Nick Phillips is a design engineer. He takes ambitious ideas from early concept to finished product, with a particular focus on complex experiences where the details and behavior really matter. He also uses AI throughout his process to automate repetitive work, leaving more time for the decisions that depend on taste, context, and judgment.
A React design system for a brokerage platform, including its components, design tokens, and public site. The trickiest part was bringing its calm, composed table design into AG Grid without losing the speed and flexibility that made the grid useful.
A control console for a building's air and environmental systems, where you could nest spaces inside spaces as deep as you liked — one component built to contain itself.
The front end of a white-label investment platform, with an advisor console and client portal built on the same component system and connected to live financial data. I was the sole front-end developer.
Fans voted on which city's live performance would make the cut for each track on the band's new album. The experience had to remain cryptic: no song titles, no standings, and nothing in the source code that could spoil the record.
A restaurant guide for a ceramics studio, rebuilt on Sanity. The original had the right feel, but plenty of broken parts. My job was to preserve its character while making everything work.
A rebrand for a grain-free cereal brand, on Shopify. There were no page designs — I designed it in code, section by section, with the client, as twelve flavors and a new brand book landed against a launch date.
Generating ideas is cheap now. Judgment isn't. AI can produce ten options in seconds, but someone still has to know which one works, what's wrong with the other nine, and when a decision needs human review. That judgment has always been part of good design. It's also how I built the work above.
Knowing how to use AI is quickly becoming standard. Helping an entire team use it well is harder, and far more valuable. Most companies already have the tools. What they're missing is a thoughtful workflow and the judgment to make it reliable. That's the gap I help close.