← IndexAbout · The long version

Twelve years designing products for the internet. I work at the intersection of design, systems and AI, with a bias for shipping prototypes that feel real enough to decide on.

Name
Gustavo Girard
Role
Product Designer
Location
San Jose, CA / Remote
North star
Just do it. Less is more.
Pinnacle National Park
2023Pinnacle National Park
Big Basin with Jhonny
2025· Big Basin
Castle Rock State Park
2022· Castle Rock State Park
Henry Cowell Redwoods
2021· Henry Cowell Redwoods
Sundown Crossfit
2025Sundown Crossfit
Lake Tahoe
2024Lake Tahoe
(01)Story

Origin.

I started as a web designer, got seduced by the browser, and never left. My degree is in Systems Analysis and Development, so code was never “the other side of the fence.” In the early years, I split my time between client work, my full-time job, and front-end experimentation. I learned that the best designers I admired could also build, and that the best engineers could also design. That intersection is where I chose to live. And at Petrobras, I experienced that combination firsthand doing design and delivering front-end, which was the best part.

Craft.

I’m obsessed with high-quality design, motion, and the subtle tensions that separate good software from memorable software. I believe design systems are not just documentation, they are living products with their own roadmap, tests, and metrics. I believe that building products starts with understanding user needs and pain points. Less is more, and talent is built over time, like getting 1% better every day.

Now.

Currently at Arena, designing creator and community tooling used by top media brands. My focus: realistic, functional prototypes built with AI, micro animations that bring them to life, and evolving the company's design system. On the side, a few founder projects each quarter.

(02)Principles

  1. 01

    Study the field before the first stroke.

  2. 02

    Approve the skeleton, then dress the pixels.

  3. 03

    Ship sketches as prototypes.

  4. 04

    Systems over screens.

  5. 05

    Typography is the load-bearing wall.

  6. 06

    Motion earns its seconds.

  7. 07

    Accessibility is a gate, not an afterthought.

  8. 08

    Be allergic to fluff.

(03)Experience

2022 — Present
Now
San Jose, CA

Arena

AI Product Designer

Designing creator and community tooling with the AI and Growth team. Workflows, wireframes, high-fidelity prototypes, and evolving the company's design system at scale.

AI PrototypingDesign SystemsGrowth
2014 — 2022
Rio de Janeiro / San Jose, CA

gusg.me

UX/UI Consultant

Eight years of independent consulting. Information architecture, UX, visual design for iOS and Android, websites, and brand. Clients across startups, agencies, ecommerce and enterprise.

ConsultingiOS / AndroidBrand
2015 — 2017
Rio de Janeiro

CF21

Part Owner & Creative Director

Co-founded a CrossFit apparel brand. Creative direction end to end: fabrics, prints, packaging, store, visual identity. Learned to run a product business from the inside.

FounderBrandProduct
2014 — 2017
Rio de Janeiro

Petrobras

UI/UX Designer & Front-end

Enterprise product work inside Brazil’s largest company. Creation of wireframes, heuristic analysis, visual identities, and front-end (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) delivered to production.

EnterpriseProductResearchFront-end
2005 — 2014
Rio de Janeiro

MDC Brasil, Elogia, B2W, UniverCidade

Early career

Cut my teeth across agencies, ecommerce and academia. Led a small team at MDC, built the Submarino.com.br creative pipeline at B2W, and shipped the UniverCidade intranet and digital campaigns.

AgencyEcommerceWeb
(04)Craft

Product Design
12y

End-to-end features: flows, UI, edge cases, and the boring states that separate shipped from demoed.

  • Flows
  • Wireframes
  • Hi-fi UI
  • Edge cases
Design Systems
8y

Living products with their own roadmap. Built three from scratch, scaled two more.

  • Tokens
  • Components
  • Docs
  • Guidelines
UX Research
10y

Usability testing, heuristic reviews, user interviews. Just enough rigor to make a decision.

  • Interviews
  • Heuristics
  • Usability tests
Prototyping
12y

Realistic, functional prototypes. If it cannot be clicked, it is not a decision.

  • Figma
  • Framer
  • Code
  • Remotion
Interaction
10y

Motion, gestures, and the small moments that turn software into memory.

  • Micro animations
  • Gestures
  • Transitions
  • motion.dev
  • Framer
AI + Automation
3y

Prototypes built with code and LLMs. Ship in hours what used to take weeks.

  • Claude Code
  • Cursor
  • VEO3
  • Nano Banana
Tools on the benchdaily drivers
Design
  • Figma
  • Framer
  • Photoshop
  • Illustrator
  • Webflow
Code
  • Next.js
  • React
  • TypeScript
  • Tailwind
  • Framer Motion
  • Remotion
AI
  • Claude Code
  • Cursor
  • Nano Banana
  • VEO3
  • ChatGPT
  • Grok
Platforms
  • Supabase
  • Vercel
  • GitHub
  • Render
(05)Currently

  • ListeningUX Podcast, Morning Bew Daily, Rock Music
  • ReadingAtomic Habits · James Clear
  • BuildingTools that collapse the design-code gap
  • CravingCoffee, Mountains, CrossFit
  • Shipping with2GRW, TrpFit, myCFO, Arena GC DS
(06)Archive

Two decades of design, scattered on the table. Hover any frame to pull it forward. Each one is a small chapter.

UniverCidade intranet era
2005· UniverCidade
Elogia hotsites
2011Elogia
MDC studio
2013· MDC
UniverCidade era
2006· UniverCidade
Petrobras research
2015· Petrobras
Petrobras handoff
2016· Petrobras
Shipping 2017
2017· All Star Academy
Reme launch
2017· Reme
Helloween CalCC
2018Helloween CalCC
REME continued
2019· REME
CalCC expansion
2019· CalCC
REME sketches
2019· REME
REME detail
2019REME
San Diego break
2021· San Diego
Jhonny 2021
2021· Jhonny
Yosemite valley
2021Yosemite
Coyote Creek trail
2021
Arena kickoff
2021· Arena
Jhonny Boy
2021· Jhonny
Yosemite ridge
2021
Yosemite overlook
2021· Yosemeti
Jhonny detail
2021· Jhonny
Arena San Francisco
2022
Lake Tahoe
2022· Tahoe
Arnald CA
2022· Arnald CA
Jhonny 2022
2022· Jhonny
Arnald CA
2022· Arnald CA
Arena studio
2022Arena
Jhonny portrait
2022· Jhonny
Kind Hearts For You
2022· Kind Hearts For You
Arena 2023
2023· Arena
Arena Summit
2023· Summit
Google DEV
2023· Google
AI Group San Francisco
2023· AI Group
Palo Alto hackathon
2023· Hackathon
Sierra Tahoe
2023· Sierra Tahoe
Home office
2023· Home Office
Jhonny at Tahoe 2023
2023· Jhonny
Bear Valley 2023
2023· Bear Valley
Sierra Tahoe
2023Sierra Tahoe
Arena studio 2023
2023· Arena
Config keynote
2024· Config
Arena Kart day
2025· Kart
Kart finish
2025· Kart
Arena 2025
2025Arena
Pos ESPM
2025· Pos ESPM
Carmel
2024Carmel
CalCC Computer Museum
2020· Computer Museum
Adobe HQ
2023· Adobe
AI User Conference
2024· AI User Conference
(08)End

(06)Contact

Got a product, landing or system that deserves real design love? I'm taking on a limited number of new projects each quarter.
Design systemv0.1
6 colors
AaAaAa
3 typefaces
Radius scale
Motion kit
OpenDesign systemTokens, motion, primitives.