ASPEN W. / FOUNDING DESIGN ENGINEER

Design with intent.
Build with care.
Stay curious.

At Axel, I turn design into frontend PRs and bring engineering feedback back into design. From product to brand, campaigns, and email — I design, build, and test.

A few sides of me

Design ↔ CodeIdeas, built all the way through.

Role: Founding Design Engineer
Now: Axel · YC W19
Background: Georgia Tech · ID + Psychology
Based in: Bellevue, WA
Founded: XING Art

One person. More than one dimension.

Capabilities & play

Abstract UI · personal study

0→1 · end-to-end

Product Design

Multi-country KYC, automotive HMI, fintech flows — research through shipped UI.

Abstract UI · personal study

frontend · PRs

Design Engineering

I own frontend delivery and ship production PRs, turning designs into code and engineering feedback into better design. AI coding tools help me build, test, and iterate quickly.

Abstract UI · personal study

campaigns · email

Brand & Visual

Brand identity, core ad campaigns, and email experiences — keeping the product's visual language consistent wherever people meet it.

Abstract UI · personal study

behavior · cog-sci

Research × Psychology

GT Psych dual degree — usability, trust, the gap between said and done.

Trajectory

05 stops

Axel · Gordian (YC W19)
Founding Design Engineer · Full-time
Dec 2025 — Now
TikTok · PIPO UED
Product Designer (Intern) · TikTok Pay KYC
Jun — Sep 2025
Hyundai · HATCI Lab
HMI Designer · IONIQ 6 L2+
Jan — May 2025
XA
XING Art
Co-founder & Product Designer · $300K MiraclePlus
2022 — 2025
CDC
CDC · NWSS Lab
Product Designer · CryoSave (IDEA Award)
Aug — Dec 2023

Awards & recognition

Recognition along the way. The geometric studies are personal artwork, not award logos, trophies, or certificates.

Abstract study
iF Design Award
Field of Vision
2025
Abstract study
Red Dot Design Award
Field of Vision
2025
Abstract study
IDEA Student Award
CryoSave for CDC NWSS
2025
Abstract study
Bredendieck Award
Georgia Tech (×2)
Abstract study
Humanitarian Award
Abstract study
Atlanta Design Festival
Recognition

Co-founder & Product Designer · MiraclePlus '25, $300K, 1K+ users

Life Style

08 frames

Got my car at 18 · Freshman at Georgia Tech · Dreaming about my future

Aspen with her first car at 18, downtown Atlanta at night — // Got my car at 18 — freshman at GT, dreaming about my future

Black-and-white photograph of a parking garage alley with trees — // Love photograph — daily life through a lens

Black-and-white photograph of a brutalist tower against cloudy sky — // The everyday, framed in black & white

Charcoal sketch of an eye in progress — // Somehow good at drawing

Multiple charcoal sketches of faces and hands on cream paper — // Enjoy B&W sketching

Electronics workbench with soldering iron, microphone, mixed cups and wires — // Making cool stuff with my roommate

LiPo battery and circuit board feeding a glowing die in a red tray, next to a Polaroid — // Wireless illuminated dice for our table game

My Workspace

06 frames

Aspen's desk with dual monitors showing a flip clock and solar system — // My workspace — built to enrich creativity. Less is more.

A friend at home holding a Sony camera, taking a photo — // Always someone with a camera in the room

Close-up black-and-white photo of someone holding a vintage Edixa Reflex 1000 film camera — // Film cameras — the slower kind of seeing

Drawing class with laptop and projector showing arm sketch references on the wall — // Sketching nights — references on the wall, sketchbooks on the table

Purple-gloved hand holding a film reel under sink water during developing — // Film washing by hand — PH14 in the basin

Black-and-white film print of a silver SUV parked in front of an old brick building — // The print, after

Love Music

05 frames

A sunburst acoustic guitar resting on a grey carpet — // Love music

Three bronze-and-clay monk sculptures in a workshop with pegboard wall — // Working at a Bronze Studio

Wooden desk with iPad of horse-anatomy refs, sketchbook drawings, red sculpted clay animals — // Designing with reference — desk, sketchbook, and the clay it ends up as

Three friends in silhouette jumping against a sunset sky

Portrait of three young men in golden-hour light with mountains behind — // With my pals — last day before they head to their PhDs

Enjoy Cooking

06 frames

Jupyter notebook with PSYC 3803 brain-science course materials and downsampling visualization — // I love neuro-sci — happy in the cog sci dual degree. Yes I am happy.

Two plates of steak with asparagus, potatoes, and sauce — // Cooking for me and my girlfriend

A small mouse inside a clear plastic terrarium with moss, near a window screen — // Caught a rat in my apartment — it's cute, but I made it leave eventually

Teal Nintendo Switch Lite with hand-drawn Hatsune Miku in marker on the back — // DIY Miku Switch Lite — Xmas gift for my girl

iPad screen showing a stylized anime elf girl in progress in a drawing app — // Drawing with the app I designed

A tabby cat with white belly, looking up at the camera — // My cat — I love him sooooo much

Unforgettable Summer

08 frames

Crowd of attendees in winter coats lined up at night outside a convention center — // Lined up at 4 AM for a 5090

Young man at NVIDIA GTC with conference lanyard, holding a tablet — // At NVIDIA GTC 2025

A PC tower at NVIDIA GTC 2025 signed Jensen was here by Jensen Huang — // Jensen signed my PC!

iF Design Award page for Field of Vision — cane for the blind — // Awarded iF Design — Field of Vision, cane for the blind

MiraclePlus 2025 Spring closing ceremony group photo on stage — // Funded by MiraclePlus — $300K · 2025 Spring closing ceremony

XING Art booth at trade show — three young men with iPad showing in-progress anime drawing — // XING Art alpha test — first time on the floor

Group of friends at a restaurant table with burgers, salsa decorations on the wall — // Intern at TikTok — best summer crew. GOAT.

Holding ID badge in front of tall modern office buildings, ByteDance / Volcano Engine — // First day on campus — ByteDance Shanghai

The combo

I'm waiting for you to discover my potential.I'm only 23.

World-class Figma

40% faster integration

The vendor docking SOP I wrote at TikTok Pay PIPO UED became the cross-market standard — integration cycles cut ~40% across VN / MY / ID. Tokens, components, error states, edge cases, all in.

Cycle comparison

Standard

100%

With SOP

60%

−40% · TikTok PIPO vendor integration

Design with intent.Build with care.Stay curious.

Product Design

Design Engineering

Brand & Visual

Research × Psychology

iF Design Award

Red Dot Design Award

IDEA Student Award

Bredendieck Award

Humanitarian Award

Atlanta Design Festival

Vulcan Engineering Solutions

Edison Bike

Refracted Lab

Shanghai Jiao Tong University

CDC NWSS Lab

XING Art

Design with intent.
Build with care.
Stay curious.