GREG WARD
DESIGN DIRECTOR

Creative direction and strategy for brand identity, motion, and interface.

Brands are experienced in action. I help organizations shape those experiences, from high-level direction to hands-on execution.

Let's Move

Where I’ve worked.

I’ve started my independent design practice following a decade of experience spanning agency leadership and in-house work with brands including Cadillac, Corvette, OnStar, General Motors, and Amway.

  • Design Director

    Creative direction and design strategy for teams building new products, brands, and capabilities. I work directly with clients and alongside partner studios, leading engagements from the first conversation through delivery.

    • Head of Design

    • Design Lead

  • Design Lead - Advanced Design Group
    Visual Designer - Cadillac In-Vehicle Displays

    • Visual Designer - Digital

    • Brand Designer - Amway Global Marketing

    • Chaco - Footwear Design Intern

    • New Balance - Footwear Design Apprentice

Good design starts long before the visuals.

Three principles shape how I approach every engagement:

01 . Define the Problem

Don't start with the solution. Start with the right question.

The brief you're given isn't always the problem that needs solving. I like to step back, understand the business, audience, constraints, and opportunity, then define what we're actually trying to accomplish before jumping into solutions.

02 . Fail Fast

Don't spend months perfecting the wrong idea.

Strategy shouldn't be a long-term guessing game. When something can be tested, prototyped, or challenged early, I'd rather find out quickly than discover the answer after months of work. Explore broadly. Test early. Kill what doesn't work. Invest in what does.

03 . Work Without the Layers

You should always have a direct line to the person leading the work.

No gatekeepers, and no waiting for word to travel up the chain and back down. You get a straight answer from the person making the call. Direct communication makes better work.

Different challenges.
A consistent approach.

These projects come from my years leading design in-house and inside a studio. My independent work, including a companion app for a smart litter box, a fintech launch video, hospital equipment controls, and a commerce marketing campaign, is still under wraps. Ask me about it.

Turning a Trusted Safety Feature Into a Full Connectivity Platform

OnStar

Extending a Vehicle Safety Platform Into Wearables

General Motors

Redefining High-Speed Performance for a Brand’s Next Era

Corvette

Narrowing a Studio Brand to Its Expertise

Design Agency

Simplifying a Complex Configurator for Mobile

Boating Industry

08 Building the Foundation for a New Design Workflow

General Motors

Closing the Gap Between a Rebrand and Digital Product

Amway

Boson Particle Journeys

Personal

Rebranding Companies That Don’t Exist

Personal

From direction to delivery.

Creative Direction

Establish the vision, guide the work, and bring the right people together to make the idea better.

Motion & Interaction

Use movement and interaction to give brands and digital experiences personality and purpose.

Design Strategy

Find the real problem behind the brief, set a direction that answers it, and keep the work that follows pointed at it.

Interface & Experience

Turn complex products and systems into intuitive experiences that feel considered from the first interaction to the last.

Brand Identity

Define what a brand should stand for, how it should behave, and how that thinking translates into a cohesive experience.

Team Leadership

Build and grow teams, set the standard the work is held to, make the case to the executives and stakeholders, and create a safe environment.

Accomplishments

“You’ve filled the gap within our teams”

Cross-Team Collaboration

At Amway, I unified agency, brand, and technology stakeholders to guide a scalable design system adopted across teams and markets. The initiative created a shared design language that aligned global brand expression with digital products.

Employee

Multi-Brand Design Library

Led the consolidation of multiple GM brand libraries into a unified, modular design platform balancing distinct brand identities with shared UX foundations. This reduced redundancy, improved cross-brand collaboration, and established governance for long-term system evolution.

Employee

Studio Jumpstart

Defined the studio's design direction and brand from early stage driving new business through a period of significant growth shaping the studio's creative identity, team and processes.

Employee