Luke Young

Luke Young Portfolio

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A little about me...

Hello, I'm Luke—a working class web specialist living and working in Elgin, Illinois. Feel free to click around the navigation to explore the site!

I studied 3D Modeling, Animation, Illustration, Digital Design, and more at The American Academy of Art. It was there I honed my artisitc ability and wet my apetite for the commercial arts. After graduating, I cut my teeth as a web designer and developer at a small photography company. I've been at it ever since, and today I hold a great deal of industry experience after working on web projects and applications for 20 years.

My current adventure is utilizing Generative AI in creating new web experiences. If you are looking for someone with a diverse set of skills who can help navigate this new frontier, look no further.

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What others say...

"I managed Luke at Class Catalyst and Mindful Practices, and he was the person I could hand almost any design problem to. His queue ran from website pages and product pages to MailChimp builds, one-pagers, decks, and social graphics, and he moved between two organizations, each with its own brand, without losing quality or consistency. He turns requests around quickly, takes feedback well, and is easy to work with across a lot of different stakeholders. Luke is a strong web and digital designer who also understands the marketing the work has to serve. Any team would be lucky to have him."

— Rob Philibert Co-founder Class Catalyst

"Luke is such a wonderful asset to any team. He brings a wealth of knowledge, creativity, and design talent to his work, consistently taking the initiative to turn ideas into high-impact solutions. Beyond his technical and visual expertise, Luke stands out for his collaborative spirit and positive, can-do attitude. He is always willing to jump in, offer thoughtful insights, and support those around him. He is an absolute pleasure to work with, and any team would be lucky to have him!"

— Vienna Webb Director of Digital Support Mindful Practices & Class Catalyst

"Luke Young was an exemplary employee at Mindful Practices/Class Catalyst for five years. Throughout his tenure, Luke was an invaluable team member who was always ready to support his colleagues in every way possible. He consistently took on diverse projects and executed them to a high standard, demonstrating exceptional articulation and communication skills in all his work. Luke's deep commitment to the company and dedication to the team's success were unwavering, and I recommend him without reservation for opportunities in any industry."

— Mary Kusper Chief of Staff Mindful Practices & Class Catalyst

Luke Young

WordPress Web Designer & Digital Marketing Specialist

This résumé is synced live from Google Docs via the Google Apps Script API.

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Summary

Hands-on web designer and digital marketing specialist with 15+ years building and maintaining websites, email campaigns, and marketing materials for organizations ranging from small nonprofits to major national retail brands. For the past five years, owned the entire web presence and digital marketing program for a mental health and education organization — building multiple WordPress sites from scratch, designing core elements for their app UI, and converting a 150+ page curriculum into a full WordPress-based K-12 well-being program. Combines WordPress/CMS development with UI design and front-end coding (HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript), able to take a marketing or content need from concept to shipped page without handoffs.

Experience

Web Design & Digital Marketing Specialist — Mindful Practices & Class Catalyst

February 2021 - August 2026

Owner of web design, development, and digital marketing for two organizations serving the mental health and K-12 education community. Designed and built the Mindful Practices and Class Catalyst websites in WordPress from the ground up, including custom page templates and layout patterns. Converted a 150+ page Google Docs library into a full, navigable WordPress-based well-being curriculum spanning kindergarten through 12th grade. Designed core UI elements for Class Catalyst, the organization's companion app. Planned and executed MailChimp nurture and drip email campaigns, plus a recurring monthly newsletter, to drive registration for professional development events, educational software, and mental health resources. Produced promotional flyers, social assets, and marketing materials for ongoing events and program launches. Extended WordPress functionality with light front-end development (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) beyond out-of-the-box theme capabilities.

Web Development Manager — Sears Holdings Corporation

Apr 2014 - November 2020

Managed a UX front-end development team, partnering with product leadership to scope resourcing, timelines, and skill requirements for projects. Worked with UI designers and UX architects to build the company's Global UX Patterns website, defining shared UI design themes and components used across brands.

Senior Web Developer — Sears Holdings Corporation

Apr 2013 – Apr 2014

Built and maintained front-end content (HTML, CSS, jQuery/JavaScript) for the Hard-lines business unit. Served as lead developer and primary front-end point of contact for Sears.com, Kmart.com, Craftsman.com, and Kenmore.com.

Junior Web Developer — Sears Holdings Corporation

June 2010 – Apr 2013

Built and maintained front-end content across SHC websites, from banners and promotional content to full-page applications and global templates. Partnered with designers, copywriters, UX architects, and project managers to deliver client-facing experiences.

Web Designer — Calumet Photographic

October 2007 - May 2010

Designed page templates and standard UI patterns for a family of international e-commerce websites. Designed and developed promotional content, including landing pages, banners, and email campaigns. Ran photo competitions and built showcase pages for featured photographers.

Art Director — The Alley Chicago

July 2006 - May 2008

Designed T-shirts, flyers, posters, and mailers in partnership with the owner. Trained employees on vinyl transfer equipment and fundamental digital imaging techniques.

Education

BFA (Bachelors of Fine Art) — The American Academy of Art

June 2003 - June 2007

Graduated with Honors, majored in 3D Modeling and Animation.

Contact

lukewyoung@gmail.com

815 • 978 • 4483

thelukester.net

LinkedIn

Skills

CMS & Digital Marketing: WordPress, Divi, MailChimp (nurture/drip campaigns, newsletters), SEO & Accessibility, Google Workspace (Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Drawings)

Design Methodologies: UX/UI Design, Web Design, Responsive & Mobile-First Design, Accessibility, Wireframing & Prototyping, Figma, Sketch, Photoshop, Illustrator, Canva, Affinity Photo, Inkscape, GIMP

Front-End Development: Design: HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript (ES6+), jQuery, Git, PHP, Sublime Text, Google Apps Script API, Continuous Integration, Familiarity with libraries like React and frameworks such as Angular

Emerging Tech & AI: Advanced Prompt Engineering, Machine Learning, Data Analysis, and Code Refactoring (Google Gemini, Anthropic's Claude Code, and Claude LLMs: Haiku, Sonnet, Opus, Fable)

Project & Team Tools/ Tech: Monday, Agile Methodology & SCRUM Framework, JIRA, Slack, Trello

Mindful Practices and Class Catalyst Logos

Mindful Practices & Class Catalyst

Since February 2021, I’ve served as Web & Design Specialist at Mindful Practices and Class Catalyst, bridging front-end development and graphic design to support mission-driven well-being initiatives.

Wearing both creative and technical hats, I managed digital projects from concept through delivery—custom-building WordPress pages using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, and automating targeted Mailchimp nurture sequences to boost educator engagement. Alongside digital development, I produced a broad spectrum of visual assets ranging from marketing media and custom workbooks to print and apparel design.

Mindful Practices Newsletter Example 04 Mindful Practices Newsletter Example 05 Mindful Practices Newsletter Example 01 Mindful Practices Newsletter Example 02 Mindful Practices Newsletter Example 03 Mindful Practices Newsletter Example 06
Sears Holdings, Sears, Kmart, Kenmore and Craftsman logos

Sears Holdings Corporation

During my time at SHC, I worked my way up from Junior Web Developer to Senior Developer, and became Web Development Manager in 2014.

I collaborated with great teams across the organization to build everything from standard web banners to full-featured web applications. It was a high-energy setting where we moved fast to hit tight turnarounds, using modern web tech to deliver exactly what project stakeholders needed.

Calumet Photographic

Starting as an intern and quickly advancing to full-time Web Designer, I spent my early career at Calumet honing my visual design skills while establishing a strong foundation in HTML and CSS. I collaborated cross-functionally with copywriters and back-end developers to design and curate digital marketing assets—including high-volume weekly eBlasts, landing pages, and banners—across our US, UK, German, and Dutch sites, ensuring strict brand integrity and cross-client email compliance.