Rodrigo Tello, interface designer & artist

CURRENTLY

I'm a product designer at Tailscale, where we're building a new Internet, and I run Hopscotch, a kid-friendly programming environment, as Chief Imagination Officer. In my art practice, I make paintings and small animations.

WORK

Tailscale, networking software for a new Internet. Product Designer.
2023 - Today
Hopscotch, a visual programming environment. Chief Imagination Officer.
2023 - Today
Val Town, a programming environment for small, sharable, runnable scripts. Interface Designer.
2023
Zestworld, digital comics platform that bring creators & storytellers together. Product Designer.
2022 - 2023
Holler, AI chat assistant. Lead UX/UI designer.
2021 - 2022
Shopify, world's biggest e-commerce platform. Senior Product Designer.
2020 - 2021
Hopscotch, visual programming language. Lead Product Designer.
2015 - 2020
Manuable, marketplace for handmade local products. Co-founder, Head of Product.
2013 - 2015
Think, digital agency. Co-founder, Head of Design.
2013 - 2015
Funkalab, social network for creators and artists. Co-founder, product designer.
2012 - 2013

OPEN SOURCE

Figma To HTML, extract a frame from Figma and embed it directly in your website.
TypeNow, a writing app. Local-first, web-based, sugar-free, grass-fed.
HyFive, computational art environment.

ART

Operation of Anomalies, animation about protocols for managing operational discrepancies
2024
Paintings
2019 - Today
The Pond, animation to calm myself in hard times
2020
Sketchbooks
2015 - Today
GIFs
2015 - 2018

COMMUNITIES

Red Mexicana de Computación, network providing low income families access to online education. Coming soon.
Otromundo, computation & creativity online community. Coming soon.
Flow, 10 hour hackathon event for artists, designers, and creators. Co-founder & organizer.
2013 - 2014

MUSIC

Rodrigo Tello, electronic & ambient
Nurbs, electronic
Mechanilistic, electronic, IDM, noise 2008
Bienvenido al Tecnodromo, electronic, ambient 2007

ABOUT

I'm a digital product designer, commonly known in the tech industry as "product designer" or "UX/UI designer" (I personally prefer computing interface designer). I've designed programming environments for kids, marketplaces for the biggest eCommerce platform, and AI-driven chat search engines. I've also launched and grown premium subscription services, A/B tested growth funnels, done product roadmaps, written company strategy, lead user research & user testing, project management, creative direction, and more.

In a past life, I co-founded an eCommerce startup, a social network for creators, as well as a small web agency. I taught front-end development to teenage girls. As a consultant, I helped launch direct-to-consumer furniture brands, and programmed corporate CRM tools. To see my full resume and portfolio, please send an email.

HEROES

Björk, Shigeru Miyamoto, Trent Reznor, Kazuyo Sejima, Ryue Nishizawa, J. C. R. Licklider, Ivan Sutherland, Seymour Papert, Cynthia Solomon, Alan Kay, Adele Goldberg, Bill Atkinson, Bret Victor, Vi Hart, Stacy Horn, Casey Reas, Ben Fry, Lauren McCarthy, Hayao Miyazaki, Tove Jansson, Jenny Holzer, David O’Reilly, Ray & Charles Eames, Barbara Kruger, Daito Manabe, Brian Eno, Archigram, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Susan Kare, Tim Berners-Lee, John Baldessari, Noam Chomsky, Satoshi Kon, FKA Twigs, Lina Bo Bardi, Hilma af Klint, Agnes Martin, Emma Kunz, Mark Weiser, Philip Glass, Max Fleischer, Natalia Lafourcade, MVRDV, Aphex Twin, Tamiko Thiel, Hanne Darboven, Jane Goodall, Van Neistat, and many more.

INTERESTS

Computing-Augmented Imagination™
Visual computing
Computing As A Medium, Not Tool
The Internet Is The Computer
Full Humans
Art

Hello, I'm Rodrigo Tello, an interface designer working towards Computing-Augmented Imagination™.