Ethan Sautto
Currently Associate Marketing Specialist @ Yardi
Graduated California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo
Cal Poly Racing — FSAE Livery
For the 2024-2025 season, I planned, designed, and executed the livery for our Formula racecar.
This was my first foray into vinyl wrap design, and proved to be a challenging and exciting iterative process. With the help of several graphic designers, I was able to consolidate different approaches to the livery into a flowing, modern design.
Highway Racers
For a quarter-long project in a computer science class at Cal Poly, I worked with 4 other students to create a simple videogame in p5.js.
This was the first game any of us had ever made, so there was a steep learning curve. In the end, we were able to create a two-player "drive-to-survive" endless scroller that was super fun to play!
TAGA Logo Animation
After the 2026 TAGA conference moved from in-person to online, each team had to restructure their presentation to be played as a video. Taking advantage of the new format, I created a simple logo animation in After Effects to include in our video.
CPR Logo Animation
Wanting to practice my After Effects skills, I created this logo animation for Cal Poly Racing.
Motion graphics have always been a cool area of design that I haven't explored as much as I'd like to. Whenever I get the chance, small projects like these help to improve my skills in the medium.
Grassroots Magazine
Like any designer, I've always had an idea for a magazine.
At some point, I'd love to start formally interviewing the car enthusiasts I meet at events and ask them about their cars, the culture, etc. In the meantime, I created some concept cover art for the series using Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator.
I wanted to capture the nostalgic feeling many have for car culture while keeping things new-age, as the articles would mostly focus on current events in the car world.
Font Posters
I made a couple of these font posters for a class in community college.
They were actually pretty fun to make, and I enjoyed learning about the font I chose and thinking of striking ways I could represent it.
My blog
I write down my thoughts about car stuff here.
Pixel Art
As part of a merch series for Cal Poly Racing, I created some pixelized racers.
Both were created in Adobe Illustrator, and represent the organization's Baja SAE and Formula SAE teams. Making pixel art can be tedious, but it was satisfying to see them on our shirts at the end.
That's me!
My old Nissan I like working on.
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Some of my favorite songs (Try it!)
I think design gets really interesting when the creator's personality shines through.
How I got into UX.My journey into UX started with my love for cars, of all things. I've always viewed them as an extremely underrated medium for art — one that combines visual aesthetics with a specifically tuned user experience.
What I've been doingAfter completing two years at my local community college, where I experimented with front end development, sculpting, and industrial design, I discovered Cal Poly's Graphic Communication program.
For the past two years, I've been enrolled in a steady 16+ units while maintaining President's honor roll and staying heavily involved with several student orgs.
Where I'm at nowNow I'm working in a full time position at Yardi, where I'm dedicating the same effort I've been putting in non-stop for the past 4 years.
Work History
Associate Marketing Specialist @ Yardi
UX Designer @ Cal Poly Iter8
UX Designer @ Hack4Impact
Web Coordinator @ TAGA
Creative Director @ Cal Poly Racing
UX Designer @ Livin
Marketing Intern @ Ventura College
Thoughts About UX
With the rapid proliferation of LLMs, it's easy to feel like you're missing out if you're not implementing AI into your platform. As a designer, it's my job to know exactly when and where AI tools are effective. This means constantly learning how to use new technology and taking note of which new AI features are actually helpful. I'm of the opinion that the "move fast and break things" motto is no longer the best course of action. Instead, careful consideration must be taken when restructuring your platform or workflow to make room for new AI technology. Users can tell the difference between a rushed AI add-on vs. a thoughtful, seemless integration.
Starting my design journey on a computer science track gave me a special appreciation for how designs actually translate into a product. There are some important considerations I find a lot of beginner designers forget to take in this regard. How will this feature be maintained? Will its implementation bottleneck the development of any other features? Will the feature have to change due to practical limitations? These kind of questions should be asked by designers who want to be more involved in the development process. As someone who has experience with a broad set of design mediums, I'm passionate about bringing designers and developers together in a more hybrid workflow.
User Experience, as a concept, has the unique quality of being so broad that it can be applied to nearly any product or service. So, the question of "what are you doing after college?" can be a bit daunting. Luckily, I have many other design-related interests that I'd love to explore in tandem with UX. I'm incredibly interested in automotive design, as there's just so much room for innovation when thinking about car interiors. As the world goes electric, what differentiates the user experience when the powertrain is no longer a variable? I'm also interested in game design for its unique medium for education and rhetoric. In terms of career structure, I'd love to find a long-term environment that allows me to continue to learn and broaden my design skills.
LinkedIn