I came on with two pitch decks, a go-to-market roadmap, and a legacy brand guide. There was no brief, no research, and no foundation. In our first interview, the founder named the challenge himself: creators saw MADE as "information instead of an actionable solution." In week one, I wrote the creative brief from scratch, then set five design principles with leadership. My audit of the React prototype found eight inconsistent button variants competing for attention.

The brief set the direction: the curation of Le Bon Marché, the cultural authority of the NMAAHC, the transparency of Etherscan, and nothing that read as crypto. I paired Kodo Mondo, a technical display face, with DM Sans for everyday clarity, and anchored the palette in Key Brand Gold and Onyx Charcoal. Then I consolidated eight button variants into four tiers, so every screen carries one premium action.

The mark came from the culture of MADE's users. Hip-hop's Cuban link, which Raekwon describes as a chain of brotherhood that can't be broken, became the interlocking icon that doubles as the chain in blockchain. Around it, I built a status language that replaces technical jargon with plain feedback: Verified, On chain, Pending, Warning, Error. Each state answers the question a creator actually has: what's happening to my work?

I prioritized creator identity over raw inventory. Listings lead with the creator and a verified badge. Product pages offer two clear paths—support the creator or license the work, with ethical commitments and cultural context one tap away. Checkout runs on Apple Pay and named tiers, so no one needs a crypto wallet to pay a creator. In week five, MADE moved in a new product direction, and the system was handed off as its foundation.