Portfolio · Staff Product Designer, Patterns & Design Innovation

Pattern systems that scale the way Pinterest does.

I'm a Principal Creative Technologist with 21+ years building the infrastructure behind design: component systems, production pipelines, governance frameworks, and the custom tooling that keeps it all coherent at scale. The work I find most interesting sits at the intersection of systems thinking and engineering — not just documenting patterns, but building the machinery that makes them stick. This page was built specifically for the Patterns & Design Innovation role.

21+

years building systems used across
enterprise-scale organizations

production-grade tools built to
operationalize Pinterest role requirements

508

Accessibility-first architecture
embedded from day one

Organizational Impact

4–10

Team members led across art, design, and engineering disciplines

~40%

Reduction in review cycles through standardized pipeline tooling

21 yrs

Governance systems supporting multidisciplinary contributors at enterprise scale

Accessibility retrofits — 508 and WCAG embedded as architecture, not afterthought

What I'd bring to the Patterns team

I spent two decades in a context where design systems aren't optional. A pattern that fails accessibility carries operational and legal consequence, and the gap between design and engineering has to be closed by someone who speaks both languages fluently. That's the background I'm bringing to Pinterest.

Pattern governance at scale. Component standards, interaction specs, and token structures that actually govern multidisciplinary teams. Not just documentation that lives in a wiki.

Design technologist depth. Custom tooling, render pipelines, agentic workflows built from scratch. Fluent enough in code to close the handoff gap and systems-minded enough to own what comes out the other side.

Horizontal influence. Getting engineering, product, and exec stakeholders aligned through documentation, advocacy, and tools that earn adoption rather than mandate it.

Accessibility as architecture. Section 508 and WCAG from a legally accountable environment where retrofits aren't an option. It gets designed in from the start or it doesn't ship.

Work samples

Two tools built for this role

Not case studies. Working artifacts, each one built to demonstrate a specific responsibility from the job description in a way you can actually interact with.

Tool 01 · AI-powered

Pattern Quality Auditor

Upload a screenshot or describe a component and get a scored audit against Pinterest's Gestalt system across accessibility, motion, hierarchy, pattern usage, and token compliance. Color vision simulation covers five deficiency types with WCAG 1.4.1 and Section 508 302.3 flagging built in from the start.

AI audit engine (Claude API)

Gestalt system reference

5 vision deficiency modes

Section 508 flagging

Screenshot or text input

Tool 02 · Pattern documentation

Feed Card Pattern Specification

A fully documented pattern spec for Pinterest's core feed card, covering live component states, three layout variants, usage guidelines, the complete primitive → semantic → component token chain, named easing curves, accessibility annotations, and vision simulation in one scrollable reference.

5 live component states

Full 3-tier token chain

Motion spec + easing curves

Vision simulation panel

Section 508 annotations

What these tools demonstrate

Capabilities on display

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Pattern systems governance

Component standards, token structures, and usage rules that hold across teams. Enforced systems with clear adoption paths, not just documentation.

—

Design technologist depth

Custom tooling that puts design judgment into practice, from a company-wide render pipeline built from scratch to an AI-powered audit engine.

—

Accessibility as architecture

Section 508 and WCAG compliance from a legally accountable environment. Vision simulation built into the tooling from day one, not layered on after the fact.

—

Motion design fluency

21+ years across After Effects, 3ds Max animation, and interactive animation from Flash through Canvas, plus a full render farm pipeline built in-house.

—

Token chain thinking

Full primitive → semantic → component token architecture where every value traces back to its source. Propagation, not repetition.

—

Horizontal craft influence

Systems thinking translated into tools, documentation, and conversations that raise the quality bar across teams without requiring direct authority to do it.

Ready to bring this to Pinterest.

These tools took a few days to build. The thinking behind them is 21 years in the making. I'd genuinely like to hear what the Patterns & Design Innovation team is working on.

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