Raf
📻️

Raf

Founding Design Engineer in Toronto, he / him

Be kind, work hard, spread joy.

2 months ago

About

I lead teams in making complex technology feel simple. Currently designing AI interfaces at Theoriq in Toronto.

Started in Italy's Amalfi Coast, moved through Europe, now shaping tech in North America.

My engineering background helps me bridge technical needs with human experience.

Led design for accessibility tools (CurbCutOS), NFT marketplace (Atlas, backed by Eric Schmidt), B2B design system (Zalando), and iOS apps (Apple Academy).

Helped startups reach $100M+ in value.

Outside work: psychology, meditation, and coffee craft.

Contact

Twitter

Work Experience

2024 — Now
Toronto
  • Leading design for AI agents, focusing on intuitive human-AI interactions

  • Building design systems and frameworks that simplify complex AI operations

  • Coding and collaborating directly with engineers to shape next-gen AI interfaces

2024 — Now
  • Leading design for early-stage startups through NBS studio.

  • Helping founders turn ideas into scalable products.

  • Working as an embedded design partner across multiple ventures.

2023 — 2024
Remote

Demo

  • Led product design for automated accessibility testing platform.

  • Established design system and core user flows for complex compliance tools

  • Built tools that make the web more accessible for everyone.

2024 — 2024
Staff Designer at DeFi Tuna, Leveller, etc.

Demo

  • Extended work into DeFi platforms

  • Making complex financial tools accessible

2022 — 2023
Product Designer, Lead at Stealth

Demo

  • Designed NFT marketplace backed by Eric Schmidt (Google, Steel Perlot)

  • Shaped user experience for emerging financial tools in the crypto space

  • Led small design team and established component library for rapid iteration

2021 — 2022

Demo

  • Built first B2B design system improving development efficiency by 40%

  • Created documentation and component strategy for cross-team adoption

  • Led open design sessions supporting multiple business verticals

2021 — 2021
  • Built cross-platform design system reducing development time significantly

  • Led design direction across product, marketing, and engineering teams

  • Created design maturity system for faster engineering implementation

2020 — 2021
  • Led brand and product design for art collection platform

  • Built MVP and design system that helped secure £300K funding

  • Increased project efficiency by 200% through improved design processes

2019 — 2020
  • Designed and shipped iOS/watchOS apps under Apple Mentors' guidance

  • Created end-to-end experiences in challenge-based learning environment

  • Collaborated directly with Apple HQ through presentations and reviews

  • Selected for prestigious Apple-Federico II University partnership

Side Projects

2022

How you work > What you worked on.

Inspired by Lily's original work, I refactored and made a template in Craft (available to the community).

2022
HIT THE NEW YEAR RUNNING at Nike

Creative Direction / Model: Raffaele Vitale
Photography: giannidegennaro.it

2021

Projects

2024
2024
AI, Product at ai.pt

Collaborated with Kunal Gupta, CEO, directly in a hybrid role pivoting across product, design, and development roles, delivering AI-centric no-code solutions for publishwithspark.com and getjetson.ai. fun to work in person.

2023

Tela offers a prompt crafting experience, a testing suite for creating brand-specific test cases to evaluate prompts, a system for setting up evaluators to assess output.

2023
US Courts | Design System Toolbox at US Courts, Agileana

Supported Agileana on the redesign and redevelopment of the US Courts official organisation toolbox.

2023
Ethos Design Pass at Ethos

Helped ex-Voyager founders to release the design of their new app, Ethos

2023
Web 3.0 Development Agency | Branding and Website at web3ops.co
2022

Created a collection of updated collections for aspiring UX / UI designers for the Italian community, constantly updated, with a simple self-evolving community.

Education

2019 — 2020
2017 — 2019
Naples

Graduated cum laude

2015 — 2017
Software Engineer (withdrew) at University of Salerno
Salerno

Certifications

2021
Design System for Designers from Accredible

Credential ID: 31778649

2019
UX Certifications from The Interaction Design Foundation

Credential ID: 56668

  • Mobile User Experience (UX) Design
  • The Practical Guide to Usability
  • UX Management: Strategy and Classes (Top 10%)
  • User Research: Best Practices (Top 10%)