PATTERN SYNTHESIST  ·  PROBLEM ARCHITECT  ·  STRATEGIC DESIGNER

Consuelo
Griego

I map the architecture of a problem others can’t quite articulate — identify the framework and its components, then design and build the solution.

HOW I WORK

Most engagements begin before there’s an engagement. A conversation, a problem described, a question I can’t help but reframe — and something shifts. That moment is where the work starts.

Once brought in formally, the process is precise: define the situation, map the players, set the schedule. Then I go quiet — deep research, followed by individual interviews. Not a group session where the loudest voice shapes the narrative. One on one, where people say what they actually think.

What comes back is rarely what was asked for. It’s usually something more useful.

HOW I WORK

Where unrelated things converge

The synthesis cannot be engineered. It can only be prepared for.

I2 imagination · intuition LISTEN individual interviews MAP topics · assumptions RESEARCH cross-domain · real-time IMAGINE optimal future · sci-fi map PATTERN unrelated fields REVERSE work backwards from the future SYNTHESIS REAL ARCHITECTURE the problem behind the problem

SELECTED ENGAGEMENTS — THE REFRAME IN EACH

Case Study — Digital Experience Design

Society of American
Period Furniture
Makers

Heritage organization with a complex, multi-decade collection — redesigned from the ground up as a museum-caliber digital archive.

GALLERY
AWARDS
MAKERS
ARCHIVE
Client SAPFM
Discipline UX · Visual Design
Platform WordPress
01

The Challenge

A 30-year archive of American fine furniture craft — hundreds of makers, thousands of pieces — living in an organizational structure that had outgrown itself.

The society needed more than a redesign. They needed an information architecture capable of honoring the depth and diversity of their collection while remaining genuinely navigable for both longtime members and curious newcomers. The work required synthesizing museum-grade presentation standards with functional membership management, event systems, and award documentation — all within the constraints of a volunteer-led nonprofit.

✦   CARTOUCHE AWARD   ✦
EXCELLENCE IN
PERIOD FURNITURE
CRAFTSMANSHIP
2024 Recipient

Award Presentation

Cartouche Award
Archive Pages

Interaction Design

Tabbed Navigation
System

Design Approach

Information Architecture

Hover-reveal navigation eliminated a redundant page layer, reducing click depth while preserving the visual impact of the category landing. The solution emerged from a clear constraint: no second visual menu.

Visual Language

Dark cognac and aged gold palette borrowed from the materials these craftspeople work with — leather, walnut, brass. Typography drawn from 18th-century broadside printing traditions.

System Thinking

Beyond aesthetics: membership management, payment integration, event calendars, and administrative systems built to be maintained by a volunteer board with limited technical capacity.

The Outcome

"Museum-quality presentation that honors three decades of American craft."

A complete digital platform — not just a website — that serves as both a public-facing archive and a functional membership system. Designed under significant organizational constraints, delivered with professional precision.

30+ years of maker history organized and presented
4 integrated systems: gallery, membership, events, awards
1 click depth reduced through hover navigation redesign
0 wireframes — designed directly in Photoshop from concept

CASE STUDY 02

NASA
Space Portal
Interactive Prototype

Interactive prototype presented to 300+ engineers. Translating aerospace complexity into navigable human experience.

Interactive Prototype

Portal Navigation

Engineering Presentation

The Challenge

Translating technical aerospace systems into an interactive prototype accessible to a 300+ person engineering audience. Complexity without confusion.

The Approach

Cross-domain synthesis: applying principles from information architecture, human-centered design, and systems thinking to create navigation that engineers trusted immediately.

The Outcome

A working interactive prototype presented live to NASA's engineering team. Proof that strategic design thinking operates effectively at the highest levels of technical complexity.

CASE STUDY 03

Skineez
Brand Strategy
& Retail Placement

From entrepreneur's vision to Walgreens, CVS, and major retail shelves. Strategic brand positioning that drove real placement outcomes.

Brand Identity

Retail Packaging

Shelf Presence

THE OUTCOME

"Secured placement across major national retailers including Walgreens and CVS."

Strategic brand positioning that helped an entrepreneur see — and articulate — her product's true market position. The result: retail buyers said yes.

Major Retail national chain placement secured
Brand Strategy positioning to shelf in one engagement

CASE STUDY 04

Breast Care
Patient App
Strategy & Design

Human-centered design for a vulnerable population. Where clinical precision meets compassionate experience design.

App Experience

Patient Journey

Strategy Framework

The Challenge

Designing a digital experience for patients navigating one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives — where clarity, trust, and compassion are not optional.

The Approach

Strategic assessment of existing app landscape combined with patient advocacy expertise. Human-centered design principles applied to clinical complexity.

The Outcome

A strategic framework for patient experience design that balances clinical accuracy with genuine human warmth — meeting patients where they are.

CASE STUDY 05

Peter Kellett
Anodized Clocks
Retail Launch

From artist's studio to Bloomingdale's floor. Strategic positioning of handcrafted timepieces for luxury retail placement.

Clock Collection

Retail Presentation

Brand Identity

THE OUTCOME

"Secured placement at Bloomingdale's — translating a craftsman's vision into luxury retail reality."

Strategic brand positioning for an independent artist. Identifying the exact language, presentation, and channel that luxury retail buyers respond to.

Bloomingdale's luxury retail placement
Artist → Brand strategic positioning transformation

CASE STUDY 06

Egypt
Constitutional
Platform

Democratic participation redesigned as comparative intelligence. Millions of citizens. Thirty countries. One reframe.

STANFORD PEACE INNOVATION LAB · CANADIAN EMBASSY

Constitutional Platform

30+

countries compared

Millions

citizens reached

The Challenge

Millions of Egyptians faced constitutional votes during democratic transition. The conventional approach — post the text, add explanations, let people vote — produces uninformed participation, not meaningful democratic engagement.

The Reframe

Democratic participation requires comparative context, not information access. Citizens need to see how other nations solved the same governance questions — religious freedom, executive power, judicial independence — before they can make informed choices.

The Outcome

A comparative intelligence platform enabling collective sense-making at scale. Recognized by Stanford Peace Innovation Lab and the Canadian Embassy as a new framework for participatory democracy technology.

CASE STUDY 07

Veteran
Education
Ecosystem

Scoped as a vocational training program. Delivered as economic mobility architecture.

Veteran Education Ecosystem

Culinary · Hydroponics
Entrepreneurship · Tech

four integrated tracks

Built-in revenue model
+ mentorship structure

ecosystem architecture

The Challenge

A veteran training program scoped as vocational skills development. The assumption: teach skills, employment follows. The reality: skills without economic pathway create trained people with no route to livelihood.

The Reframe

The problem wasn't lack of skills — it was lack of ecosystem. Designed four integrated tracks where each element amplifies the others: culinary + hydroponics + entrepreneurship + technology, with kiosk business model built in and intergenerational mentorship creating continuity.

The Outcome

An economic mobility ecosystem, not a skills course. A framework that converts veteran capability into sustainable livelihood — designed from first principles, built to replicate.