Pixar's Tools Design System
Spearheaded Presto first design system to establish sustainable tool development
Role
Design system architect, UI Engineer
Team
3 Design System Designers
Users
Product Designers, Artists and anyone at the studio who wants to build a tool
Area
Design System
How do you build a design system for a 20 year old tool without starting from scratch?
As the lead designer embedded on the Presto team, I initiated a foundational design system effort tailored for Pixar’s internal tools. I audited hundreds of editors, mapped out common patterns, and catalogued thousands of color tokens to define a baseline structure. I then built a lightweight, scalable system that engineers, designers, and artists could gradually adopt without needing a centralized design systems team.
Context and Ask
Presto is Pixar’s in-house animation tool used daily by hundreds of artists across departments. Over 20 years, it had grown organically, with little visual or UX consistency between tools. While powerful, its UI landscape was fragmented, making it hard for new features to feel intuitive or cohesive.
The Ask: Build a design system from within, not on top one that honors legacy, works with existing infrastructure, and empowers engineers and designers to align on patterns, structure, and visual clarity at a sustainable pace.
