates complex business priorities into clear, engaging visual communications — including executive presentations, branded materials, newsletters, and layouts — for executive, government, and consumer audiences. Thrives in ambiguous environments, asking the right questions and delivering refined, on-brand visuals that drive clarity and results.

Brings the depth of a design degree through formal training at The New England School of Art & Design and an extensive career building high-impact creative programs. Skilled in Figma, Adobe Creative Suite, PowerPoint, and Agile delivery (Jira/SharePoint).

Freelance Senior Designer (Print & UX) at KN Design, LLC (2016-06 – Present)

• Lead end-to-end creative engagements for B2B, B2C, and DoD clients, setting visual strategy across brand, digital, editorial, and event channels.
• Conceived and designed a six-book editorial series with technical infographics for LiquiTech webinars and trade shows, applying consistent grammar, hierarchy, and composition; drove a 23% rise in event attendance and a 26% increase in lead generation.
• Develop and produce high-level branded materials for internal and external marketing goals, contributing to a 30% increase in business and contract wins and 25% increase in engagement on representative projects.
• Own client scoping and creative briefs, translating technical and regulatory requirements into clear visual stories that improve project acceptance by roughly 20%.

Senior UX & Visual Designer at IPTA (Interactive Process Technologies Associates) (2024-03 – 2025-10) (Role ended following federal contract cancellation)

• Developed executive presentation templates and built executive-level presentations for oral contract proposal submissions, ensuring compliance with federal documentation and branding standards.
• Created and maintained an internal newsletter using Constant Contact, collaborating with content writers to produce accurate, on-brand communications with correct grammar, layout, and typography.
• Designed high-fidelity Figma wireframes and component libraries for dashboard, calendar, and profile modules supporting DEVCOM and FAA personnel portals.
• Built a secured personnel management portal from concept through developer handoff; cut onboarding and offboarding processing time by half and lifted efficiency 58% within three months of launch.
• Created standardized design kits and templates that raised cross-team workflow efficiency 25% and reduced review iterations.

Senior Graphic Designer / Manager, Content & Brand Identity at Watts Water Technologies (2017-05 – 2023-06)

• Managed and mentored a nine-person creative team including designers, a photographer/videographer, and a copywriter; promoted team members into senior roles with zero turnover.
• Developed executive presentation templates and created polished executive-level presentations for product launches, training programs, and shareholder reports, ensuring consistent typography, color, hierarchy, and composition.
• Applied StoryBrand methodology to develop compelling visual stories across campaigns and branded materials that engaged customer conversations and built loyalty; launched an Agile StoryBrand workflow adopted by 38 staff, cutting development time 37%.
• Owned global brand identity guidelines across 14 sub-brands, building scalable design systems that increased brand recognition 35% and reduced production friction.
• Created short motion graphics and animated digital ads for social media using Adobe Premiere Pro, supporting product launches and digital marketing campaigns.
• Led visual language for the Watts Pro mobile app launch; drove 2,107 downloads within six months, a 48% increase in RFQs, and a 72% drop in installation issues.
• Applied UX and information design principles to landing pages, increasing targeted page visits 88% and lifting conversion rate 20%.

Art Director / Director, Creative Services at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center / Lahey Health System (2002-01 – 2015-01)

• Directed an in-house creative department of three designers plus freelance and photo/video support, managing resourcing, production scheduling, and agency relationships.
• Applied StoryBrand methodology to lead a system-wide rebrand from strategy through rollout, creating visual stories that drove patient engagement; implemented UX/UI guidelines improving digital effectiveness 24%.
• Designed environmental wayfinding systems using clear typography, color coding, and compositional hierarchy that reduced visitor confusion and improved patient flow.
• Drove campaign outcomes including 2,256 landing-page visits and 128 program registrations in a single quarter for the Weight Loss Center launch.

Vocational Certificate in Graphic Design – The New England School of Art & Design