Ethan Bodnar

Ethan Bodnar

Designer in Northern California, they/them

About

Multi-disciplinary designer and systems thinker at the intersection of business, content, research, technology, and community. Finding comfort and joy in forming roadmaps, managing complex projects, and developing scalable processes to cultivate long-term sustainable growth.

Education

2008 — 2012
BFA, Visual Communication Design at Hartford Art School, University of Hartford

Work Experience

2016 — Now
Northern California

Designing landscapes for outdoor living, creating site specific spaces at the intersection of modern built environments and native plant palettes.

Built internal design operations processes centered around design system for landscape elements.

Lead design process on full-scale renovations with involvement throughout the entire project lifecycle, from design documentation through implementation.

Managed multiple large scale on-going projects, responsible for budgeting and scheduling, resulting in intentional spaces with each total project budget between $100k-$500k in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Delivered projects based on workflows for procurement, sourcing, and specifying materials.

Aligned stakeholders including contractors, interior designers, architects, vendors, and trade partners with a focus on quality assurance and industry standards.

Implemented best practices through business development, contract negotiation, reporting, and marketing initiatives.

2022 — Now

Seed stage technology startup. Project management, product vision, prototyping, and user research for habit tracking consumer app. Available on iOS, Mac, and Apple Watch.

2016 — 2016
San Francisco

Product design course focused on UX and UI design, including design fundamentals and wireframing. Facilitated feedback sessions amongst students. Demonstrated techniques in the Sketch app.

2012 — 2015
New York, New York

Kickstarted the design community on Skillshare and helped identify market demand for design-focused content.

Teacher recruitment and business development to build out an expansive course catalog across all dimensions of design practices.

Designed curriculum and content strategy in collaboration with design leaders including Debbie Millman, John Maeda, Paula Scher, Steven Heller, Jessica Hische, and many more.

Contributed to marketing and community management projects to help foster the design community and attract new users.

Produced classes with on-site video team, guiding teachers through the content creation process.

Assisted in the pedagogy design for the platform, working cross-functionally with product managers, design, and engineering teams.

2006 — 2012
Graphic Designer, Content Strategist at Freelance

Web development, branding, and content strategy projects with clients including 826 National, DIY.org, and the Do Lectures. Involved with data analysis, business development, scoping, and problem solving across project delivery for each client.

2011 — 2012

Served on the national board for one year term. The profession’s oldest and largest professional membership organization for design—with more than 70 chapters and more than 15,000 members—AIGA advances design as a professional craft, strategic advantage, and vital cultural force.

2012 — 2012
New York, New York

Worked on product design projects at early-stage venture backed startup in the education space.

Focused on user experience, prototyping, and research to develop curriculum frameworks that manifested in the product across web and mobile platforms.

Assisted in quality assurance of the product through the testing process.

2010 — 2011
Experience Designer at Be Playful
Columbus, Ohio

A creative design studio exploring the way we learn, with a focus on K-12 spaces, curriculum, storytelling, and design thinking.

2010 — 2011
Intern at co:lab
Hartford, Connecticut

Branding design studio focused on non-profit clients, arts organizations, and local social good projects.

2008 — 2008
Intern at Behance
New York

Program management for student outreach initiatives in collaboration with the Behance team.

Certifications

2023
Product Manager Certification from General Assembly, Product School

Forthcoming product management certification program (PMP) later this year.

Speaking

2018
Presentations and Workshop Facilitation

AIGA National Design Conference, TEDxFurmanU, EduCon, 140EDU Conference New York, Association of Professional Landscape Designers, BEAM Camp, and Prototype Camp.

Projects

2020

Proposed hosting a virtual version of a long-standing California native garden tour. Facilitated the technology stack, trained participants, and deployment of livestream video production. Attended by thousands of live participants.

2018

Commission for Electric Objects, a digital art frame computer designed to bring the beauty of internet into your home environment.

Writing

2009

Creative Grab Bag captures the spirit of exploration and innovation through inspiring work from 101 artists from around the world. The result is a collection of work brimming with creative energy.

Volunteering

2018 — 2018
Parque Patagonica, Southern Chile

Regenerative agriculture farm and garden.

2010 — 2010
Greensboro, Alabama

Social impact and innovation design program.

Side Projects

2023
Interests

Ecology, Home Electrification, Industrial Design, Nature, Birds, Construction Methods, Carbon Capture Technology, Software, Photography, Hiking, Architecture

Contact

Are.na
Twitter