I occasionally leave my desk to talk about design things in front of other cool designy people.
Designer & Engineer
I'm a product designer with an engineering background, working at the intersection of AI, craft, and systems thinking. Currently at Pixar Animation Studios, designing tools that help artists bring stories to life.
When I'm not deep in a design system or prototyping an interaction, you'll find me hunting for good light in a new city, deep in a stack of novels, or talking on stage about the futures we're designing toward.
On stage
Recent talks and panels.
May 2025
August 2025
April 2026
December 2025
November 2025
Experience
A decade of building at the intersection of engineering and design, from writing code to leading systems.
2022 — Present
Sr. Product Designer
Designing AI-powered creative tools and internal systems that help artists work faster and more expressively across film production.
Animation & AI2021 — 2022
Product Designer II
Shaped cross-platform design systems and player-facing experiences for one of the world's largest gaming ecosystems.
Gaming2017 — 2019
Lead UX Engineer
Led UX engineering for fintech products serving small businesses, bridging design and front-end development to drive growth.
Fintech2016 — 2017
Full Stack Software Engineer
Built full-stack e-commerce infrastructure, APIs, pipelines, and tooling as a founding engineer at an early-stage startup.
EngineeringOff the clock
Travel, reading, and everything in between that feeds the work without looking like work.
Reading
I like to read books that sit at the edge of two disciplines, where technology meets humanity, where science meets storytelling. The best ones change how I see my own work.
Film
Denis Villeneuve, 2025
Quietly devastating. An elegy for a kind of America that no longer exists.
★★★★★
Film
2025
Tense, darkly funny, and impossible to look away from, leaving me laughing and on edge at the same time.
★★★★★
Film
Josh Safdie, 2025
Classic Safdie. Chaotic, immersive, and emotionally exhausting in the best way.
★★★★★
Film
2025
Intense, dream-like, raw. Processing trauma through art, identity fluidity and resilience. Gg Kristen.
★★★★★
Film
2025
Beautifully captured a relationship through a tender, observant lens. The unspoken words linger long after.
★★★★★
Film
2025
Deeply intimate, with silences that say more than words. Captures life after trauma through the quiet grace of a healing friendship.
★★★★★
Film
2024
Sentimental without being heavy, told with a gentle humor and humility. A true story, beautifully light in tone.
★★★★★
Film
2024
After so long, a Bollywood movie finally made me cry. Not flashy or loud, just honest and cute.
★★★★★
Film
2024
Awkward and tender. Reminded me of my relationship with my sibling, full of tension, guilt, shared jokes and long silences.
★★★★★
Film
Payal Kapadia, 2024
My favorite movie of 2024. Patient, melancholic, and achingly beautiful, it breaks your heart while quietly warming it.
★★★★★
Film
Wim Wenders, 2023
Quiet meditation on the beauty of everyday routines. Made me fall in love with Japan all over again.
★★★★★
Film
2022
Loneliness felt in stunning Irish landscapes, leaving a lingering mix of melancholy and reflection.
★★★★★
Film
2022
Absurdly human, sharp and unsettlingly honest. Love it when you can make me laugh in a dark reality.
★★★★★
Watching
I'm drawn to films that treat space, silence, and composition as storytelling tools, the ones where every frame feels designed. I rewatch more than I discover.
Reading list
Things I keep sending to people
Making







Places
Iceland
Iceland
Machu Picchu
Guatemala
Rockies
Japan
Currently reading - Karen Hao explores the landscape of artificial intelligence and its impact on society.
Currently reading - Anne-Laure Le Cunff teaches how small changes lead to big discoveries.
Dr. Fei-Fei Li's memoir traces her journey from immigrant to AI pioneer — honest, moving, and full of hard-won wisdom about curiosity, belonging, and what it means to build something that matters.
Ken Kocienda pulls back the curtain on how Apple actually made software — through taste, iteration, and the quiet craft of demoing ideas. A rare, grounded account of what thoughtful product-making looks like from the inside.
I was dragged into a twisted office nightmare in No Other Choice, where every desperate move is as shocking as it is ridiculous. It's tense, darkly funny, and impossible to look away from, leaving me laughing and on edge at the same time.
Classic Safdie - Had me gripping the edge of my seat the entire time. Its chaotic, immersive, and emotionally exhausting in the best way, like being dragged through a fever dream where hope and dread keep trading places.
Quietly devastating. Love, loss, loneliness against the vast Pacific Northwest. It's an elegy for a kind of America that no longer exists, told with the kind of restraint that makes it hit harder.
Sharp, chaotic, surprisingly self-aware. An unromantic comedy that pokes fun at modern relationships with enough wit and physical comedy to keep you laughing through the mess. Doesn't take itself seriously, which is exactly why it works.
Colman and Cumberbatch are magnetic together — two people who love and resent each other in equal measure. It's messy and funny and quietly cutting. The kind of film that makes you laugh until it makes you uncomfortable.
This one beautifully captured a relationship through a tender, observant lens. The house feels frozen in time, serving as a repository to memories. The unspoken words linger long after, making the film quietly unforgettable.
Sorry, Baby bruised me. It's deeply intimate, with silences that say more than words. I loved how it captures life after trauma, not through flashbacks, but through the quiet grace of a healing friendship.
I don't know how to describe this intense, dream sequenc-y, raw biography that is visually so beautiful, its like processing trauma through art, identity fluidity and resilience. Gg Kristen.
Awkward and tender in ways. Reminded me of my relationship with my sibling - full of tension, guilt, shared jokes and long silences. So honest, yet so graceful.
My favorite movie of 2024. Its lyrical cinematography captures nocturnal Mumbai in stunning neon frames. Patient, melancholic, and achingly beautiful, it breaks your heart while quietly warming it.
I couldn't recommend The Penguin Lessons more. It's sentimental without being heavy, told with a gentle humor and humility that makes it feel effortless. A true story, beautifully light in tone, with a quiet lesson that lingers.
After so long, a Bollywood movie finally made me cry. Not flashy or loud, just honest and cute. Truly an inspiring story for anyone passionate about filmmaking.
Quiet meditation on the beauty of everyday routines with an undercurrent of melancholy. Made me fall in love with Japan all over again.
Loneliness is felt here in stunning Irish landscapes, that left me with a lingering mix of melancholy and reflection.
Love it when you can make me laugh in a dark reality. Absurdly human, sharp and unsettling-ly honest.