Hola, I'm Rodrigo Tello. I design and code computing interfaces, and I run a company. Working towards Computing-Augmented Imagination™.
RECENTLY
I was a product designer at Tailscale, designing and building features used by the biggest AI labs and a space company. On the side, I run Hopscotch, a kid-friendly programming environment, as Chief Imagination Officer. Lately, I've been exploring Human-AI Interaction, building my own design tools and CAD software. In my art practice, I make paintings and small animations.
WORK
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Tailscale, networking software for a new Internet.
Senior Product Designer 2023 - Today
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Hopscotch, a visual programming environment.
Chief Imagination Officer 2023 - Today
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Val Town, a cloud-based JS/TS programming environment.
Design Engineer / Product Designer 2022 - 2023
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Zestworld, digital comics platform.
Product Designer 2022
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Shopify, world's biggest e-commerce platform.
Senior Product Designer 2020 - 2021
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Hopscotch, visual programming language.
Lead Product Designer 2015 - 2020
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Manuable, marketplace for handmade local products.
Co-founder, Head of Product 2013 - 2015
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Think, digital agency.
Co-founder, Head of Design 2013 - 2015
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Funkalab, social network for creators and artists.
Co-founder, product designer 2012 - 2013
For portfolio inquiries, email me
PERSONAL SOFTWARE
- Dobble, a small game where you need to find the matching character.
- Player, a simple web-based player for your audio files.
- TypeNow, a writing app. Local-first, web-based, sugar-free, grass-fed.
- Figma To HTML, extract a frame from Figma and embed it directly in your website.
ART
- Operation of Anomalies, animation about protocols for managing operational discrepancies 2024
- Paintings 2019 - 2022
- 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.
- Otromundo, computation & creativity online community.
- Flow, 10 hour hackathon 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 an interface designer, what the industry calls "product designer" or "UX/UI,". I've designed programming environments, dev tools, cybersecurity platforms,content platforms, e-commerce at scale, and AI products. I've also co-founded companies, built 0-1 products, and shipped code.
In a past life, I co-founded an e-commerce startup, a social network for creators, and a small web design agency. I taught front-end to teenage girls. As a consultant, I helped launch direct-to-consumer furniture brands, and programmed corporate CRM tools. Before that, I used to be an architect — I hope I can come back to that one day. 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, Moebius, 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, and many more.
INTERESTS
- Computing-Augmented Imagination™
- The Internet as a computer
- Drawing as literacy
- Full humans
- Art
WEBSITE
This website was created with HTML/CSS. It is hosted on Neocities.