Made Rupert

Role
Product Design
Year
Mar 2020 – Oct 2023
Industry
eCommerce, Marketplace

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Ready Media

Made Rupert

Ready Media

Building an AI-ready design system for a property marketplace and SaaS product.

Designed and launched a marketplace championing Australian makers and artists.

Building an AI-ready design system for a property marketplace and SaaS product.

Industry

Industry

Marketplace / Saas

eCommerce, Marketplace

Year

Year

Oct 2025 – Present

Mar 2020 – Oct 2023

Role

Role

Design Systems Lead

Product Design
Industry
Marketplace / Saas
Year
Oct 2025 – Present
Role
Design Systems Lead

Designed and launched a marketplace championing Australian makers and artists.

© Made Rupert

Challenge

Challenge

As COVID took hold and markets closed overnight, makers lost their primary way to reach buyers. Global platforms were no longer accessible, and local journals weren't built to sell. There was a gap for something curated, shoppable, and distinctly Australian.

Objectives

Objectives

Brand identity

Create a visual and written language across all touchpoints.

Scalable marketplace

Build a digital platform showcasing local talent with high engagement and minimal operational overhead.

Content Infrastructure

Develop systems and templates that scaled storytelling and maker outreach without manual work.

Strategic Partnerships

Enable collaborations with cultural leaders and social enterprises that extended beyond commerce.

Maker-First Experience

Design a shopping experience that celebrated craft, process, and provenance.

Actions

Foundation

  • Conducted 80+ structured interviews to map user needs, directly informing the prioritisation of 8 core platform features

  • Created a flexible design system spanning print and digital, including art direction frameworks, event and editorial templates, and a tone-of-voice guide.

  • Designed and launched a Shopify-based marketplace with maker profiles, story pages, project galleries, e-commerce, and a lightweight CMS.

Marketing & Operations

  • Developed a content strategy with editorial calendar, campaign toolkits for partners, cross-promotional assets, and weekly EDM.

  • Wrote and published a weekly newsletter

  • Implemented fulfilment and CRM workflows to support day-to-day operations as the platform scaled

Foundation

  • Conducted 80+ structured interviews to map user needs, directly informing the prioritisation of 8 core platform features

  • Created a flexible design system spanning print and digital, including art direction frameworks, event and editorial templates, and a tone-of-voice guide.

  • Designed and launched a Shopify-based marketplace with maker profiles, story pages, project galleries, e-commerce, and a lightweight CMS.

Marketing & Operations

  • Developed a content strategy with editorial calendar, campaign toolkits for partners, cross-promotional assets, and weekly EDM.

  • Wrote and published a weekly newsletter

  • Implemented fulfilment and CRM workflows to support day-to-day operations as the platform scaled

Milestones

Milestones

Platform Adoption

Launched a marketplace that attracted makers and buyers, providing a curated alternative to global platforms during market closures.

Content-Driven Engagement

Fortnightly newsletter to over 1k subscribers, with 43% open rate and 19% click-through rate.

Partnership Impact

Raised $30,000 in donated locally made products for social enterprise Free to Feed.

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