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Jodie Zhang

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Jodie’s work at Fidelity Investments centers on bringing sophisticated investment tools to users with clarity and speed. Her work on the flagship mobile app includes: a redesigned Option Chain & Trade experience that combines user-friendly, data-driven design with powerful functionality; an updated Equity Trade flow that helps investors stay confident and connected in every market moment; a net new Auto Invest capability that makes recurring investing available to customers at all stages of their investing journey; and a reusable Brokerage Quote that delivers a consistent approach to quote displays across the app.

In-person experiences can also provide rich context for design, whether the response is digital or physical in form. Museum Mobile offers a mobile-first strategy that extends the museum experience beyond its walls. Transbay Block 9 takes part in a mixed-use urban development project whose goal is to transform the area into a transit-friendly, high-density neighborhood. Contemporary Art Institute finds form through material exploration and beauty in contrasts. The act of making is again spotlighted in Making Models, which looks at physical models as a means for communicating design intent at various altitudes. Design’s central role in storytelling plays out in Knobs — an exercise in uncovering an identity system around found objects, and in In Motion — examples of enriched digital storytelling through animation.

About

2020–, Principal UX Designer, Fidelity Investments, New York, NY
2022, Freelance Designer, Cottage, San Francisco, CA
2019, UX Designer, Harvard Business Review, Boston, MA
2018, UX Design Intern, Depict, San Francisco, CA
2016, Designer, Fougeron Architecture, San Francisco, CA
2015, Designer, Swatt Miers Architects, Emeryville, CA
2013, Design Intern, Trace Architecture Office, Beijing, China
2012, Design Intern, Slab Architecture, Brooklyn, NY
2012, Staff, GSAPP Exhibitions, New York, NY
2011, Design Intern, Sou Fujimoto Architects, Tokyo, Japan
2010, Design Intern, Buro Ole Scheeren, Beijing, China
2010, Participant, GSAPP China Lab, Beijing, China

Columbia University GSAPP, Master of Architecture
Middlebury College, Bachelor of Arts

Contact
Knobs, Case Study (2017)
Visual Identity


This project begins with a fun challenge: choose an everyday object and start to gather unique versions of that item until you make an 80-piece collection. Next, craft a visual identity around your collection, and create a coherent visual language that brings these objects to life.



My collection of 80 knobs, amassed from old radios, appliances, and Ebay
The object
A knob is a simple object. It is typically circular, though not always. It is kinetic - its range of motion is limited by the hand that turns it. It is an intuitive interface that hides webs of complexity. Sourced from vintage radios and TV sets, this collection, aptly named Knob Knob, showcases 80 of these commonplace, yet important, objects. 


Imagine you are curating an exhibition at SFMOMA, which will center around an 80-piece collection of an artifact of your choosing. How might you create an identity system around this collection? Deliver the following assets: 
  • Typography system, 
  • Logo lockup, 
  • Stationery system, 
  • Promotional poster, 
  • Video asset



Creating a set of visual assets of my collection
Playful, circular, intuitive, tactile, kinetic

Guided by five descriptors of the object’s key qualities, the following design assets use the knob as muse. The solution identifies and interprets the essence of the object, and creates an identity system around it in preparation for a gallery exhibition.



Typography design

The collection’s logo lockup uses a typeface I designed on the font-building tool Fontstruct. The full typeface, which I named Mazurka after the Polish folk dance, features both capital and lowercase characters. For Knob Knob, the whimsical look of the lowercase characters suit the project’s irreverent nature. Mazurka’s lowercase “o” is a perfect vessel to contain the 80 knob variations within its thin outline. Accents on letters such as the insect-like “k” creates visual impact, drawing viewers into the quirky world of knobs.            





Stationery system

The stationery system uses a Bauhaus-inspired palette of black, white, and red - a tribute to the midcentury origins of the knobs collection. Line drawings are used to express the knobs themselves; thin lines detail the textured ridges of the artifacts. A circle cutout on the envelope creates a playful relationship between the envelope and its contents. The brochure is a set of staggered leaflets that highlight the personalities of individual knobs.                        


Ads with QR code in waiting spaces linking to website
Creating brand awareness

An important part of branding is creating awareness through advertising the exhibition. Promotional posters at the bus stop piques the user’s interest. Intrigued, she checks out the website and buys a ticket. Another promotional opportunity happens inside the museum. Before entering the exhibtion, attendees take a moment to snap a photo for their social media.



In-museum experience

The entrance/ exit to the exhibit presents visitors with photo opportunities, whether they came for Knob Knob, or are just passing through. Inside the exhibition, visitors stop to watch a mezmerizing video of looping knobs. Using key descriptors as inspiration (playful, circular, kinetic), the motion plays on the idea of the circle as an endless surface.