// About Alex Chen

About Me

Design engineer who believes the web should feel as considered as print — and twice as alive.

Alex Chen
San Francisco, CADesign Engineer

Istarted building for the web because I wanted to make things move. Not just animate — move with intention, with weight, with the kind of physicality that makes you forget you're looking at a screen. That obsession has shaped everything I've done since.

Over eight years, I've worked across startups and tech companies, building design systems, crafting interfaces, and writing about the details that most people skip. Every project is a chance to close the gap between how software works and how it feels.

“The best interfaces disappear. The great ones make you feel something.”

When I'm not shipping code, I'm writing about it. 48 articles and counting — covering scroll animations, typography systems, React patterns, and the obsessive details that make the web feel alive.

8+Years in Design Engineering
50+Projects Shipped
48Articles Published
// What I do

EXPER

TISE

01

Interface Design

Pixel-perfect layouts that feel intentional and alive

02

Motion & Animation

GSAP, Framer Motion, CSS transitions that feel physical

03

Frontend Engineering

React, Next.js, TypeScript — production-grade systems

04

Design Systems

Scalable component libraries and design tokens

05

Creative Development

WebGL, shaders, canvas — pushing browser limits

Aa
06

Typography & Layout

Type systems, vertical rhythm, editorial grids

// The journey

HOW I

GOT HERE

2024

Design Engineer

Independent

Building interactive experiences for select clients. Writing about craft.

2022

Senior Design Engineer

Vercel

Led the design systems team. Built the component library used across all products.

2020

Frontend Engineer

Stripe

Dashboard interfaces and payment flows. Obsessed over every animation frame.

2018

UI Developer

Studio Labs

Client work across fintech, SaaS, and e-commerce. Learned to ship fast.

2016

Self-taught

The Internet

Discovered CSS animations, fell down the rabbit hole, never came back.

// Off the clock

THE HUMAN

SIDE

Daily fuel

3+ cups of pour-over

Editor

Neovim, no exceptions

Weekends

Trail running in Marin

Working music

Ambient & Japanese jazz