Hello!

Hi! My name is Emma Murdock and I am a recent graduate of the the Honors Bachelor of Interaction Design Program at Sheridan College. With a passion for learning and a knack for creative thinking I aspire for a career in UX where I can focus on designing unique solutions and products tailored for the people that use them.

Inspired by my love of sci-fi and fantasy, I’m always looking for opportunity to make designs fun, funky, and whimsical; often coming through in the form of lots of colours and interesting shapes.

Design Philosophy

Purpose is power — my prime directive.

In order to be successful design has to have a purpose; A reason for being; A method behind its madness. Without purpose the design process, and therefore the design itself, lacks direction and ends up without meaning.

Purpose in a design is the first step of the design process, even before any mood-boards or personas; It establishes a goal to aim towards, and therefore can help identify the tools and features needed to get there. For example, defining the purpose of a design as “To inform” will lead the design in a very different direction than if the purpose were “To persuade”. The design might feature more text or statistics versus emotional imagery.

Purpose also establishes a target audience; Knowing the purpose gives way to knowing what demographic my need a design with such purpose. With a target audience established the design can then be made with the obstacles they might face in mind, and open opportunities to involve some of the target audience in the design process, making the design that much more functional and useful.

Design without purpose is static, sterile, lacking both message and the tools needed to convey the message.

Education

Honors Bachelor of Interaction Design, Sheridan College

Latest term GPA of 3.88/4
TCPS 2: Core 2022 Certificate
Projects include:
Life-like 3D Model Still Life of Candy
Snapchat Terms and Conditions redesign
Charity organization landing page
Spotify colour theme option redesign prototype to improve accessibility

Sep 2021 - Apr 2025

Art Fundamentals, Sheridan College

Projects include:
Perspective illustrations of various locations
Botanical illustrated repeating patterns
Instructional diagram for creation of an origami paper crane

Sep 2020 - Apr 2021

Experience

Work Study Student, Sheridan College - Oakville

Conducted and organized communication with over 500 students in order to maintain good relations with donors
Calculated annual financial metrics of donations for over 15 programs
Created and updated a categorized database in order to track task progress and avoid missing or duplicating communications
Researched and drafted donor profiles in order to promote donor appreciation
Compiled over 50 prospect profiles in order to assist and inform supervisor and colleagues on potential donors

May 2023 - May 2024

Content Creator, GFR Podcast - Remote

Create cover and story images for podcast episodes
Collaborate with team members to ensure all process steps were completed
Respond to and act on feedback to make necessary changes

July 2021 - Dec 2023

Gas Dock Attendant, Hamilton Conservation Authority - Hamilton

Catered to customer needs including providing gas, and basic boat maintenance
Handled financial transactions in cash, debit, credit, and cheque
Completed and prepared financial reports and deposits every 2 weeks
Provided general maintenance and daily cleaning in order to maintain a healthy and safe environment for clients
Managed reservations and bookings in-person, through phone, and email
Arranged accommodations for clients in order to provide an accessible environment

May 2022 - Sep 2022

Skills

HTML5

CSS

JavaScript

Adobe CC

Figma

Excel &
Tableau

3D
Modelling

Web Design

Graphic
Design

Data
Visualization

Physical
Computing

Prototyping

Hobbies and Interests

Outside of UX/UI my hobbies and interests remain mostly in the creative realm, and I am always trying to find a way to combine my hobbies into my IX/UI work!

A main interest of mine is in textile arts. With a focus on knitting, and dabbling in sewing, crochet, embroidery, and tailoring my own clothing, it is common to find me working on a new sweater or modifying some of my clothes. I am currently in the process of making my very first sweater using a flatbed knitting machine, a large mechanical contraption invented centuries ago but only popularized from the 1920’s to the 1970’s, and fallen into obscurity today.

I also love sci-fi! Star Trek The Next Generation and Star Trek Deep Space Nine are my all time favorites, but I will watch and read pretty much any sci-fi I can get my hands on. Right now I am most excited about listening to my Spock’s World by Diane Duane audiobook on cassette, narrated by Leonard Nimoy and George Takei!

It is also common to find me baking and doing jigsaw puzzles!