Courtney Parks

Visual Design, Animation, Neurodesign, Storytelling

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I’m a visual designer, animator, and storyteller with over 15+ years of experience leading creative teams, building design pipelines, and crafting joyful, user-centered experiences. I’ve guided the visual direction of large-scale educational products and managed cross-functional teams. My design work specializes in clarity, accessibility, and charm. I believe that thoughtful design can make even the most complex ideas feel welcoming.

Mind Research Institute, remote

Sr. Visual Designer, Layout

September 2024 - November 2025

  • Led visual system development for InsightMath: Playbook, establishing cohesive design standards across print and digital curriculum products.

  • Partnered with Curriculum Designers to shape feature-level product design decisions for InsightMath: Playbook. 

  • Developed scalable style guides and design documentation adopted across four departments to standardize visual storytelling and brand.

  • Integrated Universal Design principles into print production workflows to improve readability and classroom usability.

  • Reduced revision cycles by 80% through the implementation of Trello and Kanban systems.

  • Designed and delivered an onboarding module product for new designers, reducing training time by 75%.

Visual Artist, Layout

April 2021 - September 2024

  • Designed and systematized layouts for 1,000+ curriculum pages, maintaining visual consistency across 13 print volumes used statewide.

  • Partnered with curriculum and research teams to translate complex math concepts into clear, accessible visual frameworks.

  • Assisted in the development of a cast of over 20 student characters for InsightMath, contributing to narrative as well as relevancy to real student experiences.

  • Delivered UX-informed visual frameworks for interactive learning tools, supporting improved navigation and student comprehension.

  • Google Slides, Adobe Illustrator, adobe InDesign, and Trello.

  • Communication: I am known for my transparent, honest approach in conversations about scope and capacity. I ask questions when I need clarification. I’m always available to talk through feedback with an artist.

    Leadership: My main focus wasn’t on InsightMath. It was on my team. For InsightMath to succeed, each person on my team needed resources, clear guidance, and opportunities to grow. I helped my team identify their strengths and carefully assessed challenges before delegating them to those who could use the growth.

    Thinking on my feet: I’m quick to get the ball rolling on solutions. I credit my time as a game master for D&D — one’s ability to improv and problem solve on the fly is integral to that hobby!

  • I hope it’s not cheating to have two answers for this!

    First, I deeply enjoyed creating work that would have an impact in schools. It is a privilege to craft immersive, empowering tools for students to take ownership of their learning.

    But my second answer is just as true: I enjoyed working with my team. Just as I designed to build confidence in kids, I focused on building that same confidence in my colleagues. Each one of them is brilliant, and I am blessed to have worked on such an incredible project with them.

  • Mentioned in this wall of bullet points is my effort toward training materials, and making them fun and engaging.

    Look, we’re making colorful, cozy math activity pages meant to encourage learning and curiosity. So I thought, “Why can’t our training materials be like that, too?”

    These were tested on our outsource team, and you could see the glow from the feedback we received from miles away!

    These materials shaved training time from 3 months to 3 weeks.

Mind Research Institute, remote 

 2D Animator and Visual Designer

March 2018 - July 2020

  • Contributed to visual design and UI updates for ST Math’s core learning platform, supporting improved clarity and student engagement.

  • Redesigned character states and interface components for JiJi, aligning visuals with evolving product standards and accessibility considerations.

  • Partnered with product managers, game designers, and engineers to implement feature-level visual improvements.

  • Developed reusable character and animation documentation adopted across teams to ensure consistency and production scalability.

  • Contributed to large-scale visual refresh of hundreds of interactive math games, maintaining cohesion across a complex educational ecosystem.

  • Built mockups to communicate puzzle layouts and interaction design, bridging visual design and engineering implementation.

  • I worked as a contractor with the ST Math team for two and a half years, where we did a total overhaul of the UI, characters, and hundreds of games.

Small Planet Digital, remote 

Animator, Spine2D

March 2016 - September 2018

  • Designed interactive animation cycles for children’s iOS products featuring a major licensed IP (Disney Princesses). 

  • Adapted established brand guidelines into cohesive animated experiences while maintaining IP integrity.

  • Collaborated with engineers to build scalable animation workflows for character-driven games.

  • Built 18 character rigs in Spine2D to support production efficiency and cross-team usability.

Playforge Games/Saban Brands, San Francisco

Sr. Animator

June 2012 - November 2013

  • Led animation direction for licensed entertainment properties, ensuring brand consistency across UI, effects, and characters.

  • Developed animation style documentation to guide internal and external production teams.

  • Oversaw outsourced animation teams to maintain quality standards and delivery timelines.

  • Designed UI elements and environmental backdrops aligned with established brand aesthetics.

  • During my time in game animation, I used primarily Spine2D and Adobe Animate.

    Spine2D is a wonderful, versatile animation tool that grows by leaps and bounds every year. If you take a look at my animation portfolio, you can see evidence of this: as the program grows, so too does the detail in my work!

OTHER EXPERIENCE

Pennypop, San Francisco — 2D Character Animator
August 2015 - October 2015

Rivet Games, San Francisco — 2D Animator, Game Artist
February 2011 - February 2012

Metamoki, Inc, San Francisco — FX/ 2D Character Animator
June 2010- February 2011

Sudoscape LLC, San Francisco — FX Animator
March 2010 - July 2010

Thebroth, San Francisco — 2D Animator
August 2009 - November 2009