This portfolio presents a curated selection of my professional and instructional work across brand identity, UX/UI, motion graphics, game and app design, and community-focused campaigns. It includes original concept development, cross-media storytelling, and student projects that reflect both real-world design applications and a project-based teaching philosophy rooted in critical thinking and industry relevance.
Design & Research Portfolio
Selected Design and Research Projects Mario Christopher Fimbrez
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Hello I’m Mario Christopher Fimbrez
mariofimbrez@gmail.com (209) 505-9392
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My Portfolio Introduction, Experience, and Education
failure in disaster evacuation signage for over-touristed Japanese coastal cities. I will also begin the PhD in Communication with emphasis in Visual Communication at the University of Memphis beginning Fall 2026, where my research will continue in the area of cross-cultural visual communication, emerging media, and AR/ VR applications. I currently teach Portfolio Development and Professional Practice for Graphic Designers and Digital Imaging at De Anza College, have taught graphic design and digital media at the secondary level since 2019, and also serve as Board Trustee and Chair for Institutional Advancement at Humphreys University. This portfolio presents selected work across interaction design, brand systems, applied campaign communication, motion design, original illustration, and editorial collaboration. It reflects how I practice and how I teach: with clarity, purpose, and commitment to design that serves real people in real contexts.
I am a designer, educator, and U.S. Marine Corps veteran with over fifteen years of professional practice spanning brand systems, interaction design, motion graphics, editorial photography, and integrated campaign development. As Director of Media and Communications for Liberty and Health Alliance, I lead creative direction for national public health campaigns that mobilize hundreds of volunteers and serve thousands of patients across major U.S. cities. Through my studio, Valley Oak Design, I provide end-to-end design services for healthcare, non-profit, and education clients. My editorial photography is also published regularly in national trade magazines Fender Bender and Ratchet + Wrench through Endeavor Business Media, and has been featured in ads for brands such as 3M and NAPA Auto Parts. I hold an MA in Visual Communication and am completing my MFA in Graphic Design, Summer 2026, with thesis research focused on cross-cultural
Research and Teaching Interests
• Human factors in visual communication • Cross-cultural visual communication in safety-critical environments • Interaction design for high-stress decision environments • Design pedagogy emphasizing design fundamentals before software tools • Augmented reality as a framework for public safety communication design
Beautiful Thinking. Eunoia
Eunoia (Greek: “beautiful thinking”) is a mental resilience application concept that addresses a fundamental gap in stress management training: skills learned in calm environments rarely transfer to high-pressure contexts. Unlike meditation apps that teach relaxation techniques in comfortable settings, Eunoia trains users to think clearly while physiologically stressed, building cognitive capacity under controlled challenge. The application pairs breathwork-in - duced stress with cognitive tasks requiring attention, working memory, and decision-making. Users progress through five calibrated difficulty levels, from 30-second breath holds with pattern matching to 90+ second holds with complex logic sequences. This progressive overload approach mirrors athletic training principles applied to mental performance: capacity builds through manageable discomfort, not passive comfort. An always visible tap-out mechanism allows immediate cessation without judgment. Exit data becomes calibration input rather than failure metrics, with metacognitive reflection
prompts that build self-awareness about stress responses. The interaction design emphasizes user autonomy and ethical engagement rather than gamification or behavioral manipulation. The visual identity employs geometric precision suggesting discipline, with overlapping forms representing capacity expansion. A green-to-purple gradient signals progression from foundation to elite performance. Active exercise screens intentionally use high-contrast cyan and magenta on near-black backgrounds, creating visual tension that mirrors the training experience. All data remains local to the device in a privacy-first architecture that rejects surveillance capitalism common in wellness technology. This project demonstrates interaction design grounded in human factors research and transfer-of-learning principles, informed by experience designing information systems for high-stakes operational contexts where cognitive clarity under pressure determines outcomes.
ABOUT THIS PROJECT
POTENTIAL USERS
Paramedics, Firefighters, Law Enforcement, Emergency Room Nurses, Air Traffic Controllers, Competitive Athletes, Military Personnel, Commercial Pilots, Trial Attorneys, Public Speakers, Pro Gamers, and Teachers
FEATURES
Privacy-First Platform High Skill Transference AI Assisted Exercises Performance Tracking
HUMAN FACTORS DES IGN
SCAN QR CODE OR CLICK HERE FOR INTERACTIVE PROTOTYPE
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Liberty & Health Alliance Integrated Campaign Design for Community Health
Liberty and Health Alliance is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that transforms convention centers and stadiums into functioning medical facilities, mobilizing over 600 volunteers to deliver free healthcare to underserved communities across major U.S. cities. As Director of Media and Communications, I lead the creative direction for each campaign from strategy through production. In response to Hurricane Helene, we brought this mission to Asheville, North Carolina. The campaign objective was to fill the Harrah’s Cherokee Convention Center with patients and the volunteers to serve them across
three days of free medical, dental, and vision care. I developed an integrated campaign spanning television and radio commercials, billboard installations, targeted social media, bilingual print materials in English and Spanish, and a 47,000-household Every Door Direct Mail campaign using U.S. Census Bureau data to reach neighborhoods with the highest healthcare needs. The work shown here represents selected deliverables from that campaign across print, digital, broadcast, and environmental applications.
BRIEF AND DIRECTION
MOTION GRAPHICS
The following four second clip was created for a full length commercial. The environment was AI generated with campaign poster composited and tracked onto the kiosk using After Effects and Mocha.
SCAN TO VIEW
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DEMOGRAPHIC RESEARCH:
Utilizing U.S. Census Bureau datasets, we identified high-density neighborhoods with significant barriers to healthcare access. This data-driven approach allowed us to map ‘care deserts’ and strategically place EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail) drops to maximize patient turnout.
BILINGUAL DESIGN & PLACEMENT:
To ensure equitable access, all campaign materials were developed with a ‘Language-First’ hierarchy. Spanish-language assets were culturally adapted, not just translated, and placed in specific corridors identified through demographic mapping. ENVIRONMENTAL GRAPHIC DESIGN For high-impact large-scale environmental media, I utilized high-contrast typography and clear calls-to-action to cut through urban visual clutter, ensuring rapid information retention for motorists and pedestrians in a high-density environment.
FUNDRAISING & RECRUITMENT
Campaigns utilize a synchronized, three-pronged strategy: mobilizing 600+ credentialed professionals, establishing operational partnerships with local government, and driving large-scale fundraising to secure essential capital.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Social ads targeted the immediate venue vicinity along with specific neighborhoods. This data-driven approach successfully drove attendance, resulting in higher than expected turnout across all three days.
COMMUNITY AWARENESS
Beyond digital, we deployed street teams to distribute flyers in community centers, churches, and local businesses, ensuring we reached residents with limited digital access or skepticism of digital advertising.
Volunteer Registration Application Mobile
ACCOUNT CREATION
ROLE SORTING
SPLASH SCREEN
DATA COLLECTION
Credentialing and logistics data collected
User self selects role for appropriate next steps
Users register or access an existing account.
Account creation or log-in if previously registered
EVENT DETAILS
EXPLORE EVENTS
Indication of successful volunteer registration. SUCCESS SCREEN
USER DASHBOARD
Users view event details and self register
Displays user’s shifts, data, and upcoming events
Events displayed by type and location
ABOUT THE PROJECT
SCAN QR CODE OR CLICK HERE FOR INTERACTIVE PROTOTYPE
Liberty & Health Alliance mobilizes over 600 volunteers per event, including doctors, dentists, nurses, and general support staff, to deliver free healthcare across major U.S. cities. The organization had no centralized system for volunteer registration, role sorting, credential collection, or shift scheduling. I designed this mobile application to streamline the full registration workflow, from initial onboarding through event discovery and shift management. The interface routes volunteers into role-specific paths based on their professional discipline, collects licensure and availability data, and provides a persistent dashboard for managing upcoming commitments. The design prioritizes clarity and speed, recognizing that many volunteers register under time pressure in the days immediately before a large-scale mobilization. The application is scheduled to enter development in Summer 2026 with deployment planned for the organization’s next major event.
Serving 600+ Volunteers Per Event
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Modest Milk Identity Development, Packaging Design, Regulatory-Aware Layout
BRIEF AND DIRECTION
Facts panel, ingredient list in descending order by weight, allergen declaration, name and place of business, and UPC placement meeting GS1 quiet zone and contrast standards. Type size, spacing, and hierarchy were evaluated against FDA minimum requirements and adjusted for surface curvature, seam placement, and safe print zones. The project avoids unverified nutrient or health claims, reinforcing responsible communication practices in packaging design. Together, the logo development, 3D Model, and final application demonstrate a production-aware comprehensive approach to identity and packaging design that balances visual and production constraints with regulatory accuracy.
Modest Milk is a conceptual packaging project developed to demonstrate how identity design, typographic hierarchy, and layout decisions evolve within real-world production and regulatory constraints. The project includes the development of the Modest Milk logo through multiple refinement phases, moving from initial concept exploration to a resolved mark designed for reproduction on a narrow cylindrical format. The final packaging was built directly on a manufacturer-provided 12 oz sleek can dieline and prioritizes clarity, hierarchy, and legibility. All required elements were planned before visual composition, including the statement of identity, net quantity placement within the principal display panel, FDA-formatted Nutrition
MAYA 3D MODELING
3D renders of Modest Milk illustrate the completed 2D to 3D process using Maya 2026 for Modeling and Adobe Photoshop and Firefly AI to create the combined mock-up
Maya 3D Model
Arnold 3D Renderer
AI Generated Mockup
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LOGO DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
The Modest Milk logo was developed through multiple refinement stages, moving from exploratory concepts to a simplified, production-ready mark. Each iteration focused on balance, symmetry, and legibility at small sizes, with attention to how the mark would reproduce on a curved aluminum surface. The final logo was resolved with application in mind, ensuring clarity when printed, scaled, and integrated into packaging.
PACKAGING DIELINE & LAYOUT
The final label was built directly on a manufacturer-provid - ed 12 oz sleek can dieline. Layout decisions were driven by regulatory requirements, hierarchy, and surface constraints, including seam placement and safe print zones. Required elements were planned prior to visual composition to ensure legibility, compliance, and manufacturability on a narrow cylindrical format.
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Fimbrez: Indignum Memorare Original Digital Illustration and Cover Design
Fimbrez: Indignum Memorare is an original book cover design rooted in medieval manuscript tradition. The cover painting was digitally illustrated to reflect the visual conventions, color palette, and tonal quality of the period rather than contemporary realism. The typography and ornamentation draw from illuminated manuscript forms and were integrated as a unified compositional system. The title, Latin for “Unworthy to be Remembered,” references the self-effacing colophons of medieval scribes, connecting the design concept directly to its historical source material.
ABOUT THE DESIGN
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Planet Defender Character Design, Story Development, and Visual Production
PROJECT OVERVIEW
SELECTED OUTCOMES
Planet Defender was designed as a fast-paced arcade-style game where players pilot an advanced ship and play a hero protecting planets from incoming asteroids and an alien threat while uncovering a hidden conspiracy plot. The project includes character design, pose and expression development, storyboard creation, and visuals for marketing and documentation.
• Creation of a distinct hero, ally, and supporting android character with defined roles and silhouettes. • Development of a complete range of poses and expressions to support gameplay, animation, and storytelling. • Production of storyboard sequences to define narrative flow and key plotlines. • Delivery of key marketing art and Ul-ready illustrations for cross-platform promotion.
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CAPT. GRIGGS ROUGHS
ASTRA ROUGHS
ORION-77 ROUGHS
FINAL CHARACTER MODELS
Finalized, colored character models ready for in-game implementation and promotional use.
CHARACTERS IN ACTION
Dynamic key art for use across marketing, social media, and trailers to communicate energy and excitement for the game.
STORYBOARD HIGHLIGHT
Storyboards were created to plan the player journey from mission briefing to navigating asteroid fields, capturing narrative beats and pacing for gameplay and cutscenes.
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Visual Storytelling & Editorial Collaboration
and workplace documentation that meet the visual and narrative standards of national publication. This work reinforces skills I bring directly into the classroom: directing subjects on location, reading and shaping available light, composing for editorial context, and understanding how photography functions within a larger designed and published product.
Selected photography from ongoing editorial assignments with Fender Bender and Ratchet + Wrench, national trade publications under Endeavor Business Media serving the automotive service and collision repair industries. Each assignment involves close collaboration with editors, art directors, and journalists to produce environmental portraits
ABOUT MY PHOTOGRAPHY
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RATCHET + WRENCH
Ratchet + Wrench is a national trade publication serving the mechanical repair and auto care industry. As an editorial photographer for the magazine, I produce environmental portraits and workplace documentation on location across the United States, collaborating with editors, journalists, and art directors to create visual narratives that support feature articles and industry profiles.
FENDER BENDER MAGAZINE
Fender Bender covers the collision repair industry, reaching shop owners and operators with content on business strategy, operations, and workforce development. My photography for the magazine follows the same editorial approach, producing cover and feature imagery that balances authentic workplace environments with the visual standards of national publication.
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Semiotic Breakdown in Disaster Evacuation Signage for International Tourists Cross-Cultural Communication, Field Research, and Design Solutions
PROJECT OVERVIEW
assistance, and prior knowledge at the moments when communication must be most immediate. Drawing on twenty-three peer-reviewed sources across semiotics, risk perception, linguistic landscape studies, cross-cultural pictogram comprehension, and environmental wayfinding, the research produced a five-part framework for evaluating safety-critical signage. The thesis translates those findings into two connected design outcomes. A redesigned static signage system improves hazard recognition and route continuity through simplified pictograms, multilingual information, distance cues, and progressive safety colors. WayFinder AR extends the same communication system beyond the limits of fixed infrastructure by adapting guidance to the user’s language, location, elevation, and proximity to safety.
Japan’s disaster evacuation signage is highly standardized, but Kamakura’s international tourism creates a communication challenge the existing system was not designed to address. Visitors may not read Japanese, recognize local visual conventions, or possess the geographic knowledge residents use to interpret evacuation instructions. In a tsunami emergency, these assumptions can turn a functional domestic system into an incomplete experience for unfamiliar users. Primary field research conducted in May and June 2026 followed the evacuation corridor from Yuigahama Beach to Hasedera Temple. The study documented low-urgency hazard markers, Japanese-only emergency information, inconsistent route confirmation, and the disappearance of municipal guidance at the temple property boundary. These breakdowns showed that the route depends on language, cultural familiarity, staff
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Cross-Cultural Evacuation Signage Framework A Research-Based Method for Evaluating and Redesigning Tsunami Evacuation Signage Applied to the Yuigahama–Hasedera Evacuation Corridor
The proposed signage system translates those criteria into coordinated hazard, route, and destination markers. Simplified pictograms reduce dependence on written language, while multilingual text, direction, distance, and refuge information make each action more explicit. A progressive color sequence moves from yellow and black at the hazard zone, to blue along the active evacuation route, and finally to green at the designated refuge. This continuity allows the environment itself to communicate danger, movement, progress, and confirmed safety.
The evaluation framework identifies five conditions that influence whether an evacuation sign can be understood and acted upon across cultural boundaries: semiotic comprehensibility, affective register, cross-cultural pictogram performance, environmental integration, and linguistic accessibility. Together, these criteria examine not only what information a sign contains, but whether it communicates urgency, remains visible in context, and gives an unfamiliar user enough information to take protective action.
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WayFinder AR Mobile Augmented Reality Dynamic Semiotic Evacuation Application Based on Field Research Navigating the Evacuation Route from Yuigahama Beach to Hasedera Temple in Kamakura, Japan
DESIGN RATIONALE
boundary and directs users toward the upper terrace, addressing the final portion of the route where field research documented a loss of visible municipal guidance. The interface carries the same visual logic as the physical signage. Yellow and black indicate immediate hazard, blue supports active movement along the route, and green confirms arrival at a designated safe location. This progression communicates urgency and proximity to safety without relying on text alone, reducing cognitive demand during a high-stress evacuation. WayFinder AR does not replace public signage. It extends the system when fixed communication becomes incomplete, inaccessible, or absent.
The static signage proposal improves the shared public route, but field research showed that fixed infrastructure cannot resolve every communication failure. Municipal signs end at property boundaries, visitors may enter the route from different locations, and critical decisions can occur where no marker is visible. WayFinder AR was developed as the adaptive layer of the same evacuation system rather than as a separate navigation product. The application uses location, route, distance, and elevation data to provide ground-plane directional chevrons, remaining distance, estimated time to refuge, and multilingual emergency information. Guidance continues through the Hasedera Temple property
Augmented Reality Dynamic Semiotic Evacuation Assistance Designed by Mario Christopher Fimbrez for the MFA in Graphic Design
Scan or Click for Live Prototype
Prototype Features The prototype demonstrates location-aware AR direction, live distance, elevation, estimated time to refuge, multilingual alerts, and confirmation of reaching the designated safety threshold. The visual language aligns with the static signage system, allowing for a coordinated physical and digital evacuation guidance
experience. Future development will connect the platform to verified municipal routes and official emergency-alert data completing the arc from research problem, to evaluative method, to static intervention, and finally to functional adaptive digital guidance application based on the same principles.
Kyeonghye Kim Arts 63 De Anza College Kyeonghye is trilingual in Korean, Japanese, and English, and lived and worked in Tokyo before relocating to the USA. Her designs reflect that layered background. The Nebuta Festival project draws on Japanese visual and cultural traditions, communicating the history and scale of the festival with the kind of cultural specificity that comes from actual knowledge of the subject. Her skateboard design series provides a more modern look at her outstanding illustration abilities applied to her interest in environmental topics.
Pedro Calderon Arts 63 De Anza College
Ashley Stallcop Arts 63 De Anza College
Ashley is half Japanese and has been working to connect her cultural heritage to her design practice. Choosing Shigeo Fukuda as her subject was not arbitrary. The exhibition poster works in his style without copying it, and the result reflects genuine engagement with his method rather than just imitation. The Beethoven concert program also shows her range in editorial design, translating classical style into a layout system that is both historically informed and visually current.
The Sushi Heaven rebrand gave Ashley a real brief: a local Japanese restaurant with an existing customer base. She developed a logo, color system, and collateral suite designed to work across packaging, apparel, and signage. The rising sun mark is bold enough to anchor the brand at small sizes and carries through consistently to the takeout box and apron. This was her most complete project of the term, moving from concept and initial research to production-ready files. Sushi Heaven Local Restaurant Redesign
Arts 63 De Anza College Anna Gonzalez
Anna Gonzalez came to De Anza with professional design experience from Mexico and is expanding her practice for the American market. The Polar Bears International brand style guide reflects that background. She built the full system, logo variations, color and type standards, collateral templates, grid specifications, and an imagery library, and documented it in a format a real organization could hand directly to a vendor. The scope is notable at the community college level, but what stands out more is the consistency: every page of the guide applies the same standards the guide is establishing.
Arts 63 De Anza College Alejandra Vargas Mendez
Alejandra Vargas Mendez grew up in Queens and recently relocated to San Jose, where she is working toward a career in UI/UX design. The Chronos project reflects that trajectory directly. Rather than treat the magazine ad as a purely print exercise, she used it to explore the intersection of print advertising and interface design, building a spread that functions as both a brand statement and a working HUD visualization. The left page establishes atmosphere through negative space and a single image. The right page organizes energy readings, structural data, and system gauges into a hierarchy that holds together at print scale. It is the work of a designer thinking across media.
Noemi Huerta High School Sophomore
This project introduced Photoshop layer style tools through a poster brief requiring a glowing light effect. Noemi extended the technical requirement into a cohesive conceptual statement, using high contrast, cinematic lighting, and bold typography to create a poster that reads as a complete design rather than a technique demonstration.
Ben Maxson High School Senior
This piece originated as a personal project for Ben’s sports-focused social media account, demonstrating independent application of classroom skills outside the formal assignment context. The solution combines advanced compositing, typographic layering, and collage-based visual storytelling to produce a poster that reflects genuine design sensibility and ambition beyond the introductory masking techniques that anchored the unit.
Haley Canela High School Sophomore
Haley’s animated heart combined vectorization, trim paths, and Video Copilot Saber plugin application to create a motion piece with genuine emotional impact. The use of trim path animation to suggest an organic drawing-on effect, combined with the glow treatment, demonstrates technical control in service of expressive intent.
VIEW ONLINE bit.ly/student-heart
Suhki Kaur High School Freshman
Suhki completed this motion project as a freshman. The assignment required building a 3D cube from 2D compositions in After Effects and animating it with audio sync, demonstrating 3D layer parenting and null object manipulation. She successfully completed the task at a level rarely seen at this experience stage.
bit.ly/student-cube VIEW ONLINE
Thank You for Reviewing This Portfolio.
The work collected here reflects my practice as a designer, educator, and researcher, as well as the direction my work continues to develop. The professional projects represent my current studio and communications practice, while the research and student work reflect how those experiences carry into scholarship, teaching, and mentorship. Taken together, I hope they reflect my genuine conviction that design done well serves real people in real contexts and helps students develop the ability to do the same.
Mario Christopher Fimbrez mariofimbrez@gmail.com (209) 505-9392
PORTFOLIO OF MARIO CHRISTOPHER FIMBREZ
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