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Ted Kusio
Building collaborative teams and digital experiences at the intersection of brand, web design, and emerging technology, like AI. Constantly pushing beyond the obvious to create work that stands out.

This is the Ted Kusio website.

ABOUT

What I do

Building teams and digital experiences where creativity meets code, constantly pushing to create work that stands out

I'm a creative leader with 30+ years building teams and digital experiences at the intersection of brand, web design, and emerging technology. I help creative and technical teams truly understand each other by teaching designers about code, developers to see design intent, and both sides to collaborate instead of just lobbing work over walls.

My career path proves I'm fluent in both worlds: aerospace engineering degree, syndicated TV critic, video production, Flash animation, web development, design, management. The best digital work happens when creative vision and technical capability have an actual conversation. Then teams push what's possible together instead of fighting over what's "realistic."

I build diverse teams with deep cross-disciplinary collaboration. My blend of creative vision, technical expertise, and collaborative approach unlocks what teams couldn't build alone—consistently delivering work that stands out.

Creativity Dream in variables and take advantage of what's actually possible
  • Brand transformations: led CenturyLink's reinvention as Lumen and subsequent refreshes across all digital touchpoints
  • Interactive design that drives results: product selectors, calculators, guided-buying tools; marketplace launch generated $18M revenue increase
  • Motion and interactivity: After Effects, GreenSock, Anime.js, TouchDesigner, Ion, P5.js
  • AI integration: prototyping, asset generation, workflow optimization
  • Design systems that scale: defined Lumen's illustration style; led XD-to-Figma conversion
  • Storytelling first: create a narrative with every creative choice (photo, color, layout, copy), such as 'trust me,' 'ours can do that,' 'check this out'
  • Broad creative foundation: music composition, syndicated TV criticism, brand strategy, interactive design
  • Front-end development: hands-on experience with HTML, CSS, JavaScript; I speak both designer vision and developer reality
  • Responsive design that actually works everywhere: not just "looks good in Photoshop" or emulation, but tested on Macs, Android phones, all the devices developers forget
  • Dynamic digital content: building for variables, not just static layouts; content and style that adapts, responds, evolves
  • Accessibility: WCAG AA compliance that doesn't sacrifice design vision
  • Engineering foundation: aerospace engineering degree, hands-on web dev work, guided Flash agencies through HTML transition; I understand systems thinking
Technology It has to work AND look like it was designed AND be ready for evolution
Leadership Build collaborative relationships and frameworks, and help team members thrive
  • Transforming silos into partnerships: turned 3-year creative-dev dysfunction into genuine collaboration through one-on-one relationships and structured frameworks (bi-weekly meetings, reviews, shared vocabulary)
  • Strategic hiring that multiplies impact: from interns to seniors, including unicorn designer-developers; built team that won Silver B2B Marketing Team of the Year
  • Building trust in remote teams: Friday Dance Parties (4+ years running), guilds, show-and-tells; psychological safety that lets people explore, fail forward, ask for help
  • Upskilling through hands-on training: taught HTML/CSS to designers, design thinking to developers; programs I designed and delivered over 6 years
  • Amplifying overlooked voices: navigating organizational politics to elevate women in design and UX roles; advocacy that changed team dynamics
  • Translating constraints into opportunities: teaching designers when to push back, when to ask for help, when to pivot; technical reality doesn't mean killing creativity
CASE STUDIES

My work in depth

Detailed case studies showcasing my approach to solving complex challenges.

  1. Reinventing CenturyLink as Lumen From Legacy Telco to Modern Enterprise Technology Company
  2. From Silos to Partnership Building Technical Literacy and a Creative-Dev Partnership at Lumen
RECOMMENDATIONS

What people say about me

  • Ted's creativity elevated our work on the Lumen rebrand—he has a rare ability to turn complex ideas into clear, compelling designs. He doesn't just make things look great—he ensures they function beautifully, bridging design and technology thinking.

    David Ashton — ACD Copy, Lumen Technologies; David worked with me on the Creative Team

  • Ted is a fantastic creative mind and fast learner. He didn't just push our project forward—he kept generating new ideas that improved every product in the portfolio. A genuinely strong creative force.

    Callahan Krivanek — Director of Marketing, Lumen Technologies; Callahan was senior to me but didn't manage me

  • Ted excelled at turning creative concepts into reality. His Campaign-in-a-Box toolkit wasn't just creative execution—it required strategic thinking about real-world partner needs, and Ted delivered.

    Victoria Quintana — Marketing Leader, Lumen Technologies; Victoria worked with me but on different teams

  • Ted created space for exploration and encouraged ideas that helped the work grow. His leadership style taught me a lot about how to be a manager myself—he made me feel heard and supported.

    Tracy Zahn — Creative Design Manager, Lumen; Tracy reported to me, later became a peer

  • Ted constantly encouraged curiosity and pushed me to explore new ways to tell a story through design. His mentorship got me into motion design. He has that rare balance of creative vision and technical know-how.

    Ana Rivas — Senior Web & Visual Designer, Lumen; Ana reported directly to me

  • [Ted] excelled in implementing marketing and advertising campaigns from concepting designs to delivery. His reliability and organizational skills made him an indispensable asset to our entire Marketing team.

    Marina Carpenter — Web Art Director, Lumen; Marina reported to me

  • The rare quality that Ted has as a manager is he brings people of all departments and disciplines together.

    Aliya Robinson — Front-End Developer, Hook & Loop/Infor; Aliya reported directly to me

  • Ted possesses a unique combination of technical skill, creativity, curiosity, and general pleasantness. These traits made him a great manager, developer, and coworker.

    Lindsey Drake — Sr Director, Operations, Hook & Loop/Infor; Lindsey was senior to me

View complete, and more, recommendations on my LinkedIn profile.

Contact me

You can also reach me through LinkedIn.