Alisha Mendez

Creative direction · Content strategy · Events · Phoenix, AZ

Content that connects. Stories that stick.

I'm Alisha Mendez, a creative director and content leader in Phoenix. I lead brands, publications, podcasts and events from the first idea to launch, and I build the AI tools that help my team do it faster.

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A speaker at the podium on the Agentic AI and the Student Experience main stage, with the event title on the backdrop, glowing neon arcs, and a curved gold set piece in front
Event Branding · Content

Agentic AI and the Student Experience

The visual identity and event creative for ASU's second annual summit on the student experience, from the stage and LED screens to email, social, and event video.

  • 800+attendees
  • 34sessions
  • 10keynotes
  • 8workshops
Client
Arizona State University
Event
October 20–22, 2026 · Phoenix
Role
Art Director: visual identity, stage design, event content, video
Year
2026

One visual identity carried from the first email to the main stage, plus a self-service graphics app available to 800+ attendees and 21+ speaker videos.

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The brief

Create the visual identity for ASU's agentic AI summit and carry it through the whole event, so attendees saw one consistent look from the first email to the main stage.

What I delivered

  • Stage design and set pieces for the main stage
  • LED marketing panel videos for the event, cut from real footage and animated
  • Informational posters throughout the venue
  • Email campaigns to promote the event and inform attendees
  • Social media content before and during the conference
  • Speaker videos: recorded 21+ speakers and keynotes at the on-site Creative Corner
  • Create Hub, a live web app I built with Claude where attendees and speakers make shareable summit graphics

Stage and set pieces

The main stage before doors open: black backdrop with neon arcs and the event title, gold and red arch set pieces, and a podium
Main stage with arch set pieces
Entry wall reading Technology shifts, humanity leads. Meeting the moment of agentic AI, with student photos and a sponsor screen
Entry wall: “Technology shifts, humanity leads.”
A three-person panel in lounge chairs on the main stage in front of the event title and ASU logo
Panel on the main stage
Lev Gonick grinning while holding up The AI Journey Volume 5 in front of the entry wall
Lev Gonick with The AI Journey Vol. 5

Official event photography (main stage speaker, panel, and lobby) by Tabbs Moiser, Enterprise Technology

Social video series

I recorded 21+ speakers and keynotes at the on-site Creative Corner and edited them into social videos. Here are three.

Chris Howard Executive VP and COO, ASU
Lev Gonick Chief Information Officer, ASU
Paula Starr Chief Information Officer, Cherokee Nation

Speaker portraits

Portraits taken at the conference, finished with on-brand name titles.

Portrait of Michael Crow, Arizona State University, smiling against a gold backdrop Portrait of Sethuraman Panchanathan, Arizona State University, against a gold backdrop Portrait of Paula Starr, Cherokee Nation, holding her 2026 Impact Award against a gold backdrop Portrait of Grace Kossia, Arizona State University, arms crossed against a gold backdrop Portrait of Arohi Desai, Instructure, arms crossed against a gold backdrop

See the event recap on LinkedIn ↗

Create Hub app

A live web app I built with Claude. Attendees and speakers upload a headshot, frame it, add their name and title, and download an on-brand summit graphic to share on LinkedIn and Instagram before the event.

Available to more than 800 attendees. The brand is built in, so every graphic stays on brand no matter who makes it.

The Create Hub home page: Tell everyone you'll be there, with a Get started button and five steps for building a summit graphic

Visit etcreatehub.com ↗

LED marketing panel

A set of tall marketing videos for the LED panel displayed at the event, promoting ASU's AI tools, the event app, and the daily agenda. I started from real footage and used Claude to speed up the animation and editing.

Five of the LED panel videos, shown side by side
An ASU student in a maroon Arizona State tee smiles while stretching a tape measure between her hands, lit gold against studio lights, from the Volume 5 cover shoot
Editorial · Photo Concepts

The AI Journey

ASU's magazine spotlighting the students and leaders behind its work in AI. I own the concept and production of Volumes 1 through 5, from the shoot concepts to the final layout.

Client
Arizona State University
Role
Creative Director: concept, art direction, production, layout
Year
2026

An 8-page feature on 11 Sun Devils from 9 teams, unified by one visual concept across 10 photoshoots.

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The brief

Turn a series of individual portraits into one editorial story. The challenge was uniting separate portraits into a single visual story while keeping each subject's individuality and energy intact.

Read the issues

Cover of The AI Journey Volume 4 Volume 4 on Issuu ↗ Cover of The AI Journey Volume 5 Volume 5 on Issuu ↗

Volume 5 cover shoot

The cover subject crouches on a wooden box, stretching a tape measure between her hands in front of glowing globe lights The cover subject leans on a dress form beside a sewing kit on a stool, surrounded by globe lights High-angle portrait of the cover subject with arms crossed next to a dress form and five globe lights Close-up of hands measuring a dress form with a tape measure Close-up of hands threading a bobbin over an open sewing kit
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AI Innovators social series

Social posts announcing each ASU AI Innovator featured in the magazine.

Social post: Anitah Murungi, Thunderbird School of Global Management, recognized as an ASU AI innovator Social post: Christina Leonard and Julia Wallace, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, recognized as ASU AI innovators Social post: Gil Speyer, Research Technology Office, recognized as an ASU AI innovator Social post: Janel White-Taylor, Mary Lou Fulton College for Teaching and Learning Innovation, recognized as an ASU AI innovator Social post: Jordan Coulston, John Shufeldt School of Medicine and Medical Engineering, recognized as an ASU AI innovator Social post: Kevin Monsen, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, recognized as an ASU AI innovator Social post: Kyle Jensen, The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, recognized as an ASU AI innovator Social post: Mariam Serghat and Abraham Lozano Serna, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering, recognized as ASU AI innovators Social post: Ohad Kadan, W. P. Carey School of Business, recognized as an ASU AI innovator
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Concept and editing by Alisha Mendez. Photography by Tabbs Moiser, Enterprise Technology.

Lev Gonick records a Voices of Innovation interview with a guest at the ASU+GSV Summit, with branded microphones and mugs on the table
Podcast · Brand · Production

Voices of Innovation

A podcast on technology and innovation at ASU that I helped build from the ground up, from the brand to every episode's final cut.

  • 23episodes
  • 30+Shorts
  • 15K+YouTube views
  • 475Spotify streams
Client
Arizona State University
Role
Co-creator, Brand Designer, Post-production Lead
Year
2023
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The show

Hosted by Lev Gonick, ASU's Chief Information Officer. Season two was filmed on site at the Agentic AI and the Student Experience summit, with guests including Vala Afshar, Angela Gunder, Phil Komarny, Marina Gorbis, Brad Wolverton and Melissa Vito.

The brief

Launch a new podcast for ASU Enterprise Technology with a brand and production system that could hold up episode after episode.

What I delivered

  • Brand identity
  • Post-production for 23 episodes
  • 30+ YouTube Shorts
  • The podcast landing page
  • Publishing and distribution across YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify

Watch on YouTube ↗

Read about season two ↗

Four street posters on a painted brick wall: Taco Taco Taco, Beef Rib Fridays, The Beast, and Queso Queso Queso, each showing someone biting into the food, with a passerby blurred in front
Brand Content · Local Marketing

Dad's Ribs + Mom's Tacos

Branding, food content, and local marketing for a Phoenix taco and rib shop built on two family recipes.

Client
Dad's Ribs + Mom's Tacos
Role
Brand Designer & Creative Lead: identity, content, local marketing
Year
2026
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The brief

The family-owned shop sits on an industrial stretch of Phoenix, away from foot traffic, and people didn't know it was there. The goal was to reposition it as a destination lunch spot through branding, content, and local marketing.

The approach

Community sat at the center. Every touchpoint, from the brand pattern and menu to street-level posters, was built to say this is your neighborhood spot, at prices that keep it accessible to the people who live and work nearby.

What I delivered

  • Logo and color system
  • Menu boards
  • Food photography and video
  • Street posters
  • A self-service social post kit the owners use on their own
  • A weekly posting plan
  • Trackable door flyers
Dad's Ribs and Mom's Tacos brand collage: green logo, food photography of tacos and ribs, and the printed menu
Brand and product

Branding

Primary logo: Dad's Ribs + Mom's Tacos in gold with red shadow and EST. 2021, on a green taco pattern Logo variations in red on white, red on gold, and white on green, with the Num 6:24-26 tagline DRMT secondary mark in white on a hand-painted red flame, on a green taco pattern Distressed white wordmark on green and olive taco-pattern backgrounds Two menu designs in green and teal with tacos, BBQ, and extras sections and Mom's Fav and Dad's Fav badges
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Video Series · Creative Direction

Carpool Convos

A video series I've directed since 2023, from concept to final cut.

  • 24episodes
  • 4seasons
  • 2023first season
Role
Creative Director: concept to final cut
Years
2023 to now
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The series

24 episodes over 4 seasons, each one taken from concept to final cut.

Episodes

Episode thumbnail: Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego riding in the back seat with Lev Gonick Episode thumbnail: Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes laughing in the back seat Episode thumbnail: ASU Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Chris Howard talking with Lev Gonick Episode thumbnail: Wendi Whitmore, Senior Vice President at Unit 42, talking in the back seat
1 / 4

Behind the scenes

Sparky the Sun Devil leaning on a Waymo car and throwing pitchforks Sparky greeting ASU President Michael Crow and Lev Gonick, both laughing A guest smiling from the back seat of a Waymo with the door open, a Valley Metro bus behind Two guests standing beside a Waymo on a rain-wet street on the ASU Tempe campus Chris Howard pointing at the camera with a big grin while Lev Gonick talks beside him
1 / 5

Brand and visual identity

Palette, social formats, and the series on YouTube and LinkedIn

Watch the playlist ↗

Slay and Pray promo: a laughing woman in orange sunglasses with text bubbles reading want to start a podcast, no, and Okay, great! Let's do it, beside the Slay and Pray script logo
Podcast · Content Creation

Slay & Pray Podcast

A podcast I co-host, plus the look and content system behind it, built on empowerment, humor, and a little bit of chaos.

Client
Personal project
Role
Co-host, Content Creator, Designer
Year
2026
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The brief

The show started with template-driven graphics that worked but had no visual language holding them together. The goal was to raise the brand without losing its personality: funny, colorful, and exciting, carried by bold color, expressive type, and stylized photography.

The outcome

A flexible logo suite, a punchy palette, and confident typography that now run across cover art, episode thumbnails, social, and promo.

Brand and visual identity

Slay and Pray brand board: script logo on a blue-to-lilac gradient, episode thumbnails, a palette of purple, pink, sky blue and navy, a coral wave pattern, and the brand on Instagram and YouTube
Logo, palette, pattern, and episode thumbnails
Four phones on a pink background showing Slay and Pray with Alisha and Corinna on Spotify: cover art, episode list, and video episodes
The show on Spotify, with cover art and episode thumbnails

Branding photoshoots

Branding photoshoots gave the show its own library of on-brand photos, which became the episode thumbnails, cover art, and social posts.

The hosts laughing together, one in orange sunglasses and a tan leather jacket, in a room with green curtains and a piano The hosts holding a pink heart-shaped birthday cake with a number one candle and disco ball toppers The hosts sitting on the floor of a sunlit studio with brick walls, leaning into each other Episode thumbnail: Podcast Soulmates, the hosts reaching toward the camera in front of a flower wall Episode thumbnail: Happy Birthday Slay Sisters, the hosts with a pink birthday cake Episode thumbnail: Friend of the Pod, Emma Brodie, with her novel Into the Blue
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About

Alisha Mendez smiling with her head tilted, leaning toward a podcast microphone, in a white top with red embroidered flowers

I make content people want to watch, read, and share.

For 13 years I've led content for education, from ASU Online and Enterprise Technology to healthcare education and a family restaurant. I set the creative direction, direct photographers and designers, and coach teammates to lead their own projects. I also build AI tools in Claude, like a graphics app for 800+ event attendees and a workflow that saves two hours of editing per lecture video.

  • 13+years of experience
  • PHXbased in Phoenix, AZ
  • Creative Direction
  • Content Strategy
  • Brand Identity
  • Video & Podcast Production
  • Editorial & Magazine Design
  • Team Leadership
  • AI Tools (Claude, ChatGPT)
  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Figma

Let's make something together.

Hiring for a creative or content leadership role? Email me and I'll get back to you soon.

LinkedIn ↗ Download resume