I’m a designer focused on the future and philosophy of the interface.
Currently, I work on Material Design at Google, building new adaptive capabilities through the layout system and componentry.
I’ve helped independent developers, startups, and civic organizations invent or improve great human-centered experiences. Previously, I was design lead at touchlab, where I helped partners build and launch projects like Quartz, Classpass, and LinkNYC.
I also host a podcast called Design Notes, exploring how creative work helps us relate to the world and each other.
Writing
Exploring the meaning of design through writing is crucial to my practice. Here are a few recent thoughts.
Scratching the Surface | Reshaping Our Expectations for Generative Design
Interface Café | The Future of Design is Still Personal
Interface Café | The Doubleshot Newsletter
Material Design Blog | Material Icons: SeHee Lee
Material Design Blog | How Oddfellows Illustrated Material You
Design
I’ve worked on projects with indie devs, startups, cities, and multinational companies. Below are a few of my favorite projects.
Material Design Navigation Rail
I designed and documented a new component in M2 to bridge the gap between navigating small and large screens. The navigation rail is now recommended across Android, and has been adopted by companies like SAP and Samsung.
Material Design for Large Screens
I designed and documented an approach to creating adaptive layouts and updated specifications for components, layouts, and grids.
See the specs: Understanding Layout | Responsive Layout Grid | Component Behavior
Illustration by Simone Noronha
Google.dev
I led the design of key features for the launch of Google’s new developer learning platform, enabling new ways of learning from all of Google’s developer offerings and documenting progress as you go.
Girassol Typeface
Featured in the Updike Collection on the History of Printing and served 750,000 times per week by Google Fonts, Girassol is my first publically-available typeface, drawn from the hand-painted signage of Carcavelos, Portugal.
LinkNYC
I led the design of the first LinkNYC interface leading up to its initial launch in Fall 2016. I contributed to the device home screen, system navigation, essential apps, splash animations, and iconography in collaboration with New York City and Intersection.
Talks & Workshops
I teach what I’ve learned and what I’m learning. I’ve been lucky to speak about the theory and practice of design all over the world.
Front Conference Zürich | The Real Promise of AI in Design: Beyond Productivity and Towards Intersubjectivity
Web Directions Summit | A New Future for the Interface: Reaching Toward True Adaptation
Android Developer Summit | Design beautiful apps on foldables and large screens
Google I/O | 5 Things You Can Do to Prepare Your Apps for Large Screens
Typographics | Na Praceta Do Girassol: The Time, Place, and Identity Encoded in a Typeface
CUNY Design Program | The History of Design at Google
Interviews, press, etc.
My work gets noticed! Here are a few conversations and mentions I’m proud of. Find all my talks, interviews, and coverage in the “Elsewhere” menu above.
Techsploder Podcast with Jason Howell | Material Design, typeface creation, "bad" design
It’s Nice That | From accessibility to font choice, Google’s designers are building for the individual
Lovers Magazine | Interview with Liam Spradlin
Fast Company | Designers at Apple, MoMA, and more share the podcasts they never miss
Underscore | The Next Step for Design is Mutation