Over nearly a decade, I helped shape the Trailhead presence at Dreamforce, evolving it from early-stage event graphics into a large-scale, immersive brand experience.
My work spanned creative direction, environmental design systems, character storytelling, and attendee engagement across multiple years, helping build a cohesive and recognizable presence across one of the world’s largest conferences.
The Challenge
Dreamforce is Salesforce’s largest global conference, bringing together 50,000+ attendees across multiple days, spaces, and experiences. The challenge was creating a cohesive and engaging brand presence within a highly complex environment, where multiple audiences, narratives, and touchpoints needed to work together seamlessly.
For Trailhead, this meant translating a digital learning platform into a physical experience that felt immersive, memorable, and easy to navigate at scale.
My Role and Approach
Across multiple years, I helped bring the Trailhead brand to life at Dreamforce through environmental design, signage systems, character storytelling, swag, and interactive experiences. My role evolved from hands-on design and illustration into leading creative direction across the Trailhead presence.
I focused on building cohesive systems that could scale across the event while still feeling thoughtful and engaging at the human level. This included shaping the visual language across spaces, guiding design execution, collaborating with vendors, agencies, and internal teams, and ensuring that every touchpoint felt connected to the larger story.
A big part of my approach was using characters and storytelling to create moments of delight and connection, helping turn the experience into something attendees could not just see, but actively engage with and remember.
The Skills
‣ Creative Direction
‣ Concept Development
‣ Experience Design
‣ Brand Systems
‣ Visual Storytelling
‣ Cross-Functional Collaboration
‣ Vendor & Stakeholder Collaboration
‣ Team Leadership
‣ Web & Print Production
‣ Asset Production
At Dreamforce 2014, I helped create the identity and attendee experience for the Admin and Developer Zone, designing event graphics, environmental assets, printed materials, and merchandise that made the space more interactive, welcoming, and visually cohesive.
In 2015, Trailhead came to life as a physical event experience. I helped translate the brand into signage, promotional materials, staff apparel, and on-site storytelling, creating a space that felt immersive, playful, and distinct within the larger conference.
One of my key contributions that year was evolving Astro into a more event-ready character and helping bring the character into physical form through swag and plush giveaway that became a standout attendee favorite.
By 2016, the Trailhead presence had grown into a more expansive live environment. As a part of a small team, I contributed across illustration, environmental graphics, production, and on-site creative execution, helping extend the Trailhead world across the conference in more visible and memorable ways.
Another key contribution that year was evolving Astro into a mascot form that became a photo moment attendees chased after.
In 2017, I stepped into a larger leadership role, guiding a team of designers across illustration, graphic design, production, and on-site execution. The work spammed environmental storytelling, swag, signage, and character-led experiences that made the Trailhead presence feel cohesive and immersive.
We also expended the character world further by bringing Einstein into the experience, adding another recognizable storytelling element to the brand.
In 2018, I continued leading the creative direction for the Trailhead experience while also presenting at Dreamforce on the role of character storytelling in building stronger audience engagement and brand connection.
In 2019, I helped evolve the experience further through giveaway environments, packaging, plush development, and new attendee engagement moments. The goal was not to just attract new learners, but deepen connection with the existing Trailblazer community through thoughtful, collectible, and shareable brand experiences.
As Dreamforce adapted during and after the pandemic, I created digital and environmental assets that helped maintain the energy of the Trailhead brand across changing formats. This included visual design for virtual experiences, signage, and apparel as the in-person conference returned.
In 2022, I led creative direction for the Trailhead space, overseeing signage, photo opportunities, environmental moments, and visual storytelling that helped reintroduce the full in-person experience in a way that felt vibrant, polished, and community-centered.
In 2023, I continued leading the creative direction for the Trailhead floor, shaping the design system across signage, staff apparel, giveaways, and on-site decor. Working closely with the events strategy, event creative team, and external fabricators, I helped introduce new campus-wide event pieces and AI-inspired visual moments that added magic, energy, and depth to the overall experience.
The Challenge
Trailhead needed a brand world that could make learning feel more engaging, motivating, and accessible while supporting a fast-growing ecosystem of content, badges, campaigns, and community experiences.
My Role and Approach
I defined and scaled the visual foundation of Trailhead, transforming an early identity into a comprehensive brand system spanning product, campaigns, gamification, and community experiences. Over time, the work expanded into a broader design system that supported product storytelling, learner engagement, and community recognition across thousands of touchpoints.
The Skills
‣ Brand Systems
‣ Identity Design
‣ Storytelling & Concepting
‣ Experience Design
‣ Cross-Functional Collaboration
‣ Program Management
‣ Team Management
‣ Layout & Composition
‣ Web & Print Production
‣ Asset Production
I designed the original Trailhead logo to capture the spirit of learning as adventure. The identity helped position Trailhead as approachable, motivating, and distinct within the Salesforce ecosystem, creating a visual foundation that could scale with product over time.
I led the creation and evolution of the Trailhead badge system, partnering closely with marketing and content teams to translate technical topics into engaging visual rewards. What began as a foundational badge library expanded into a large-scale of more than 4,500+ badges, supporting learning paths, projects, superbadges, and community recognition across the platform globally.
Created an early re-engagement campaign that used animation and illustration to bring Trailhead back to life for inactive learners, combining product storytelling with a more playful, motivating visual approach.
Designed launch assets that highlighted new Trailhead content in a way that felt engaging, clear, and visually connected to the broader system, helping drive learner attention and ongoing participation.
Led design for seasonal and promotional campaigns that encouraged both new and existing Trailblazers to engage more deeply with the platform. These efforts helped keep the learning experience fresh, community-driven, and rewarding across multiple campaign moments.
Illustrated the first Trailhead character, Astro, for an early promotional giveaway, helping establish a recognizable visual anchor that would later become one of the most enduring parts of the Trailhead brand.
Designed the riginal Trailblazer hoodie, which became a highly recognizable and sought-after community item at Salesforce events. More than branded merch, it became a symbol of progress, belonging, and identity within the Trailhead ecosystem.
As Trailhead evolved, I art directed the refresh of the rank system to better reflect learner progress and achievement. Each milestone was designed to feel rewarding and distinct while remaining connected to the larger Trailhead visual language.
Built on the original rank system by developing a more robust progression framework that linked ranks, rewards, credentials, and recognition into a more cohesive experience. This helped strengthen clarity, consistency, and the sense of accomplishment across the learner journey.
The Challenge
Trailhead needed a character-driven visual world that could make learning feel more welcoming, memorable, and emotionally engaging. The challenge was creating characters that could support product storytelling, community engagement, events, campaigns, and brand culture while staying cohesive over time.
My Role and Approach
I helped create, evolve, and scale Salesforce’s character ecosystem, including Astro and Einstein, into a flexible brand system used across product, events, campaigns, and global storytelling.
What began as a single product character evolved into a widely recognized visual language that supported engagement, education, and brand connection at scale.
The Skills
‣ Character System Design
‣ Brand Storytelling
‣ Illustration
‣ Visual Development
‣ Asset Production
‣ Cross-Functional Collaboration
‣ Web & Print Production
Astro began as a welcoming guide for Trailhead and grew into one of Salesforce’s most recognizable brand characters. I helped shape Astro’s visual evolution and developed new expressions, poses, and thematic variations that expanded the character’s role across learning, events, campaigns, and community experiences.
Built an expanding library of Astro variations to support different campaigns, themes, and audience moments while keeping the character system cohesive.
Developed seasonal character variations for internal and external campaigns, helping the Trailhead brand feel timely, playful, and highly shareable across community moments.
Created special-edition Astro variations for internal events and culture-drive moments, extending the character system in ways that felt unexpected, delightful, and brand-right.
Designed limited-edition character storytelling for workshop and event experiences, using Astro to connect technical themes with more accessible and memorable visual language.
Created Lunar New Year character assets used across internal celebrations, event materials, and global-facing cultural moments, blending brand storytelling with more community-driven design.
Helped evolve Hootie from a community badge character into a more developed part of the broader Trailhead character ecosystem, supporting education, engagement, and brand personality across multiple formats.
Created the original Einstein character and contributed to his visual evolution over time, helping shape one of Salesforce’s most recognizable character assets as it expanded across products, campaigns, events, and brand storytelling.
As the character system matured, I helped guide its expansion across multiple visual formats including 2D illustration, line art, plush, ceramics, and 3D applications. This work required balancing creative evolution with consistency, so the character could adapt to new uses while remaining instantly recognizable.
The Challenge
TrailblazerDX was designed as a more focused, developer-driven event within the Salesforce ecosystem. The challenge was translating the Trailhead brand into a live experience that felt engaging, cohesive, and easy to navigate, while supporting a more technical audience and a growing event footprint.
My Role and Approach
I led the TrailblazerDX experience across multiple years, starting with hands-on design and growing into a broader role across concepting and execution. My work focused on translating the Trailhead brand into a cohesive physical environment through signage systems, environmental graphics, swag, and attendee-facing moments.
The Skills
‣ Creative Direction
‣ Experience Design
‣ Brand Systems
‣ Visual Storytelling
‣ Layout & Composition
‣ Web & Print Production
‣ Cross-Functional Collaboration
‣ Vendor & Stakeholder Management
‣ Asset Production
For the first TrailblazerDX (formerly TrailheaDX) event, I helped establish the visual experience across print signage, digital assets, and attendee-facing materials, laying the foundation for a more immersive and brand-connected conference presence.
As the event expanded into Moscone West, I helped develop a more comprehensive visual system spanning wayfinding, print and digital signage, table graphics, swag, and branded moments throughout the attendee journey.
Over time, my work extended across interior signage, area activations, merchandise displays, character development, printed collateral, and interactive attendee moments. each piece was designed to feel connected to the larger Trailhead world while supporting memorable live experiences.
Character-driven moments became a memorable part of the event experience, from mascot interactions to themed photo opportunities. These elements helped create delight, increase engagement, and make the brand feel more alive on the ground.
The Challenge
The San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade is a highly visible, culturally significant event, and Salesforce’s presence needed to feel both on-brand and respectful of the celebration. The challenge was creating visuals and experiences that honored the cultural moment while also extending the Salesforce brand in a way that felt authentic, festive, and cohesive.
Each year required a fresh approach, balancing consistency with new themes, assets, and storytelling.
My Role and Approach
I developed and evolve Salesforce’s parade presence across multiple years, creating character-driven visuals, float design elements, and supporting assets used across print, promotional materials, and event experiences.
My approach focused on blending the Trailhead character system with culturally relevant themes to create something that felt both playful and intentional. I collaborated closely with vendors and internal teams to bring each year’s concept to life, ensuring the final execution was cohesive, high quality, and impactful in a live, public setting.
Over time, I contributed to shaping a repeatable yet flexible visual approach that allowed the parade presence to evolve each year while staying connected to the brand.
The Skills
‣ Concept Development
‣ Brand Storytelling
‣ Experience Design
‣ Illustration
‣ Cross-Functional Collaboration
‣ Vender & Stakeholder Management
‣ Layout & Composition
‣ Web & Print Production
‣ Asset Production
Photographs by Kevin Kitsuda. Graphics created when working at Salesforce. All rights reserved.
For Salesforce’ participation in San Francisco’s Chinese New Year Parade, I helped create year-specific visual assets, character integrations, and parade design elements that brought the brand into a celebratory cultural moment in a way that felt festive, community-centered, and visually distinct.
My early work for the parade included character-driven visuals and event elements that helped bring Salesforce’s presence to life during the celebration and strengthen community visibility around the brand.
Over multiple years, I contributed to the evolution of the Salesforce parade float by developing visual themes, creating supporting assets, and collaborating closely with vendors and fabricators to ensure each year felt fresh while remaining connected to the brand. In 2019, the Year of the Pig float received the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce Presidential Award for best float.
Designed a Lunar New Year variation of Astro that was used across event, print, and promotional materials, extending the character system into a culturally specific celebration in a way that felt both playful and intentional.
Created supporting promotional items, including plush apparel, printed materials, and internal employee events, that helped unify the parade presence across branded touchpoints and extend the celebration beyond the float itself.
The Challenge
Salesforce was evolving its brand system, and the updated standards needed to be translated into practical, easy-to-use digital tools for employees, vendors, and partners. The challenge was creating a clear web experience that supported consistent brand adoption across many teams and touchpoints.
My Role and Approach
I helped translate the updated Salesforce brand system into a digital guidelines experience that made the standards easier to understand and apply. This included page layout design, visual asset creation, and close collaboration with cross-functional teams to ensure the work felt clear, polished, and useful for both internal and external audiences.
The Skills
‣ Brand Systems
‣ Information Architecture
‣ Web & UI Design
‣ Brand Consistency
‣ Layout and Composition
‣ Asset Production
‣ Cross-Functional Collaboration
Created a public-facing page that gave vendors, contractors, and external partners a clear introduction to Salesforce brand standards, helping extend consistency beyond internal teams.
Designed multiple guideline pages and supporting assets that helped teams navigate the evolving brand system with more clarity and consistency. I worked across teams to review content, refine layouts, and deliver a cohesive digital experience.
The Challenge
Torch Coaching needed a more distinctive and confident identity that better reflected the brand’s personality and growth. The existing logo lacked presence and did not fully communicate the warmth, energy, and modernity of the business.
My Role and Approach
Working closely with the CMO, I led a focused identity refresh centered on the torch as the brand’s core symbol. I refined the wordmark, strengthened the typography, and developed a more cohesive identity system that felt modern, recognizable, and flexible across digital and print applications.
The Skills
‣ Brand Identity
‣ Brand Systems
‣ Typography
‣ Graphic Design
‣ Layout & Composition
‣ Web & Print Production
‣ Collaboration
‣ Asset Production
Refined the wordmark by adjusting weight, spacing, and structure to create a stronger, more confident visual presence.
Evolved the icon by integrating the “T” with the spark motif, creating a more recognizable and flexible mark for use across applications.
A selection of smaller identity projects spanning startup, internal brand, and small business work.
The Skills
‣ Brain Identity Design
‣ Concept Development
‣ Illustration
‣ Color Theory
‣ Layout & Composition
‣ Asset Production
‣ Collaboration
Created a logo for a professional bookkeeping and accounting company in the winter of 2016.
While working for Salesforce, I created this logo for Apache Phoenix, a developer group within Salesforce.
A selection of menu and hospitality design work for Bay Area restaurants.
The Skills
‣ Brand Identity Design
‣ Typography
‣ Layout & Composition
‣ Graphic Design
‣ Brand Consistency
‣ Web & Print Production
‣ Asset Production
‣ Collaboration
All rights reserved.
Created a custom panda illustration for R&G Lounge, translating brand identity into a character-led asset used across merchandise and customer touchpoints, reinforcing recognition and brand personality.
