Design and code,
undivided.
Design and build,
in the same breath.
I have spent fifteen years in the seam between design and engineering. Close enough to pixels to sweat them, close enough to code to ship them. Not as a generalist hedge. As a conviction.
What I am after is the moment something clicks. Not just functionally. The kind of click that makes you feel something. Clarity that feels inevitable. A flow that earns trust. Interfaces that solve real things without making the solving feel hard.
Three things guide the work: clarity, restraint, wonder.
Not as rules. As instincts.
Places worth stopping.
A selection of work worth the detour — tap any to travel in.
a few side quests
See allHi, I'm Joel.
Boricua, pa' que tu lo sepas. I've spent 15+ years at the seam between design and engineering: building design systems, shipping product surfaces, and caring deeply about the details most people never notice.
My career has taken some turns. Front-end work for Disney and Pixar through an agency, co-building health startups where the users were actual patients, then joining Linux Academy when it had 20 people and leaving when it had 200+. These days I'm a Senior Design Engineer at Buildout, making the design system and the interfaces it powers.
Off the clock: piano, video games, and outside.
- Product design
- Design systems
- React / TypeScript
- Prototyping
- Motion
- Front-of-frontend
Where I've traveled.
7 roles · 15+ years of practice.
Let's make something worth making.
Whether it's a new product, a stuck design system, or just a good conversation — I'm easy to reach. I read every note and reply quickly.