Zappos creative content centered around rotating marketing campaigns, which provided flagship moments for customers throughout the year based on purchasing habits and other key data insights. These campaigns enabled the content team to promote seasonally relevant product through dynamic content and aspirational storytelling.
As Senior Visual Designer, I closely collaborated with Art Directors, editorial teams, other in-house designers, design contractors, and key stakeholders to craft compelling visual identities for each campaign. The deliverables were wide-ranging, from homepage updates, mood boards and social media assets to pitch deck creation for content approval from leadership.
Running is the largest pillar of the Zappos business, accounting for roughly 50% of all sales. Data indicates that January marks the peak time for athletic footwear and apparel purchases. The 'Start Where You Are' campaign, spanning much of the first quarter, focuses on promoting athletic footwear and apparel with a dedicated campaign grounded on familiarity and inclusivity.
The focus of ‘Start Where You Are” is on real—real bodies, real people, sharing real stories we can all relate to. The color palette, inspired by the bright Las Vegas sky, was carefully chosen in collaboration with support teams to complement trending styles in athletic footwear. The design focused on footwear, with simple elements accentuating unique shots promoting energy, positivity and motivation.
I had the privilege of working with Alex on various elements of our Running experience at Zappos.
He was an integral part of our creative execution, and I can’t say enough about how easy he made the work for all those around him. All we ever needed to do was come to a mutual understanding on what we were trying to do creatively, and I could trust Alex to take it the rest of the way
• Aaron Triche, Merchandising Director
This campaign, titled Unchartered Territory, was a fresh, original take on the typical outdoor retail approach. The theme, ‘board game,’ was designed to evoke a world of endless possibilities, moving away from the technical rigidity regularly seen in outdoor campaigns. Instead, it embraced a playful, colorful, and more fashion-forward perspective.
The design elements featured simple, colorful, custom vector illustrations with broad themes that reinforced the idea of uncharted territory and limitless possibilities. These elements were used as accent graphics or to create whimsical scenes that aligned with the original concept. The game board pattern was meant to be versatile, serving to accentuate subjects or as a colorful border.The color palette was bright, accessible, and vintage-inspired, enhancing the campaign’s playful yet stylish aesthetic.
The Zappos customer email program is a vital source of revenue for the company, generating over $80M in profit YOY (Year Over Year). I was tasked with both overhauling the email design process, and building a design system for both broadcast (marketing) and triggered/transactional email channels without ceasing production. In addition, I provided art direction by leading a small team of design contractors in order to bring this project to fruition.
Zappos email design faced several challenges that hindered efficiency and compromised the user experience.
Pre-redesign Zappos email sends outlining a highly inconsistent customer journey.
The first step I took in the project was to migrate email design away from Photoshop and into Figma, where a robust asset library and component system could be built as a single “source of truth”. In Figma, I built a grid system for email layouts in order to maximize the 648-pixel fixed width. I also established consistent margin and padding values to ensure visual harmony. Additionally, I imported the typography and color palette from a Zappos homepage refresh to maintain brand consistency and ensure cohesive experiences across both web and email platforms.
Type stack, color palette, and early wireframes implementing grid system
Mint Grotesk is the main display typeface. This modern sans-serif is characterized by clean, minimalist lines and a geometric structure. It evokes a sense of simplicity and contemporary style, which is perfect for branding, editorial layouts, and digital interfaces. While the type stack is primarily based on the Mint Grotesk typeface, the larger goal of the system is to be dynamic enough to handle customer segmentation by category (casual, running, fashion, etc.) so several different header font options were provided for future use. This allows the designer to quickly make styling adjustments depending on the customer segment, while maintaining a cohesive look-and-feel.
Zappos email design component system
One of the key demands from the email team was efficiency: the system needed to enable a small team of designers to produce large volumes of emails quickly, while also accommodating last-minute changes with minimal turnaround. To meet this need, we developed a drag-and-drop component system in close collaboration with the email team. This solution allowed them to select components for layouts based on their conversion data during creative planning, while designers could rapidly implement changes and updates by dropping component variants directly into the layouts.
The system was built with a mobile-first approach—prioritizing mobile device performance while ensuring the visual identity translated well to desktop. While full responsiveness is a long-term goal of the redesign, it was not a feasible feature in the initial phase. The challenge then was to strike a balance, creating designs that would adapt across various breakpoints while maintaining a great user experience.
Current Zappos email sends, product photgraphy treatments and image frame components
With legibility and accessibility in mind, buttons and text sizes were enlarged to enhance readability and ease of interaction on mobile. The creative direction was closely aligned with the Zappos site, where a minimal color palette allows product photography to be the focus. I also developed a range of image frame components and custom product photography treatments, adding visual interest while giving the emails a distinctive, on-brand look and feel.
In conclusion, the overhaul of the Zappos customer email program not only addressed inefficiencies but also set the foundation for a more cohesive and user-friendly design system. By transitioning from Photoshop to Figma, I streamlined the design process, built a unified asset library, and optimized layouts for mobile—a critical need given that most email opens occur on mobile devices. Additionally, incorporating consistent typography and a flexible design system enabled us to tailor emails to customer segments while maintaining brand consistency. These improvements have greatly enhanced both the design workflow and the overall customer experience, contributing to the email program's continued revenue success.
Zappos Adaptive is a specialized venture providing functional and fashionable clothing, footwear, and accessories for people with disabilities and specific needs. The goal is to promote inclusivity by making the shopping experience easier for individuals with varying levels of physical ability.
The Zappos Adaptive visual identity was provided by Between State—formerly Eric & Todd— so my job as main in-house designer was to bring the visual guidelines to life, creating landing pages, lookbooks and brand partnership content for the Adaptive brand.
Zappos Adaptive aims to empower customers with disabilities by offering a wide selection of adaptive styles from well-known brands and collaborating with designers to create products that meet specific needs, such as magnetic closures, adjustable fits, and sensory-friendly fabrics.
Through partnerships with brands like Nike, Sorel, and Reebok, as well as organizations like Runway of Dreams and the Special Olympics, Zappos Adaptive has earned industry-wide recognition as a leader in adaptive fashion and accessibility, helping to pave the way for a more inclusive fashion future.
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An absolute highlight of my work with Adaptive was leading the visual design strategy for the Zappos partnership with the Special Olympics. It was one of the most significant collaborations in the history of Zappos, and I was honored to play an important role in bringing it to life.
The centerpiece of the partnership was a Zappos-exclusive, limited-edition collection of Special Olympics merchandise featuring brands like Crocs, Reebok, UGG, and ASICS, launched on a dedicated landing page on the Zappos site.
Our team provided creative support by organizing a studio photoshoot that featured participating athletes wearing the exclusive styles, as well as fulfilling the design needs for the landing page.The launch of the collection was further enhanced by a live activation during the Special Olympics event. Each athlete received a complimentary pair of shoes of their choice and was offered a free on-site health check-up.
My design approach was to place the focus on the athletes by oversizing the frames a little bit and breaking the borders to add interaction and depth. The landing page was designed in close collaboration with the Special Olympics creative team, which made for a partnership so successful that some of the styles sold out within a matter of hours.
Zappos was a sponsor of the Special Olympics USA Games in 2022. This was one of the largest, inclusive multifaceted partnerships that Zappos participated in as a sponsor. We were fortunate to have Alex as an integral part of the creative strategy, design of our special landing pages, national campaigns, and highlighting our brands and athletes throughout the entire event.
• Dana Zumbo, Zappos Adaptive Business Development Manager
Brand partnerships are a key driver of success and revenue for Zappos, creating profitable business opportunities and expanding the company’s market presence. I worked on several collaborations, both under creative direction from our brand partners and independently, where my role involved ensuring seamless integration of brand partnership content with the Zappos brand.
It is a dream of every designer to see their work printed in stores nationwide. I got the opportunity to do that with this Zappos gift card design still in circulation.
