My Showcase
Elle | Travel + Leisure | Cass & Co. | InStyle |
Hearst | Condé Nast Traveler | Kureck Jones | A Diamond is Forever |
The New Yorker | Clover Club | dn74 | Nota Bene |
Hi, I’m Otilio Soto.
I am a design leader and strategist.
I have extensive experience working with some of the world’s most recognized brands, including Elle, InStyle, Hearst Publications, Travel + Leisure, Condé Nast Traveler, Pitney Bowes and American Express.
I have strong client relationship and project management skills, and can motivate a team effectively yet compassionately with superior leadership and communication abilities.
Elle | Travel + Leisure | Cass & Co. | InStyle |
Hearst | Condé Nast Traveler | Kureck Jones | A Diamond is Forever |
The New Yorker | Clover Club | dn74 | Nota Bene |
ROLE: PROJECT MANAGEMENT, DESIGN
I designed the BEST OF ITALY, iPhone/iPad app alongside the editorial team at Condé Nast Traveler. Showcasing the magazine’s extensive Italian content, and featuring interactive walking tours, service listings and custom mapping it has over 75,000 downloads, and is a Top 10 Travel App on iTunes!
ROLE: PROJECT MANAGEMENT, DESIGN
The Condé Nast Cruise Finder iPhone/iPad app was my first experience designing for Apple's popular platform. Working alongside the editorial team at Condé Nast Traveler was a challenging but, ultimately very rewarding exercise, as I got to help shepard them into a new digital arena.
ROLE: PROJECT MANAGEMENT, DESIGN, CODING
Creating this multi platform BlackBerry app was some of the most fun I've ever had in my professional life. I started the project knowing absolutely nothing about RIM's platforms. Eventually, I ended up figuring out how to employ the "Widget SDK" tool, learn its limits, and publish an app that both Condé Nast and Verizon were very happy with.
Download AppROLE: DESIGN
Nota Bene has been publishing their upscale travel guides for years. To reduce operating costs, they wanted to change the way they decided to move into the digital realm. I designed this app that let them offer all of their city guides and latest news online.
ROLE: DESIGN
Elle is known for having pages packed with content, something their new general manager knows is a bad approach for the internet. The challenge was much more difficult than a simple redesign as we had to completely rethink how to display their content while staying within the confines of their existing CMS.
Visit SiteROLE: PROJECT MANAGEMENT, DESIGN, FLASH
I redesigned the luxury shapewear brand’s ecommerce site, retouched all of their photography, and imported almost all of the content myself. Protip: Retouching photographs of beautiful models makes a work day go by very quickly.
Visit SiteROLE: PROJECT MANAGEMENT, FLASH
I worked with InStyle’s publishing team to produce a promotional web site featuring the magazine’s in-book advertisers. The work was so successful, they ended up repeating the program three times in a row updating the design slightly to match the current season.
Visit SiteROLE: DESIGN, FLASH
Now in its 3rd year of life, T+L's Check-In is an added value site for the advertisers of the magazine. The goal was to create a Flash site that could be indexable by search engines (they did not yet do this at the time) and have LOTS of visual effects. Pro-tip: Check out the spinning globe in the Travel Guide section.
Visit SiteROLE: DESIGN, FLASH
I designed and developed an online guide featuring the costs and statistics for small space advertising in Condé Nast's The New Yorker magazine. Updated twice a year for the last 4 years, it has been an extremely useful tool for TNY and their advertisers.
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I designed this highly publicized promotional site co-sponsored by Hearst and The Italian Trade Commission. My site was advertised on bus stops, lamp posts and taxi cabs all around New York. Very cool!
Visit SiteROLE: FLASH
The Diamond Information Center wanted to showcase some of the hottest ring designs for fashion week (2009). They asked for elegance and luxury and they got it. Protip: If you are using the site to try a ring on, you can drop it on the pointer and middle fingers too.
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Dark yet sophisticated, this throwback to the speakeasy been named on numerous "best" lists including those by Esquire and Food&Wine. The beautiful, ornate construction of the building itself allowed me to get the design right on my first pass, with almost no iterations there after. Protip: While embarrassing to order, the Golden Girl cocktail is truly delicious.
Visit SiteROLE: DESIGN, FLASH
Kureck Jones is an interior design duo who needed to show off their talents online. This was the first site I ever professionally designed. Five years later, I think it still stands up to the competition (or is that just their amazing photography?).
Visit SiteROLE: FLASH
An art director friend of mine, Dan Dobransky needed help creating a portfolio site to showcase his design skills. Being a good friend, I was happy to help and the results are, what I believe to be, some of my best Flash work. It features deep linking, dynamic screen sizing, a custom built video player, and fun keyboard controls.
Visit SiteROLE: DESIGN, FLASH
Redoing your company's website is always a tough task. Everyone at the firm has an opinion! I had to absorb all the ideas and comments and create something that really showcased our abilities. Can you find the helicopter? For more fun, try entering the Konami code.
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