Tech Raising Santa Cruz

This was my first year attending Tech Raising, and it was a really cool event. In classic Santa Cruz style, this gathering provided a supportive community structure for a myriad of start-ups in all stages of development. I was invited to participate as a contributory designer, and I couldn't have been more pleased.

The event kicked off with a great workshop by UX Design Consultant and Coach Jose Caballer, who helped participants understand themselves and their businesses more clearly.

After the workshop, each team broke off to develop their project towards its' goal as much as possible within the allotted three-day timeline. I gave consultations to existing brands, guided start-ups on the usability of their products, and shared a few pints of beer with some astounding thinkers. The start-up projects ranged from a platform for reselling baby shoes to heat-responsive wearable AI to a cannabis-workers social network, and everywhere in between.

I spent the last stretch working on a logo design with San Jose-based start-up Hookalu. Because Hookalu assist website owners with site performance using webhooks, we built on the webhooks logo, incorporating an oceanic free-flowing California vibe.