Portland General Electric

Portland General Electric needed a contractor who could translate the nuance of an energy transition, EV adoption, all-electric living, a greener grid, into design that actually connects with real people. That's the kind of problem I love.

Making the complex feel human.

  • Portland General Electric

  • Contract Designer

  • Branding, Campaigns, Print, Digital

01

Energy is complicated

PGE was in the middle of a push to help Oregonians understand what the transition to electric living actually looks like — EV charging, all-electric homes, smarter energy choices. The information was dense and technical. The audience was skeptical or simply overwhelmed.

My job was to work as part of their brand team and make that information feel approachable, trustworthy, and useful across a range of formats and touchpoints.

The work

  • Translate technical energy concepts into plain-language, visually-led communications

  • Maintain brand consistency across print, digital, and out-of-home format.

  • Design for an audience with varying levels of EV and sustainability knowledge

  • Support the brand team from ideation through final production-ready file.

  • Create work with real urgency as was live customer-facing materials

Design doesn't have to be.

The all-electric campaign had to do something tricky, make switching to an electric home feel exciting rather than daunting. I leaned into warmth and domesticity rather than tech-forward messaging, grounding the visual language in everyday moments: cooking, commuting, coming home.

The goal was to make "all-electric" feel like an upgrade to your life, not a sacrifice for the planet.

02

Meeting drivers
where they are.

Electric vehicle adoption is still in the convincing phase. The materials I designed for PGE's presence at the Oregon International Auto Show had to answer the questions people actually have.

Range anxiety, charging infrastructure, home setup, incentives: each piece was structured around a real barrier and designed to lower it, one clear piece of information at a time.

03

Designing for the grid.

Beyond the EV campaign, the PGE contract covered a wide range of general brand work from infographics and direct mail to brand advertising and illustration. Each piece had a different job, a different audience, and a different level of complexity . What they share is the same underlying challenge: making energy feel human.

Working with PGE's brand team reminded me why I love this work. Success means something important. A cleaner energy future. How do you talk to someone who's curious but cautious, interested but overwhelmed? You meet them where they are, give them exactly what they need, and trust the design to do the rest.