# Sebastian Ortega > Product Designer Location: San Francisco, California, United States Profile: https://flows.cv/sebastianortega I was born and raised in El Paso, TX, a border city that exists between two cultures, languages, and ways of life. From an early age, I was drawn to aesthetics, always fascinated by how visuals, sounds, and environments shaped our experiences. That curiosity led me to music, which became my first creative outlet, and eventually to event organizing, where I focused on crafting immersive music experiences for others. While putting together events, I wanted to create spaces where people felt comfortable and engaged, not just with the music, but with the atmosphere as a whole. Over time, the culmination of all my experiences and influences led me to a life that was completely immersed in design. In 2011, at 18 years old, I moved to San Francisco to study music, but I unexpectedly found my way into design through organizing events. Crafting spaces where people felt excited and connected to the music became my focus, and when I couldn’t find the right designers to create visuals that matched that experience, I took on the challenge myself. What started as a necessity turned into a passion. I became obsessed with making things not only look good but feel intuitive and meaningful. That passion led me to UX/UI design, where I could merge my love for aesthetics with a desire to solve real problems. In 2020, I formalized my transition through General Assembly’s UX Design Immersive bootcamp. Since then, I’ve continued expanding my expertise in product design, product thinking, and strategy. Since 2021, I’ve also been leading the brand direction for online radio station, SutroFM, ensuring the platform’s identity remains as vibrant as the music it champions. As I look ahead to 2025, my goal is to finally learn JavaScript and build a music-related tool that gives back to the community that first inspired me. At my core, I see design as a way to connect people, enhance lives, and elevate the experience of any tool or product I work on. Check out my portfolio: https://osebastian.com/ Password: clean ## Work Experience ### Designer @ Rime Labs Jan 2025 – Jan 2025 | San Francisco Bay Area ### Product Designer @ SutroFM Jan 2020 – Jan 2025 | San Francisco Bay Area • Leveraged AI (Claude) to develop a custom solution that synchronized radio show calendar data with a content management system, streamlining schedule management and improving content accuracy for listeners. • Iterated on designs based on feedback, user insights, and analytics, which resulted in a brand identity that resonated with SutroFM's following, increasing average listeners per live stream significantly. • Utilized engagement metrics to design an audio player that is discoverable and met Sutro’s interface aesthetics, which led to reduced bounce rates. ### Product Designer @ Swim Studios Jan 2024 – Jan 2024 | Los Angeles, California, United States • Designed and launched a cross-platform music discovery app that served diverse international venues across four countries, collaborating closely with engineering in an agile environment to optimize the user experience. • Created intuitive UX/UI patterns for music content discovery and royalty data tracking, implementing interactive prototypes in Figma that enabled data-driven decision-making and streamlined the listening experience. ### Product Designer @ Smith.ai Jan 2021 – Jan 2024 ### Content Creator and Web Designer @ Design x Us Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 | San Francisco Bay Area ### Product and UI Designer @ OS Design Mechanics Jan 2020 – Jan 2021 | Remote • Designing responsive user interfaces and intuitive interaction experiences meant to schedule medical insurance appointments for seniors. • Increasing medical insurance sign ups by 30% by Implementing an accessible solution designed to keep seniors focused. ### Product and UI Designer @ Expose Jan 2020 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco Bay Area • Successfully designed a simple and time efficient form meant to gather info on acts of violence against one’s identity. • Thoroughly organized app content based on research data, enabling people who have been targeted for their identity to comfortably interact with Expose, leading to a warm and useful experience. ### User Experience Design Apprentice @ General Assembly Jan 2020 – Jan 2020 | San Francisco, California, United States • User experience design immersive boot camp: • Vigorously learned, trained and refined my UX skills to an expert level, enabling me to better help my surrounding community. ### Digital Designer @ Only Human | Inmundo Jan 2017 – Jan 2020 Designed digital content for electronic music events, resulting in an increase of community interest and event turnout. Digital assets were designed for multiple social media platforms as well as in person promotion. Led and organized a production team to create a stage for marginalized artists to be heard on a regular basis. ### Graphic Designer @ Silva Electronics Records Jan 2019 – Jan 2019 | San Francisco Bay Area Designed cover art for album release that met business & consumer needs, and garnered significant industry contacts as a result. Communicated frequently with the artist and label manager in order to keep creative goals aligned. This aided in not only achieving a more congruent design, but ensured a path to future work. ## Education ### Bachelor's degree in Design and Visual Communications, General San Francisco State University ### UX Design Apprenticeship in User Experience Design General Assembly ### Associate of Humanities & Arts (A.A.) Associates of Social & Behavioral Sciences (A.S.) in Radio and Television Broadcasting Technology/Technician and Music Production City College of San Francisco ### Bachelors in Music Production in Music Production Academy of Art University ## Contact & Social - LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/sebastian-ortega --- Source: https://flows.cv/sebastianortega JSON Resume: https://flows.cv/sebastianortega/resume.json Last updated: 2026-04-13