M3Orange Design is the multidisciplinary design practice of designer Michelle Muñoz-Dorna.
Based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, M3Orange Design is focused on creating smart and highly functional design experiences. We mostly work with UX/UI design, branding and print.
In a Nutshell
My focus is always functionality
Most of my work revolves around user-centered design.
Ever since I can remember, I have been fascinated with functionality. As a trained architect, I was taught that form always follows function, and that design is informed and shaped by how humans interact with spaces, products, processes, etc. Additionally, I have always been curious about how things work and how they can be improved. Whether it be how a car radio is easy to operate while you're concentrated driving, to bathroom stalls latches that won't breakdown with heavy usage or to how an elevator's interface makes it easier to quickly keep the doors open.... my architect head is always looking for options. Beyond mere visual communication my interests organically took me to a practice in online usability.
Most of the projects I'm hired to consult in involve making apps work and look better. In many cases, the user process has been established and the core programming has already been developed. When I come in, I analyze the usability flow and the interfaces involved, and I will provide user experience (UX) recommendations, such as how to reduce the number of steps in a process and how to foresee every possible way in which the user will behave at each point of the process's cycle. In the process, I'll also design the interface to be implemented by the programming team – and which involves everything from detailed CSS to buttons –, and make sure that all environments (tablet and desktop) all displaying properly.
I'm a multidisciplinary designer
I'm mostly hired as a one-stop designer, in charge of overseeing different design areas of one project.
Although my practice has been focused in interactive design for the past 15 years, I work within a multidisciplinary mindset, designing in many other areas such as print, marketing, exhibition graphics, branding, collateral (brochures, etc.), spatial graphics and even video editing.
A typical example of this scenario, would be the design of the UX/UI for an app. The app would also need a demo video which will highlight the benefits of this product. If the app will be white-labeled, I would establish what items will be changed per each client brand and the related CSS properties. Once the brand's visual vocabulary is defined, other aspects are easier to develop. The application would then need a printed brochure to communicate what it is, its value and its leverage over the competition, etc. This app may be advertised in an exhibition, and I would design the booth's graphics and some promotional giveaways, such as t-shirts, notebooks, iPad wrap arounds, etc.
There are many benefits in hiring one person to be in charge of all the aspects of a brand or product. The insights of the brand/product are learned once, resulting in almost no learning curve for the designer. This way, that knowledge can be applied faster in the lifecycle of the complete project, and items can be developed faster, with more accuracy and lower margins of error.
Although I'm a designer, I have a deep knowledge of coding and development
I try to stay well-versed in the inner workings of how my design is implemented.
I decided a while back, that I needed to have an understanding of how my design would be implemented. Therefore, I started studying code by myself and later with the programmers I would work with. In the process, I found myself very interested in the inner workings of this technology.
I also realized that my best work happens when I work closely with a team, and not in a vaccum. Because I know a reasonable amount of programming, I communicate much better with the development team. Likewise, as design should never happen separately from programming as both inform each other, I constantly communicate with the team. In the process, they will recommend better UX approaches to what I have designed, and I would revise my work accordingly. Always working in a symbiotic model, the developers will inform be of better ways to implement my design, resulting in a richer process.
I'm well versed in art-related projects.
Art has always been a natural part of my life. As part of my architectural studies, I studied art history extensively. Later, I did an intership in the Museum of Modern Art, in the Exhibition Planning & Design Department. With time, I became an art addict and collector and went on to visit many recognized fairs in various cities, such as Art Basel, Venice Biennale, Documenta, ARCO Madrid, Münster Skupture and others. I also became part of a young collector's programme at the Museum of Art of Puerto Rico. Art is a world very familiar to me, and I try to take on as many art related projects as I can.