[INTERVIEW] Senior Designer – Chloe Steinhoff-Smith

June 9, 2021

Every month we introduce a new staff member from the Planeteria team. We sat down with Chloe to ask her a few questions about her role at Planeteria.

Chloe, please introduce yourself.
I’m Chloe

What is your role at Planeteria?
Senior Visual Designer

How long have you been in this role?
5 years

How do you suggest color pallet options to your clients?
We start by trying to be consistent with a client’s existing brand standards. If they don’t have existing standards or guidelines, we look at other collateral that they have created, like marketing materials, signage, etc. so that the color palette is consistent with the experiences in the online and physical environment.

In what ways do you use typography in design?
We use typography to create a visual hierarchy to help users navigate content intuitively. 

Are there any trends that you think will be popular in 2021?
Focus on accessibility – the last year has helped everyone understand how important it is for websites and information online to be accessible and easy to navigate for everyone. Increased focus on accessibility tools and designing flexible, easily navigable user experiences. 

What would you like to see more of within municipal website design?
Content strategy solutions that go beyond simply copying content to the online environment, instead of taking advantage of the medium to create new interactive solutions for translating content.

What is a recent design you are very proud of?
The design balanced aesthetic considerations and content strategy/functionality requirements well. So we created a good user experience that both looks unique and interesting. We’ve had multiple clients since it launched ask that their site looks like SDCWA.

What design tools do you use?
Adobe XD

Do you use templates or customized designs?
Customized Designs

What is your favorite part of your job?
Seeing our sites working in the real world

Where do you find inspiration for your designs?
Behance, Pinterest