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John Irwin

@johnirwin

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Senior product design leader who scales design systems, mentors teams, and crafts human-centered AI experiences.

United States

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What I'm looking for

I’m looking for senior product design leadership roles where I can scale design systems, mentor teams, shape product vision, and deliver human-centered AI experiences.

I’m a product design leader with 20 years of experience turning complex systems into clear, human experiences while building and mentoring remote teams.

I’ve led design at AI startups and enterprise platforms, growing products—at Blockade Labs I helped scale the platform to 250K+ users and 18M+ generated images and built a 750+ screen design system.

As Director of Design at Scorpion I cut design cycles by 66%, reduced development time by 30%, and established accessibility standards across product lines while driving customer satisfaction to 98%.

I collaborate cross-functionally to ship accessible, award-winning work, and bring a coach’s heart, systems mind, and hands-on craft to every project.

Experience

Work history, roles, and key accomplishments

Current

Independent Design Consultant

Current

John Irwin Design

Jun 2005 - Present (20 years 3 months)

Run an independent design consultancy delivering brand, visual, web, and product design for Grammy-winning artists and tech startups, improving user engagement by simplifying complex flows and managing projects end-to-end.

Design Leadership Brand Design UX UI Design Product & Design Design Systems Cross Functional Collaboration Visual Design Project Management

Director of Product Design

Blockade Labs

Mar 2022 - Mar 2025 (3 years)

Led product design for an AI image-generation platform, growing the platform to 250K+ users and 18M+ generated images by simplifying AI workflows and scaling core features across web and mobile.

Product & Design Workflows Design Systems UX UI Design Mobile Design User Research Prototyping

Director of Design

Scorpion

Jun 2015 - May 2024 (8 years 11 months)

Scaled design systems across hundreds of sites, cutting design cycles by 66% and development time by 30%, and raised customer satisfaction to 98% through executive partnership and brand consistency.

Design Systems Team Leadership UX UI Design Stakeholder Management Cross Functional Collaboration Process Optimization

Senior Visual Designer

Factory Effex

Jan 2011 - Jun 2015 (4 years 5 months)

Designed visual identity and branded merchandise for a global motorsports and apparel company, contributing to product graphics and merchandise that supported factory team branding.

Visual Design Branding Art Direction Adobe Creative Cloud Collaboration

Senior Designer / Art Director

Hi-Torque Publications

May 2008 - Nov 2010 (2 years 6 months)

Led design and art direction for action sports magazines, producing editorial layouts and visual content that supported publication quality and audience engagement.

Editorial Design Art Direction Layout Adobe Creative Cloud Typography Photo Direction Print Production

Lead Product Designer

Inhance Media

Jun 2006 - Feb 2008 (1 year 8 months)

Led product design for online publishing and monetization tools for independent musicians, shaping UX/UI and product features to improve creator commerce and engagement.

Product & Design UX UI Design Web Design Prototyping User Flows)HTML CSS Collaboration

Education

Degrees, certifications, and relevant coursework

California State University, Northridge

Bachelor of Arts, Visual Communication

2012 -

Activities and societies: Mentor for graduating design students through annual portfolio reviews; head coach in community youth soccer.

Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communication from California State University, Northridge; involved in mentorship and annual portfolio reviews for graduating students.