Chris Verbick · Portfolio

MISSION CV-02 · LAT 39.21°N · CAGLIARI

Chris
Verbick

UI/UX support & product strategy · a portfolio for MetaCell

Portfolio of Chris Verbick, designer and engineer based in Cagliari.

Chris Verbick · Portfolio// 01 · About

// About me

Designer, engineer, founder. Based in Cagliari.

I design product experiences, build the technology inside them, and start the companies around them.

TLM-01
17yrs
IN SYNCHRONOUS ORBIT AS A GENERALIST
TLM-02
7
VENTURES
AI-generated portrait of Chris as an astronaut
My childhood dream
Chris and his brother Collin as kids at Kennedy Space Center
In real life, at Kennedy Space Center Florida with my brother Collin (RIP)
Chris Verbick · Portfolio// 02 · The arc

// Flight path

Four homes across four decades.

LAKE JACKSON MINNEAPOLIS LONDON CAGLIARI
  1. 01 TEXAS, USA

    Lake Jackson

    1981–1998

  2. 02 MINNESOTA, USA

    Minneapolis

    1998–2009

  3. 03 UNITED KINGDOM

    London

    2009–2020

  4. 04 SARDINIA, ITALY

    Cagliari

    2020–now

Grew up in Lake Jackson, Texas; worked & grew up more in Minneapolis; studied and started up in London; building in Cagliari since 2020.

Chris Verbick · Portfolio// 02 · The arc · Chapters 02–03

// Minneapolis → London

From the print shop to product design.

1998–2009

Minneapolis

Learning by making

  1. 2003–07

    Graphic Design & Visual Communications, A.A.S.

    Minneapolis College

  2. Posters and print

    Gig poster designer, silkscreen T-shirt printer, commercial printer

  3. Olson, then my own agency

    Short stint at world-famous Olson Agency, launched my own agency and failed quickly

Also: residential builder, pizza chef, public payphone technician, mortgage underwriter, skyscraper roof maintenance

2009–2020

London

Design and innovation

  1. 2009–13

    MEng Design & Innovation

    Queen Mary / Goldsmiths, University of London

  2. 2009

    ARTCRANK Europe

    Brought ARTCRANK to Europe and ran it for 12 years (London, Bristol, Manchester, Oxford, Paris + others)

  3. 2013–20

    Cinter, co-founder

    Design + engineering studio, founded after my studies. Launched 4 products in 4 years, bootstrapped by our agency model. 100+ projects with startups and enterprise (Intel, Infosys, Tata Consulting Group, Airbus).

Trained in graphic design (Minneapolis) and design & innovation (London), developing deep experience across the arts and tech with 3D printing, electronics prototyping, full in-house branding.

Chris Verbick · Portfolio// 02 · The arc · Chapter 04

// Cagliari · 2020–now

The day jobs, and the community I’m building on the side.

Work

Inpeco

Business Development Manager

2018–2019

Total Patient Management platform, developed by the Inpeco R&D lab in Pula.

inpeco.com

→
Business Design Tools

Director Technology Innovation

2018–today (founded 2012)

Helping founders and operators to build businesses their customers will love.

businessdesigntools.com

→
Swanmakers

Founder

2022–today

Brand and comms studio for VC and PE firms.

swanmakers.com

Side projects

Entrepreneurs Meet

Non-profit founder community. 200+ members.

entrepreneursmeet.it

→
Ecosystem Sardinia

A map of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Sardinia.

ecosystemsardinia.com

Build in Paradise

Earn globally, build in Sardinia.

buildinparadise.com

In Sardinia: business development at Inpeco, then Swanmakers. Entrepreneurs Meet began as a side project and spun out Ecosystem Sardinia and Build in Paradise.

Chris Verbick · Portfolio// 03 · How I work

// Skill stack

Design first, with the engineering and business context to back it.

Designs that flow into execution.

Systems thinking: first principles, frameworks and proof points, solid collaboration and teamwork that delivers.

Product decisions tied to user needs and business goals.

DESIGN Product · Brand Systems ENGINEERING Frontend · AI Architecture BUSINESS Strategy · GTM Fundraising PROTOTYPING PRODUCTVISION TECHNICALSTRATEGY FOUNDER

Design, engineering and business overlap in my work; for this role, design leads. The business case keeps it useful and the engineering makes it executable.

Chris Verbick · Portfolio// 04 · Deep dive 01 · Entrepreneurs Meet
Entrepreneurs Meet

// Deep dive 01 · Members' area

A members' area that keeps a community connected between events.

Entrepreneurs Meet is a non-profit that gets interesting people in a room together. The members' area is what keeps them connected afterwards.

My role
Brand, co-organizer, product design, build
Team
Luigi Laezza, Matteo Cantarelli, Chris Verbick
TLM-01
200+
MEMBERS
TLM-02
20+
NATIONALITIES
TLM-03
45+
EVENTS

Entrepreneurs Meet: a non-profit founder community in Cagliari. I designed and co-developed its members' area.

Chris Verbick · Portfolio// 04 · Deep dive 01 · Entrepreneurs Meet

// One system, two registers

Same page, two moods: Fun for members, Pro for partners.

EMC home page in Fun mode
Fun · newcomers and members
EMC home page in Pro mode
Pro · investors, institutions, press

The Entrepreneurs Meet design system ships two token registers, so one set of templates speaks to members and to institutions.

Chris Verbick · Portfolio// 04 · Deep dive 01 · Entrepreneurs Meet

// Members' area

A home dashboard, a searchable directory and a product tour.

Members' area home on a phone
Phone · home
Members' area home
Home · what's happening
Member directory
Directory · search and filters
Product tour, step 1
Product tour · step 1 of 6

The live members' area: home dashboard, directory with full-text search and product tour. Other members' details are blurred.

Chris Verbick · Portfolio// 04 · Deep dive 01 · Entrepreneurs Meet

// Networking Mode · Monthly Mixer

In the room, the app switches to Networking Mode.

During a Monthly Mixer, the members' area becomes a tool for the evening: scan each other's codes to connect, answer the night's icebreaker, see who you've met, and find the hosts.

Meet tab with a QR code to scan
Meet · one scan connects you both
Icebreaker tab with ideas from the room
Icebreaker · ideas from the room, upvoted
People tab listing who you met
People · who you met tonight, with notes
Event tab with hosts and headcount
Event · hosts, headcount and your pass

Networking Mode in the Entrepreneurs Meet app during a Monthly Mixer: Meet, Icebreaker, People and Event.

Chris Verbick · Portfolio// 05 · Deep dive 02 · Riffs
Riffs

// Deep dive 02 · The anywhere studio for songwriters

I'd love to have something like an effects pedal that makes it feel like I'm making music with someone that's not even in the room.

Riffs began as a co-design project with a musician from Austin, Texas. Musicians capture short song ideas, share them with other musicians, and learn from and build on each other's music.

Vinh Diep playing guitar and singing on stage
Multi-instrumentalist and musician Vinh Diep · Vindug · Alter the Defined · The Digital Story

Riffs: a platform for capturing and sharing short song ideas, co-designed with a musician from Austin, Texas.

Chris Verbick · Portfolio// 05 · Deep dive 02 · Riffs

// Screens and process

From a job to be done to a record-and-listen flow.

Riffs home screen
Home
Listening to a bandmate's track
Listen
Recording a part over the track
Record

01 · Co-design

Long chats with my ex-bandmate in Austin, Texas turned into ideas about how we could compose music together in a fun way, without the baggage of working together as a band.

02 · Record / listen

UI is laser-focused on a simple interaction and flow. Listen, record, share. Repeat.

03 · Next

Originally developed in 2024, this project remains a concept.

Chris Verbick · Portfolio// 05 · Deep dive 02 · Riffs · live demo

// Deep dive 02 · Live demo

The Riffs prototype, live.

Riffs home screen

Tap to try it · arrow keys still move the deck

Jam out a new trackStart an idea and record up to a minute of it.
UpdatesNew parts from your bandmates, with a count of what’s waiting.
Riff on their trackPick a bandmate’s jam, listen, then record your part over it.
Three placesHome, Library and Groups, with your profile one tap away.

The Riffs prototype running live inside the deck, on its Home screen. When presented, it can be tapped and explored.

Chris Verbick · Portfolio// 06 · Swanmakers · Ananda · brand
Swanmakers

// Studio · founded 2022

Brand and communications for VC and PE firms.

We started from zero, rebuilding the mark and rewriting the brand story. Website, brand manual, pitch decks, financial and impact reports, and all other assets flow from a single point of inspiration: the Power of Ten. As a DeepTech fund with diverse holdings, Ananda tells a story of impact investing that ranges from the microscopic to extraplanetary in scale.

Ananda
Ananda brand pattern
Ananda illustration: a firefighter in front of a heat map of Europe

Swanmakers is my brand and comms studio for VC and PE firms. Ananda: Our first client needed a rebrand for their fifth fund (€130MM AUM). Running research and cross-team co-design sessions lead to a complete rebrand and new communications strategy.

Chris Verbick · Portfolio// 06 · Swanmakers · Ananda · website

// Ananda · website

A website for a DeepTech impact fund.

ananda.vc
Ananda website homepage
ananda.vc/portfolio
Ananda portfolio page

[The Ananda website in one line: structure, what you designed and built.]

Chris Verbick · Portfolio// 06 · Swanmakers · Impact reports

// Impact reports + infographics

Making fund impact data legible.

WakeUp Capital year one impact report
WakeUp Capital · year one impact report
Ananda impact report 2024
Ananda · impact report 2024
Swanmakers impact report practice page
Swanmakers · impact report practice
WakeUp Capital impact risk framework
WakeUp Capital · impact risk framework
Ananda impact highlights infographic
Ananda · impact highlights
Swanmakers report process, from sources to digital report
Swanmakers · how a report gets made

Impact reports for WakeUp Capital & Ananda: layout, infographics and data storytelling for funds and their LPs.

Chris Verbick · Portfolio// 07 · Data viz · Pitch decks

// From pitch decks

Infographics that convince, selected from pitch decks that raised.

Closed Loop Medicine: trial results pie chart
Closed Loop Medicine · trial results
Closed Loop Medicine: how the dosing engine works
Closed Loop Medicine · how it works
Longwall Ventures: why we invest in deep tech
Longwall Ventures · why deep tech
Longwall Ventures: investing early to maximise impact
Longwall Ventures · investing early
Chris Verbick · Portfolio// 08 · ARTCRANK · Events

// ARTCRANK · events

A poster party for bike people, brought to the UK.

Crowd under the ARTCRANK banner
Opening night, the floor fills up
Guests laughing
Numbered prints on the wall
ARTCRANK jacket patch
Live screen-printing
Pulling a print
A tee straight off the press
A freshly printed tee

ARTCRANK, a bike-poster show, started in Minneapolis. I brought it to Europe and ran the editions in London and other markets, working with 300+ artists over 12 years.

Chris Verbick · Portfolio// 08 · ARTCRANK · Posters

// ARTCRANK · my posters

My ARTCRANK poster designs.

ARTCRANK London 2010 poster
London 2010 — 49 Old Street, 17–18 September
ARTCRANK London 2012 poster
London 2012 — Plain Wall Projects, Hoxton, 7–14 September
Screenprint of bicycle parts
London 2013 — Stronger than steel
Poster signed VERB
London 2014 — Community

These are my posters and screen prints.

Chris Verbick · Portfolio// 09 · For MetaCell · How this maps to your work

// How this maps to your work

Where I can help MetaCell's product teams.

Data-dense UI

CAD + Engineering background, working with complex software and workflows. Developing the Entrepreneurs Meet platform.

Design systems

Brand-driven and user-centered design. Token-driven systems with more than one register (EM Fun/Pro).

Data visualisation

Impact-report infographics and pitch-deck charts → making model and imaging data legible.

Design that ships

I build in Laravel, Astro and SvelteKit. And I'm always ready to jump in and learn new frameworks and tooling.

MetaCell builds cloud software for life science (NeuroGlass, Geppetto). My fit: broad-based skillset with deep experience in relevant verticals. Always bringing the founder perspective.

Chris Verbick · Portfolio

TRANSMISSION ENDS · CAGLIARI

Thank
you

chris@swanmakers.com · linkedin.com/in/chrisverbick

Chris Verbick, seated portrait