~20
Client brands in production each month
4 / 3
Designers hired and promoted since 2021
67%
Less time on client discovery with AI workflows I built
2,000+
Tracked store visits from a Martin's campaign I wrote and directed
*This project was created in an agency setting with collaboration from a talented team. My contributions were focused on the roles listed above.
I still design every day, so my notes are specific. Designers should leave a review knowing what to change and why.
I don't treat AI as a side project. I turned our discovery, brief, and audit processes into custom Claude skills. Discovery went from 3 hours to 1, audits from 2 hours to 15 minutes, and account managers write briefs on their own.
Since 2021 I've hired 4 designers and promoted 3. I also manage our tools and handle performance reviews.
I've led or helped lead dozens of pitches. I led a pitch for a major industrial brand, and won the pitch because it was built around their brand and focused on solutions.
Hi! I'm Cody Roussel. I've been a designer for nearly 20 years, a leader since 2019, and a creative for as long as I can remember. Ever since I could hold a crayon I was drawing my favorite cartoon characters. I have photographic proof.
As a teenager, my friends and I joined in on the tradition of building bonfires on Christmas Eve. We weren’t satisfied with the typical teepee shape everyone else built, so we constructed wildlife, historical buildings, and other things nobody expected. It took coordination, problem solving, and convincing a group of teenagers to care about structural integrity. Looking back, that was my first experience leading a creative team toward a shared vision. I just didn’t know it.
Using creativity to solve problems isn't just my job. It's how I've always operated, for my team and for the brands we work on. Outside of work, I try to pass those same instincts to my kids.
“There’s never just one way to build a bonfire.
I think in systems, not just deliverables. Every project in my portfolio started with the same question: what are we actually building, and how do we make sure it holds up? My process follows a framework I call AWE.
AWE also runs as a Claude skill I built, so anyone on our team can run discovery the way I would. That's my rule for AI: make our best thinking repeatable, never replace it.
Nothing gets built until everyone agrees on what we’re building and why. I get clear on the goals, the audience, the competitive landscape, and where things actually stand before a single asset gets made. No guessing. No finding out halfway through that we were solving two different problems.
Good ideas need to be tested before you commit to them. I prototype concepts and messaging directions fast, so we find the strong idea before we’ve spent a month building around a weak one. This is where I push for something nobody expected instead of settling for the shape everyone else in the category already uses.
The work only gets better if I’m honest about what actually happened once it was out in the world, not just what we hoped would happen. I stay close to the results, keep what worked, and rebuild what didn’t.
Logo Lounge
CSS Design Awards
PRAL Awards
Web Excellence Awards
Certifications
