Cindy Chastain of Mastercard on Simplifying Complexity

And pushing boundaries

Cindy is SVP of global customer experience and design at Mastercard. She guided the relaunch of the Mastercard brand identity and co-leads an effort to drive customer-centric cultural change. Before joining Mastercard, Cindy was an ECD at R/GA, focused on the intersection of branding, product innovation and CX for Nike, Volvo, Verizon and others.

We spent two minutes with Cindy to learn more about her background, her creative inspirations and recent work she’s admired. 

Cindy, tell us …

Where you grew up, and where you live now.

I grew up in a quintessential suburb in Shawnee, Kan., and now enjoy splitting time between NYC and Woodstock, N.Y.

How you first realized you were creative.

When my third-grade teacher went out of her way to tell me I had a talent for drawing and encouraged me to do more. I spent hours drawing as a kid and was pretty good. It’s amazing how a single moment could open up an entire direction in life.

A person you idolized creatively early on.

I was obsessed with John Cassavetes in graduate school. He opened my eyes to an innovative approach to filmmaking (which involved semi-improvised scenes) and the beauty of raw, emotional realism. He liked to experiment, push boundaries and was staunchly independent in his vision. 

A moment from high school or college that changed your life.

Before college, I was torn between pursuing a career in something like law versus theater, which I had grown to love in high school. Thankfully, I ended up landing at Northwestern University’s School of Communications, where I had many options to explore. When I took my first film class, it was like discovering a whole new world of creative possibility.

A visual artist or band/musician you admire.

Patti Smith. It’s funny, but I’m just now realizing that I admire Patti for the same reasons I admire Cassavetes.

A book, movie, TV show or podcast you recently found inspiring.

Poor Things. It was funny, visually engrossing and unlike any other movie I’ve seen in a long time.

One of your favorite creative projects you’ve ever worked on. 

Leading the effort to relaunch the Mastercard brand identity in 2016. We partnered with Pentagram to create a new logo and a comprehensive design language that helped us show up as the innovative technology-driven company we had become. And we took a human-centric approach, ensuring that we were building a flexible and modular system that could be applied to a variety of business needs.

A recent project you’re proud of.

My team led research and design for the “Priceless Planet Carbon Calculator,” a way for consumers to make smarter spending decisions by connecting transactions to their personal carbon footprint. It was the first time our team applied behavioral economics to our design approach. We focused on understanding the why behind decisions related to sustainability.

Someone else’s work that inspired you years ago.

Dieter Rams. I was inspired by the way his simple, intuitive and beautiful work revolutionized consumer product categories. My favorites are the SK 4 Phonosuper (1959) and the 606 Universal Shelving System (1960). Both set the stage for future-focused minimalism that endures to this day (think Apple and Dyson). His philosophy, captured elegantly in 10 Principles of Good Design, is something I keep going back to.   

Someone else’s work you admired lately. 

Jessica Helfand. She is a deeply good human, designer, writer, educator and accomplished visual artist. At the height of the pandemic, she published a thought-provoking collection of essays inspired by Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self Reliance. Her essays reconnected me with my creative self and got me thinking more deeply about how to live life at a time when so much was changing.

Your main strength as a creative person.

Empathy. Simplifying complexity. Pushing boundaries.

Your biggest weakness.

Perfectionism.

A mentor who helped you navigate the industry.

A few years after college, I had the privilege of meeting Polly Platt, the first woman to obtain union membership in the Art Directors Guild. She was also a respected filmmaker and producer. She took me on as an assistant at Gracie Films (home of The Simpsons and many other award winners). She gave me an enduring perspective on authenticity, honesty and standing one’s ground as a woman in a male-dominated field. 

How you’re paying it forward with the next generation of creatives.

I try to pay it forward with one-to-one coaching sessions as well as finding ways for my team to stretch and hone their craft. I enjoy igniting conversations (internally and externally) that bring fresh voices to our discipline amid increasing complexity.

What you’d be doing if you weren’t in CX & Design.

Making low-budget, experimental films while living on a farm. Or starting an arts-related non-profit.