Emerson Collective
Building solutions forprogressive change
BandPage
Directing product design, getting acquired
Apple\MAL
Building the international digital creative team
Coming soon
Public Code
International collaboration on digital infrastructure
Field States
Co-creating strategic design for better public outcomes
Crushroom
Designing a social-first music experience
Music
Art + animation for album releases
BandPage
The central network for musicians connected artists to fans on the world's biggest platforms, to build more sustainable careers in the uncertain age of digital music. I led design during a radical rethink of the company, through our acquisition by Google.
Design Director
2012–16
Team leadership
Product design
Art direction
Info architecture
User research
Production process
Audience strategy
Copy-writing
BandPage was built to serve musicians
While the world’s major music services failed to give artists meaningful access to their platforms—choosing instead to capture revenue and attention from fans—BandPage gave musicians power over an rapidly shifting and adversarial ecosystem. We sent artist-controlled content to the big platforms, all from one place, and gave fans new ways to discover and connect with bands.
BandPage grew from a Facebook app into a central industry hub, giving our million+ artists a home base, more income, and deeper audience connection. That value to musicians led to our being acquired by Google.
My Challenges
1
Build and lead the team designing products, artist campaigns, and brand
2
Coordinate across the org, build toward a holistic vision in a rapidly adaptive startup
3
Help bands of all sizes make money + connect with fans in a fractured music ecosystem
4
Foster healthy culture while the startup clock is ticking
Directing Design
I built and led our design team, responsible for product, artist campaigns, and brand. We visualized, prototyped and user-tested a growing suite of products, helping artists while proving BandPage’s value as a company.
Every effort was multi-purpose: we designed artist campaigns to test new features, uncover potential UX and back-end improvements, and iterate on production process—all while getting money into artists’ pockets, and building a track record that brought in more bands, labels and platform partners.
I synthesized industry context and company trajectory for my team, keeping us on target, emotionally connected to the work, and growing as individuals. I acted as a bridge between teams, balancing artists’ needs and business goals, product priorities, user feedback, and engineering challenges.
- On the Product team, I helped plan features, streamline process, and co-lead user research.
- I coordinated tightly with Engineering to build better working and looking products + pay down tech debt, even when a new, unified design language didn’t fit on the roadmap.
- Envisioning integrations with Biz Dev resulted in better deals for us, artists and fans—like artist-controlled merch and concerts in Spotify and rich artist profiles in Pandora.
- I championed the Support team, ensuring new features for small musicians and long-time users, not just superstars.
- Along the way, I worked overtime to foster a collaborative and creative office culture.
- I led creation of the 90-page Material Technology presentation for Google, distilling our history, strategy, technology and data into a key part of our successful acquisition.
Coco
Bradley
Dyanna
Seth
Kasia
Artist Widgets
Artists and labels everywhere used these to get music, videos, tour dates and store offers out to fans across the web. When I joined BP, each widget had its own visual language and codebase—I pitched and helped launch a redesign, giving artists features they wanted, and enabling our dev team to streamline and modernize the system.
UX/UI design
User research and testing
Art direction
The Marketing Site
Helping audiences understand a complex product is a fun challenge. We built trust with artists by featuring bands they identified with and explaining our motives. Industry saw how we saved them time and made them money. Platforms got clarity about our data and technology. Clear copy and illustrations, testimonials and real-world examples all helped tell our story.
Audience strategy
Visual design
Copy-writing
The Fan App
We built a powerful app for true music fans: Find, Follow and Share your favorite artists, be the first to hear about tour dates, experiences, and new music. I helped define the app experience, and built a prototype enabling us to quickly work out UX flows.
Information architecture
UX/UI design
Art direction
Artist Profiles on the web
A comprehensive and up-to-date look at bands, featuring content maintained by artists and labels, backfilled by automated systems. I pitched and led the effort to ditch old code (originally built as a Facebook widget!) and launch a mobile-friendly system that reduced tech debt and gave biz dev a great way to show off our artist engagement.
UX/UI design
Art direction
The Control Center
Artists and managers used this to syndicate info to many music platforms, but what made it through to where (or why it didn’t) wasn’t always clear. User interviews and A/B testing led to clearer feedback loops, while light gamification added motivation. A new mobile experience let artists check fan engagement and handle quick tasks on the go.
User research
UX/UI design
Copy-writing
Artist Campaigns
My team and I created thousands of promotional graphics for artists. Each campaign was used to test messaging + optimize algorithms driving offers across our network.
Information architecture
UX/UI design
Art direction
BandPage Culture
From hackathon apps to our chef’s granola, off-site Camp BandPage shirts and celebrations of co-workers achieving citizenship, I used design to make our world a little more fun and inclusive.
Design
Event organization
Merch production
I’m proud of the work we did for artists around the world, and I was so fortunate to work with such brilliant partners, leaders, and friends.
A few lessons learned...
Think in systems. Isolated ideas and detail fixation solve the wrong problems. Always be learning about your ecosystem.
Plan for audiences, speak to the individual. Remember that one person at a time uses your product—there’s nothing abstract about their experience.
Your job is a fluid. Between core tasks, find ways to connect across teams—real solutions require allies. Share context, build bridges between silos, and turn overlapping goals into shared victories.
Trust is key. The mission provides a destination, but getting there requires mutual respect built on honesty that can be hard to give or hear. Meet people where they’re at—and damn it, you've got to be kind.
Doug Scott, CMOBandPage + Twitch
Let's get the basics out of the way: Ryan is the most talented designer I have ever worked with. UX, UI, branding, advertising, you name it... his instincts, flexibility, attention to detail and artistic capability are unmatched. And that alone should be reason enough to want Ryan on your team. But the intangibles that no resume or portfolio can bring out are the qualities that truly set Ryan apart.
Full text on LinkedIn
Janet Zhou, Product leadGoogle + BandPage
His energy and commitment to the company and our customers is contagious - I can't tell you how many times he's inspired me to do more for our artists or guided our product decisions toward a superior outcome for artists, fans, and partners. Ryan does all of this with the highest level of EQ - He listens patiently and with an open mind, asks insightful questions, understands the need to balance complex business goals, comes up with creative and thoughtful suggestions, and skillfully communicates the decision across the organization as needed.
Full text on LinkedIn
Emerson Collective
Building solutions forprogressive change
BandPage
Directing product design, getting acquired
Apple\MAL
Building the international digital creative team
Coming soon
Public Code
International collaboration on digital infrastructure
Field States
Co-creating strategic design for better public outcomes
Crushroom
Designing a social-first music experience
Music
Art + animation for album releases
BandPage
The central network for musicians connected artists to fans on the world's biggest platforms, to build more sustainable careers in the uncertain age of digital music. I led design during a radical rethink of the company, through our acquisition by Google.
Design Director
2012–16
Team leadership
Product design
Art direction
Info architecture
User research
Production process
Audience strategy
Copy-writing
BandPage was built to serve musicians
While the world’s major music services failed to give artists meaningful access to their platforms—choosing instead to capture revenue and attention from fans—BandPage gave musicians power over an rapidly shifting and adversarial ecosystem. We sent artist-controlled content to the big platforms, all from one place, and gave fans new ways to discover and connect with bands.
BandPage grew from a Facebook app into a central industry hub, giving our million+ artists a home base, more income, and deeper audience connection. That value to musicians led to our being acquired by Google.
My Challenges
1
Build and lead the team designing products, artist campaigns, and brand
2
Coordinate across the org, build toward a holistic vision in a rapidly adaptive startup
3
Help bands of all sizes make money + connect with fans in a fractured music ecosystem
4
Foster healthy culture while the startup clock is ticking
Directing Design
I built and led our design team, responsible for product, artist campaigns, and brand. We visualized, prototyped and user-tested a growing suite of products, helping artists while proving BandPage’s value as a company.
Every effort was multi-purpose: we designed artist campaigns to test new features, uncover potential UX and back-end improvements, and iterate on production process—all while getting money into artists’ pockets, and building a track record that brought in more bands, labels and platform partners.
I synthesized industry context and company trajectory for my team, keeping us on target, emotionally connected to the work, and growing as individuals. I acted as a bridge between teams, balancing artists’ needs and business goals, product priorities, user feedback, and engineering challenges.
- On the Product team, I helped plan features, streamline process, and co-lead user research.
- I coordinated tightly with Engineering to build better working and looking products + pay down tech debt, even when a new, unified design language didn’t fit on the roadmap.
- Envisioning integrations with Biz Dev resulted in better deals for us, artists and fans—like artist-controlled merch and concerts in Spotify and rich artist profiles in Pandora.
- I championed the Support team, ensuring new features for small musicians and long-time users, not just superstars.
- Along the way, I worked overtime to foster a collaborative and creative office culture.
- I led creation of the 90-page Material Technology presentation for Google, distilling our history, strategy, technology and data into a key part of our successful acquisition.
Coco
Bradley
Dyanna
Seth
Kasia
Artist Widgets
Artists and labels everywhere used these to get music, videos, tour dates and store offers out to fans across the web. When I joined BP, each widget had its own visual language and codebase—I pitched and helped launch a redesign, giving artists features they wanted, and enabling our dev team to streamline and modernize the system.
UX/UI design
User research and testing
Art direction
The Marketing Site
Helping audiences understand a complex product is a fun challenge. We built trust with artists by featuring bands they identified with and explaining our motives. Industry saw how we saved them time and made them money. Platforms got clarity about our data and technology. Clear copy and illustrations, testimonials and real-world examples all helped tell our story.
Audience strategy
Visual design
Copy-writing
The Fan App
We built a powerful app for true music fans: Find, Follow and Share your favorite artists, be the first to hear about tour dates, experiences, and new music. I helped define the app experience, and built a prototype enabling us to quickly work out UX flows.
Information architecture
UX/UI design
Art direction
Artist Profiles on the web
A comprehensive and up-to-date look at bands, featuring content maintained by artists and labels, backfilled by automated systems. I pitched and led the effort to ditch old code (originally built as a Facebook widget!) and launch a mobile-friendly system that reduced tech debt and gave biz dev a great way to show off our artist engagement.
UX/UI design
Art direction
The Control Center
Artists and managers used this to syndicate info to many music platforms, but what made it through to where (or why it didn’t) wasn’t always clear. User interviews and A/B testing led to clearer feedback loops, while light gamification added motivation. A new mobile experience let artists check fan engagement and handle quick tasks on the go.
User research
UX/UI design
Copy-writing
Artist Campaigns
My team and I created thousands of promotional graphics for artists. Each campaign was used to test messaging + optimize algorithms driving offers across our network.
Art direction
Design
Production process
BandPage Culture
From hackathon apps to our chef’s granola, off-site Camp BandPage shirts and celebrations of co-workers achieving citizenship, I used design to make our world a little more fun and inclusive.
Design
Event organization
Merch production
Startups are rollercoasters, and I was fortunate to work for artists around the world alongside brilliant partners, leaders, and friends.
A few lessons learned...
Think in systems. Isolated ideas and detail fixation solve the wrong problems. Always be learning about your ecosystem.
Plan for audiences, speak to the individual. Remember that one person at a time uses your product—there’s nothing abstract about their experience.
Your job is a fluid. Between core tasks, find ways to connect across teams—real solutions require allies. Share context, build bridges between silos, and turn overlapping goals into shared victories.
Trust is key. The mission provides a destination, but getting there requires mutual respect built on honesty that can be hard to give or hear. Meet people where they’re at—and damn it, you've got to be kind.
Doug Scott, CMO, Twitch + BandPage
Let's get the basics out of the way: Ryan is the most talented designer I have ever worked with. UX, UI, branding, advertising, you name it... his instincts, flexibility, attention to detail and artistic capability are unmatched. And that alone should be reason enough to want Ryan on your team. But the intangibles that no resume or portfolio can bring out are the qualities that truly set Ryan apart.
Full text on LinkedIn
Janet Zhou, Director of PM, Google + BandPage
His energy and commitment to the company and our customers is contagious - I can't tell you how many times he's inspired me to do more for our artists or guided our product decisions toward a superior outcome for artists, fans, and partners. Ryan does all of this with the highest level of EQ - He listens patiently and with an open mind, asks insightful questions, understands the need to balance complex business goals, comes up with creative and thoughtful suggestions, and skillfully communicates the decision across the organization as needed.
Full text on LinkedIn
Emerson Collective
Building solutions forprogressive change
BandPage
Directing product design, getting acquired
Apple\MAL
Building the international digital creative team
Coming soon
Public Code
International collaboration on digital infrastructure
Field States
Co-creating strategic design for better public outcomes
Crushroom
Designing a social-first music experience
Music
Art + animation for album releases
BandPage
The central network for musicians connected artists to fans on the world's biggest platforms, to build more sustainable careers in the uncertain age of digital music. I led design during a radical rethink of the company, through our acquisition by Google.
Design Director
2012–16
Team leadership
Product design
Art direction
Info architecture
User research
Production process
Audience strategy
Copy-writing
BandPage was built to serve musicians
While the world’s major music services failed to give artists meaningful access to their platforms—choosing instead to capture revenue and attention from fans—BandPage gave musicians power over an rapidly shifting and adversarial ecosystem. We sent artist-controlled content to the big platforms, all from one place, and gave fans new ways to discover and connect with bands.
BandPage grew from a Facebook app into a central industry hub, giving our million+ artists a home base, more income, and deeper audience connection. That value to musicians led to our being acquired by Google.
My Challenges
1
Build and lead the team designing products, artist campaigns, and brand
2
Coordinate across the org, build toward a holistic vision in a rapidly adaptive startup
3
Help bands of all sizes make money + connect with fans in a fractured music ecosystem
4
Foster healthy culture while the startup clock is ticking
Directing Design
I built and led our design team, responsible for product, artist campaigns, and brand. We visualized, prototyped and user-tested a growing suite of products, helping artists while proving BandPage’s value as a company.
Every effort was multi-purpose: we designed artist campaigns to test new features, uncover potential UX and back-end improvements, and iterate on production process—all while getting money into artists’ pockets, and building a track record that brought in more bands, labels and platform partners.
I synthesized industry context and company trajectory for my team, keeping us on target, emotionally connected to the work, and growing as individuals. I acted as a bridge between teams, balancing artists’ needs and business goals, product priorities, user feedback, and engineering challenges.
- On the Product team, I helped plan features, streamline process, and co-lead user research.
- I coordinated tightly with Engineering to build better working and looking products + pay down tech debt, even when a new, unified design language didn’t fit on the roadmap.
- Envisioning integrations with Biz Dev resulted in better deals for us, artists and fans—like artist-controlled merch and concerts in Spotify and rich artist profiles in Pandora.
- I championed the Support team, ensuring new features for small musicians and long-time users, not just superstars.
- Along the way, I worked overtime to foster a collaborative and creative office culture.
- I led creation of the 90-page Material Technology presentation for Google, distilling our history, strategy, technology and data into a key part of our successful acquisition.
Coco
Bradley
Dyanna
Seth
Kasia
Artist Widgets
Artists and labels everywhere used these to get music, videos, tour dates and store offers out to fans across the web. When I joined BP, each widget had its own visual language and codebase—I pitched and helped launch a redesign, giving artists features they wanted, and enabling our dev team to streamline and modernize the system.
UX/UI design
User research and testing
Art direction
The Marketing Site
Helping audiences understand a complex product is a fun challenge. We built trust with artists by featuring bands they identified with and explaining our motives. Industry saw how we saved them time and made them money. Platforms got clarity about our data and technology. Clear copy and illustrations, testimonials and real-world examples all helped tell our story.
Audience strategy
Visual design
Copy-writing
The Fan App
We built a powerful app for true music fans: Find, Follow and Share your favorite artists, be the first to hear about tour dates, experiences, and new music. I helped define the app experience, and built a prototype enabling us to quickly work out UX flows.
Information architecture
UX/UI design
Art direction
Artist Profiles on the web
A comprehensive and up-to-date look at bands, featuring content maintained by artists and labels, backfilled by automated systems. I pitched and led the effort to ditch old code (originally built as a Facebook widget!) and launch a mobile-friendly system that reduced tech debt and gave biz dev a great way to show off our artist engagement.
UX/UI design
Art direction
The Control Center
Artists and managers used this to syndicate info to many music platforms, but what made it through to where (or why it didn’t) wasn’t always clear. User interviews and A/B testing led to clearer feedback loops, while light gamification added motivation. A new mobile experience let artists check fan engagement and handle quick tasks on the go.
User research
UX/UI design
Copy-writing
Artist Campaigns
My team and I created thousands of promotional graphics for artists. Each campaign was used to test messaging + optimize algorithms driving offers across our network.
Art direction
Design
Production process
BandPage Culture
From hackathon apps to our chef’s granola, off-site Camp BandPage shirts and celebrations of co-workers achieving citizenship, I used design to make our world a little more fun and inclusive.
Design
Event organization
Merch production
I was fortunate to ride this startup rollercoaster alongside brilliant partners, leaders, and friends, in service of musicians around the world.
A few lessons learned...
Think in systems. Isolated ideas and detail fixation solve the wrong problems. Always be learning about your ecosystem.
Plan for audiences, speak to the individual. Remember that one person at a time uses your product—there’s nothing abstract about their experience.
Your job is a fluid. Between core tasks, find ways to connect across teams—real solutions require allies. Share context, build bridges between silos, and turn overlapping goals into shared victories.
Trust is key. The mission provides a destination, but getting there requires mutual respect built on honesty that can be hard to give or hear. Meet people where they’re at—and damn it, you've got to be kind.
Doug Scott, CMO, Twitch + BandPage
Let's get the basics out of the way: Ryan is the most talented designer I have ever worked with. UX, UI, branding, advertising, you name it... his instincts, flexibility, attention to detail and artistic capability are unmatched. And that alone should be reason enough to want Ryan on your team. But the intangibles that no resume or portfolio can bring out are the qualities that truly set Ryan apart.
Full text on LinkedIn
Janet Zhou, Director of PM, Google + BandPage
His energy and commitment to the company and our customers is contagious - I can't tell you how many times he's inspired me to do more for our artists or guided our product decisions toward a superior outcome for artists, fans, and partners. Ryan does all of this with the highest level of EQ - He listens patiently and with an open mind, asks insightful questions, understands the need to balance complex business goals, comes up with creative and thoughtful suggestions, and skillfully communicates the decision across the organization as needed.
Full text on LinkedIn
