About
My origin story starts from humble beginnings as the resident tech person for my family. This passion for solving problems for others grew into a love for creating engaging, beautiful, human-centered designs, and having fun while doing it. I have a penchant for puns, enjoy playing video games, make a mean guacamole, and have a shameless obsession with seltzer water—among other miscellaneous hobbies and skills.
Fast forward to now, with 9 years of experience I’ve honed my passion for problem solving into a dedication to designing products that folks find charming, purposeful, and tailored to them. As an introverted person with extroverted tendencies, I aim to build open and meaningful relationships with my teams, stakeholders, and, if applicable, the office dog. I’ve had the pleasure to work with incredible teams designing experiences for Campbell’s, Comcast, AmerisourceBergen, and more. The landscape of the design world is ever-changing and as a lifelong learner and adaptor, I’m eagerly looking forward to what’s next.
I'm currently open to full-time, remote positions. You can reach me at hello@carlysylvester.com or via LinkedIn
Philosophies
Sometimes you need to harness the power of chaos.
As designers, our goal isn’t to eliminate friction, but instead craft product experiences that are intuitive, clear, and easily understood. At times, this may mean adding thoughtful complexity.
A round peg can still fit in a square hole.
It’s easy to become stuck in our ideas, opinions, and ways of thinking. Infuse the testing and iteration processes with enthusiasm and playful exploration to create unexpected solutions to successful experiences.
It’s dangerous to go alone, take this!
Working in isolation inhibits the potential for growth and limits the exchange of ideas. Embracing a culture of inclusivity, where everyone's voice is valued and heard, fosters a richer design process that leads to more impactful outcomes.
Kind Words
“Carly is one of the most creative and thoughtful product designers I’ve had the pleasure to work with. Her visual design expertise is something I admire as she is one of the few designers to create pixel perfect designs. She can take a nebulous idea and turn it into something to delight users. She is extremely collaborative offering insightful feedback and receiving feedback as we work through the design process. Carly can go from being scrappy and generating dozens of ideas to heads down delivery mode to hit a deadline. I can’t speak highly enough of her and any company would be much better off with her on their team.”
“You would be hard-pressed to find another visual designer that has an endless sense of curiosity like Carly. Within the team and myself, she brought out a spirit of exploration that has changed how we approach our work, and made all of us better creatives in the process. Her attitude towards a challenge was always to face it head on, combine that with her ability to learn anything seemingly overnight makes her an extremely valuable addition to any team. Her sense of humor, and laughter brighten up any room and can lift spirits when the weight of a deadline is looming. ”
“Carly is one of the most creative, thoughtful people I have had the privilege of working with. She is incredibly deft and thinks outside the box: indispensable skills for a UX design practice.
We worked together as UX designers for a highly technical product. When our team was tasked with balancing usability and complex technical requirements, I saw her rapidly iterate through potential design interventions all while advocating for the experience of our daily users. Carly is a divergent thinker and exactly who you want on your side when you need creative solutions for sticky problems. In my experience working with many designers, her skill and speed in refining towards designs are unmatched.
On top of all that, Carly is an immense joy to work with (and I’m confident you could ask every single person who has ever been on a team with her). Her passion and humor in approaching daily work life bring energy and lightness to the team — an absolute necessity for good work. ”