デザインとストーリーで
セカイをつなげます。
デザインとストーリーで
セカイをつなげます。
Connecting cultures through design & storytelling.
Introduction
CarmelloVision began as a personal practice by Shane Allen, shaped by years of living and working across cultures in Japan and the United States. From community-driven projects in Milwaukee to supporting startups in Las Vegas, and traveling across more than 30 Japanese prefectures, his work has always been rooted in people, place, and communication.
These experiences gradually shaped a broader role. What started as hands-on design work evolved into helping companies translate complex ideas, products, and stories into digital experiences that connect across languages, teams, and markets.
Over time, that work revealed a pattern. Many organizations had strong products and clear ambitions, but struggled to communicate their value across cultural and organizational gaps. CarmelloVision grew from that realization, becoming a way to bridge strategy, design, and storytelling so ideas could move more clearly from intention to execution.
The Idea
Living and working across Japan, Shane often found himself surrounded by talented teams building strong products with clear ambition. But again and again, something wasn’t connecting.
Sometimes the message didn’t translate across cultures.
Sometimes the product was ahead of the story.
Sometimes global direction didn’t land locally.
He began to realize the real challenge wasn’t just design. It was alignment, between teams, ideas, and audiences. And while websites and content were often built to increase visibility, the deeper systems behind them, like structure, interactivity, discoverability, and now even AI-driven search, were often overlooked.
The work naturally evolved into helping organizations clarify what they were building and shape how that clarity carried across markets, platforms, and cultures. That realization became the drivers of CarmelloVision.
The Vision
Over time, that perspective shaped the role CarmelloVision plays today.
Design remains at the core, but the work lives at the intersection of content, UX, brand, and communication. The focus isn’t just on creating assets. It’s on helping teams align around what they’re building, what’s being overlooked, what’s possible, and how it’s understood across cultures and markets.
This has taken shape through a mix of independent work and collaborations alongside agencies, internal teams, and global organizations, supporting projects that range from early-stage ideas to large-scale digital initiatives.
Whether supporting a product launch, refining a digital presence, or helping global teams navigate the Japan market, the goal is the same: bring clarity, structure, and cohesion to the work so ideas can move forward with confidence.
In the Field
Over the years, this way of working has taken shape across different industries, products, and teams. Each project brought a different challenge, but the goal was often the same: bring clarity, alignment, and connection to the work.
Japan to US Expansion via eCommerce | Mirai Speaker
Worked closely with the Mirai Speaker team to translate a highly technical Japanese audio product into a clear, conversion-focused digital presence for the U.S. market. From UX and content structure to Amazon A+ Content and localization, the work drove CPA from ¥28,000 to ¥11,000 and contributed to record single-day brand site sales.
8-Year B2B SaaS Design Partnership | WideSense
Served as the sole founding design partner for WideSense — a Berkeley-based AI platform for EV fleet operations — from logo and dashboard UX through investor pitch decks, global expo presence, and a $3M seed raise. Over eight years, every visual and digital touchpoint the company showed to the world came through this partnership.
Connecting Japanese F&B to the Middle East | Japaldia
Collaborated with Japaldia to build a digital foundation connecting Japanese food culture with business opportunities in the Middle East. This included shaping their web presence, clarifying their offering, and creating a structure that supported strong search visibility and international discovery.
See more work
Brands I've contributed work to — directly and through agency partnerships.
let’s collaborate!
Frequently Asked Questions
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Yes. Cross-cultural clarity is core to CarmelloVision. I'm used to bridging expectations, feedback styles, and communication across teams. I’ve worked within agencies in the past handling work for both large global brands to small mom and pop shops located in APAC, Europe in the U.S. Even back in the U.S., I was a proponent to bring a diverse voice to corporate agencies.
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Absolutely. I often coordinate with devs for handoff, QA, and launch support so design doesn't get "lost in translation." With former experience as a Project Manager for five years, I understand end-to-end project flow, and bring that into every creative project that comes across my desk.
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Website builds, UX/UI, brand systems, content systems, and campaign creative. If it touches digital experience and narrative, I'm in my lane. I’m also curious to learn what you need, as I can also help put you in touch with the right people — such as PR Agency, Developers and Digital Marketing connections.
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I work with teams globally, but being Tokyo-based means I understand the local context, time zones, and business culture when needed
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It depends on scope, but most website projects run 4-8 weeks, brand systems 4-6 weeks, and UX/UI work is scoped per phase. Content depending on need.
Inspiration & Stories Which Excite My Soul
Bobby Hundreds of The Hundreds
The Story of NISSIN
Music Video by REOL
Live performance by WOODKID