Hi, I'm Laurel, a designer with two minds.
One is an engineer's. I studied mechanical design and manufacturing and spent my first years planning warehouse systems, so I still think in systems, constraints and evidence. The other is a maker's. In 2017 I co-founded a design studio in Nanjing for tourism and culture clients, designing more than 300,000 printed and manufactured pieces.
I bring both to the space between people and AI. At NC State, in the M.GXD program and as a research assistant on an explainable-AI project, I designed interfaces that make AI reasoning legible. Today I'm a Generative AI Designer at Fanatics, building the workflows and benchmarks that turn AI imagery into accurate, on-brand product content.
Logic keeps the work honest. Creativity keeps it human.
Logic
Research, systems and the space between people and AI.
- Generative AI workflows & evaluation (Weavy, ComfyUI, Flora, OpenAI)
- UX/UI and interaction design, prototyping in Figma
- User research, journey maps and user flows
- Explainable AI interfaces and data visualization
- Systems thinking and complex problem solving
- Accessibility fundamentals (WCAG, screen readers), HTML/CSS
Creative
Identity, print and image-making, from concept to the press.
- Visual identity and brand systems
- Editorial and print production
- Packaging and die-cut structures
- Illustration and art direction
- Campaign imagery and retouching
- Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign
- 2026 – presentGenerative AI Designer (Contract)Fanatics Commerce
AI imagery for licensed sports merchandise: an evaluation benchmark for generation models, node-based Weavy workflows the team reuses, and on-model, floating-apparel and background work for NHL, Nike, Lululemon × MLB and NFL projects.
- 2026Teaching AssistantNorth Carolina State University
Introductory graphic design course on imagery, technology, prototyping and UX/UI basics; taught Figma and gave project feedback.
- 2025Research Assistant, LAS XAI ProjectNorth Carolina State University
Designed and tested multi-level explainability interfaces that help language analysts choose speech-to-text models, with faculty, researchers and engineers.
- 2017 – 2025Co-Founder & Design ManagerNanjing Wuyu Cultural & Media Co., Nanjing
A studio for tourism and culture clients, including Qinhuai District Library and Southeast University. Led projects from design to production: over 300,000 printed and manufactured pieces.
- 2017 – 2019City ManagerMundo Lingo Language Exchange, Nanjing
Ran Nanjing's largest weekly language exchange with 20 volunteers: nearly 8,000 participants in two years and an online community of 2,000+.
- 2015 – 2017Marketing ManagerChina GFT Inc., Nanjing
User research and product design for a community app; marketing that helped secure 4 million RMB in first-round funding.
- 2012 – 2015Pre-Sales Technical SupportNanjing Inform Storage Equipment Co., Nanjing
Preliminary designs for shuttle systems, storage racking and warehouse layouts for enterprise clients.
- 2024 – 2026M.GXD, Graphic & Experience DesignNorth Carolina State University, Raleigh
Focus: UX/UI design, human-centered systems and explainable AI interfaces.
- 2023 – 2025Professional Program in Graphic DesignUC Berkeley Extension
- 2008 – 2012B.E., Mechanical Design and ManufactureNanjing Forestry University
- 2026GDUSA Students to WatchGraphic Design USA
One of two students nominated to represent NC State in the annual feature on emerging designers.
- 20262nd Place, College of Design19th Graduate Student Research Symposium, NC State
The Geography of Fatigue: a layered explainable AI interface for women athletes.
- 2025Presenter, LAS Research SymposiumNorth Carolina State University
Layered Explanations for Model Agility: Calibrating Trust in STT Selection.
© 2026 Laurel Zhang