Hello, I’m Aretha, a Growth Marketer and UX/UI Designer, and the kind of all-rounder small teams rely on. My background in Fashion Design taught me how things are made end to end, and UX research taught me how people decide and how to design for them. Selling my own printable coloring books on Etsy is teaching me how content brings people to a product. I plan and design content, build funnels and websites, and read the data to decide what to change next.
Case Studies
From launching my own digital product on Etsy to designing websites and apps with teams and clients.
Personal Founder Project
This project brings my whole skill set into one product. The printable coloring books show children how their clothes work and spark an interest in sewing as a creative hobby, and each book has an ASL option that introduces the sign language alphabet for more inclusive learning, fostering a curiosity in learning sign language.
The subject comes from my Fashion Design training, childcare taught me how young children learn and what interests them, and UX thinking about how parents search and choose went into the Etsy listings. I also created the characters and calm YouTube cartoons, and I market the books on Pinterest and YouTube.
I built this AI-native from day one, using Claude with custom Skills and MCP connectors alongside Higgsfield AI, LitPal AI, Canva AI, Canva Pro and Affinity. The ASL letters themselves are never made with AI.
A landing page is coming soon, along with an agentic data hub that brings the Etsy, Pinterest, YouTube, website, newsletter and email agent data into one place, the same kind of private data hub DUONEXA builds for small businesses.
Digital Product Development · Content Creation · Etsy Shop Management · Growth Marketing · AI‑Native Workflow
Apprenticeship
Guided Growth Through Mentorship
In a fast-paced three-week design sprint, our team partnered with BRIDGEGOOD, a non-profit organization, to ideate and build an app centered around real user needs. Close collaboration with their Executive Director and Program Manager kept our work grounded in their mission from start to finish, advancing their core purpose of making design equity a reality for all.
Internship
DiscoverU Health is a modern concierge care digital service offering integrative, preventative care through affordable and transparent plans for individuals, families, and businesses.
As a Graphic Design Intern my organic content strategy grew LinkedIn followers by 317 in 90 days, with engagement up 400% and impressions up 334% on a dormant account that didn’t have much engagement before, with no paid promotion.
My journey with this platform began as a Graphic Design Intern, where I built a thorough understanding of the brand’s identity, voice, and user pain points. When I transitioned to the UX team, that insider knowledge became a bridge between data, stakeholder insights, and design decisions, helping the team deliver a final website experience that communicated the core service clearly, intuitively, and with the user always at the center.
Website: DiscoverU Health
Freelance Work
I take on freelance work through DUONEXA, an AI-native growth partner for small businesses. We started with website revamps, logo design and content creation. Now we’re building micro-SaaS tools and private data hubs that bring a business’s data into one place, so owners can make clearer decisions and increased revenue.
Website: DUONEXA
Capturing two decades of creative expertise and a personality as vibrant as the landscapes she designs is no small task. This website revamp for award-winning landscape artist and technologist Maria Kotze was built to do exactly that, balancing warmth and professionalism to create an intuitive journey that resonates with both her audience and her clients.
Website: Maria Kotze Gardens
Visual Design
Digital billboards for the San Jose City College Marketing Department, freelance logo design and Fashion Design portfolio.
Billboards · Logos · Fashion
Digital Billboard Design
Digital Billboards for San Jose City College’s Marketing Department
Type: Internship
Role: Video Production & Content Creation Intern
Year: 2024, while completing my User Experience and Interaction Design Level 2 Certificate at San Jose City College
Software: Adobe After Effects, Illustrator and Photoshop
Logo Design
Perceptum – Logo Redesign
Type: Freelance work
Role: Logo designer
Year: 2024, while completing my User Experience and Interaction Design Level 2 Certificate at San Jose City College
Software: Adobe Illustrator
Perceptum is a business coaching company built around one idea: people are the asset. The redesign translates that into a logo that speaks to organizations investing in human potential over process.
The original mark was chaotic: competing typefaces, a dense wireframe sphere, motion with no clear direction. The rebrand centers on a single form: a nautilus spiral in a gradient moving from deep teal through amber to gold. The new tagline, “Humans in Growth Motion,” earns the shape. A spiral is growth by definition. The logo holds in full color and monochrome without losing its structure.
Fashion Portfolio
Accreditation: City & Guilds Level 2 Diploma in Fashion Design and Garment Technology
College: Cape Town College of Fashion Design and The Fashion Institute of Garment Technology, Cape Town, South Africa
Years: 2017 to 2018
Covered: Fashion Design, Pattern Making and Garment Technology
Year one (2017): A fitted blouse, dress and trousers
Year two (2018): Lingerie, tailoring and evening wear
Short course (2018): Digital Fashion Design with the Adobe Suite
Awards: Merit Award for Achievement in All Areas (2017), Merit Award for Textile Development (2018) and Merit Award for Fashion Design 2 (2018)
Final grade: 75/100
