Google Assistant

Role: Art director, illustrator, animator.

A large portion of my time at Google was on the Assistant’s Personality team. They were in charge of anything non-search based that people asked the Assistant such as “What’s your favorite color,” or “Do you know Alexa?” This also included features such as fun facts, poems, jokes, etc. We got to have a lot of fun and make things purely because they were delightful. I also got to work with some of the most talented illustrators and agencies out there to bring our features to the next level.

Fun facts

Credit: left: Keni Chaffee; center: Loris Lora; right: Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley

As part of a Product Inclusion initiative, the fun facts available on Google Assistant were supercharged with campaigns celebrating cultures from all around the globe. I had the wonderful opportunity of art directing illustrators to create visual assets that celebrated their respective backgrounds. For instance, I commissioned Mexican-American illustrator Loris Lora for Latino History Month and Ojibwe artist Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley for Native American History Month. I was able to create the artwork for Asian Pacific American Heritage month myself.

Delightful Lights

As a way to take advantage of smart light integration, our team developed a collection of passages that would trigger a super delightful audio-visual experience. For instance, when asking your Google Assistant to “turn up the love,” a jazzy sax riff would play, a visual would take over the screen, and any connected smart lights would turn a moody pink and purple. We ended up building an entire collection spanning holidays from Halloween to St. Patrick’s Day, and silly things like “party time.” While it only was able to reach a very niche audience, it was still a great opportunity to be able to take over the entire screen with illustration.

Announcement Cards

A series of promotional card illustrations made for a wide variety of products, partnerships, and experiences.