A day in the life of Ayrton Bates

Pronouns:

he/him/his

Position:

Principal Visual Consultant

Time at the clearing:

9 years

Originally from Long Beach, CA, I moved to Washington, D.C., after graduating from Occidental College for a summer internship at The Clearing. Three months later, I moved to Bordeaux, France, to play professional American Football for a year. After the season, I returned to The Clearing and have been with this awesome community ever since. Recently, I moved to Portland, OR, with my girlfriend and our pup. In my spare time, I enjoy testing new recipes, trying new sports, traveling, and exploring all of the incredible food, breweries, and nature that Portland has to offer.

My Typical Day:

Overview

My primary responsibility as a Visual Consultant is designing customer-focused digital, print, and experiential collateral, brand identities, wireframes, prototypes, and more, along with driving and implementing the art direction for client deliverables and products. Additionally, I serve as the bridge between our design and development teams by facilitating conversations with developers to create wireframes and prototypes. As the lead design consultant for a large federal client, I’ve had the opportunity to develop brand identities, facilitate process modeling, and support strategic communication efforts for program offices and new strategic initiatives. These efforts are all in service of enhancing the support provided to field agents, and ultimately protecting citizens through improved drug regulation and prevention.

Morning

Pour some coffee, grab a bite to eat, and walk the pup while I listen to one of my favorite podcasts or join one of my project team meetings. Once sufficiently caffeinated, I review my schedule and prioritize my work for the day.

Afternoon

Cook lunch for myself and my girlfriend and take a much-needed break from my headphones and laptop screen. I’ll also use this time to catch up with some of my incredible coworkers back in D.C. During the latter part of the afternoon, I focus on wrapping up meetings as most of my coworkers and clients on the east coast are nearing the end of their workday.

Evening