Rafael Cespedes

Rafael Cespedes is a NYC-based
designer by way of Santiago, with
ten years across and .
Currently at Robinhood.

Project Index

IdentityProductNucleus¹³ IdentityAIDb¹² ProductWebAIDb¹¹ IdentityProductZalt¹⁰ ProductKPR Web Game⁰⁹ IdentityKPR⁰⁸ Design SystemVidmob⁰⁷ ProductVidmob Dashboard⁰⁶ WebIBM (BMW)⁰⁵ ProductIBM (Live Nation App)⁰⁴ WebMarkor⁰³ IdentityWebManhattan Skyline⁰² WebGraphicNintendo⁰¹

LAB

AI-native experiments in
generative media, design tooling,
and identity systems.

Tool(S)ampler⁰⁴ GenWebVisualte crió⁰³ TooliOS Icon Glint⁰² ToolNengine⁰¹

archive/mind

Writing on design, culture, and
how I view the world.

Why I'm building Trove⁰² From artifacts to instruments⁰¹

About

Rafael Cespedes

rafcesp@gmail.com

LinkedIn GitHub X

I'm a designer based in New York City, by way of Santiago, Dominican Republic. My family moved to the US when I was twelve. We didn't have much, my parents didn't have formal educations, and I landed in a new country figuring things out on my own. Making things was how I made sense of it: taking apart computers, folding origami, building kites, drawing constantly. I still can't get through a day without unpacking how the world around me works. Everything is designed, and I've never stopped noticing.

That instinct became a career. Over the last ten-plus years I've built digital brands and products — not as separate disciplines, but as one system, where how something looks, feels, and works is a single decision. I've done it across nearly every kind of environment: scrappy internships, creative agencies, big tech, startups, and my own independent practice. I believe design is one of the few real levers we have on how people live, so I try to earn every choice. Clear in thinking, sure in form. Nothing loud for its own sake, nothing simplified past the point of meaning. Find the idea, cut the noise, protect the intent.

Currently a Designer on Robinhood's Product Creative team. I'm also taking on select freelance work, and always up for a good conversation. Reach me at rafcesp@gmail.com.

Experience

Senior Visual Designer, Product Creative at Robinhood (NYC)

Aug 2026 – Present

Working at the intersection of visual and product design, helping maintain, evolve, and elevate Robinhood's design language through better systems, AI-powered workflows, and custom tooling.

Principal at Rafael Cespedes, I.D.P. (NYC, Remote)

Feb 2022 – Present

Operate an independent design practice focused on helping new businesses get off the ground. Partner with founders during foundational stages to handle everything from early strategy and ideation to branding, product design, and pitch materials.

Lead Product Designer, Creative Intelligence at Vidmob (NYC)

Dec 2019 – Feb 2022

Led my own workstream developing Vidmob's core B2B creative analytics tool. The work contributed to official partnerships with major platforms including Facebook and TikTok, and long-term contracts with enterprise clients like J&J and Meta. Collaborated with product managers, engineers, and leadership to define complex user needs and prioritize features within a fast-moving environment.

Senior Designer at Vidmob (NYC)

Dec 2018 – Nov 2019

Led design for Vidmob's digital marketing channels, collaborating with the Creative Director and CMO to define website strategy and overhaul the user experience. Contributed through a period of significant growth, with the company scaling from 38 to over 400 employees.

Senior Designer at IBM (NYC)

Jul 2017 – Nov 2018

Led UI design and contributed to UX strategy, collaborating with cross-functional teams to build digital products from the ground up. Pitched, won, and oversaw design development for the Live Nation mobile app, while creating websites, apps, and scalable design systems for clients including BMW, Chanel, UPS, JetBlue, UBS, and Mediaocean.

UI/UX Designer at Resource/Ammirati (NYC)

May 2015 – Jul 2017

Led UI design and branding across a spectrum of projects. Key work includes the e-commerce design for Markor's new brand (Zest), brand identity and web design for Manhattan Skyline, and digital marketing content for Jerry Seinfeld (CCC). Also designed web experiences and visuals for Nintendo's Wii U & 3DS launches, alongside building responsive websites, design systems, and social assets for clients including Labatt, Pirate's Booty, Sweet'n Low, and Brooklyn Bowl.

Design Intern at Brooklyn Navy Yard (NYC)

Jun 2013 – Feb 2014

Design Intern at NYC College of Technology (NYC)

Jan 2012 – Dec 2012

Expertise

Verticals

Enterprise AI
DeFi
Fintech
Adtech
Social Media
Real Estate

Horizontals

Blockchain & Web3
Agentic & Chatbot AI
Dashboards
Data Visualization
Gamification
High-Density IA
Design Systems
Design Strategy
Product Strategy

Proficiencies

Product Design: Figma, Claude Design, and other AI copilots

Graphic Design: Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, AI image tooling

Motion Design: Adobe After Effects, Photoshop, LottieLab

Code: HTML & CSS, P5.js (2D), Three.js (3D); AI-assisted coding

Recognition

Awwwards Site of the Day 2024

Awwwards Site of the Day 2022

Awwwards Site of the Month 2022

FWA Site of the Month 2022

Formal Education

City Tech Arts & Advertising Design 2011 – 2013

Clients

Nintendo
IBM
Chanel
UPS
UBS
BMW
Live Nation
JetBlue
Mediaocean
Snapchat
VidMob
Markor
Manhattan Skyline
Brodsky
Jerry Seinfeld
Brooklyn Bowl
Labatt
Montauk Brewing Company
Brooklyn Navy Yard
New York City College of Technology
& More

01.

Nengine

2026

Tool set: Claude code, Midjourney, Vercel

Nucleus has no internal design team and no budget for ongoing production. I knew that when I built the brand, so I built it as a formula: a visual language with fixed rules and a small set of variables.

When the team came back needing marketing assets ahead of launch, that decision paid off. Instead of producing a one-off batch, I built Nengine, a generative tool that turns the formula into controls. Background, color, text, grid, format. The brand system is the product.

You can view and use Nengine here.

The framework

Every control in Nengine maps to a content requirement or a rule in the brand system. If a variable did not need to move, it did not become a control. That is what keeps the output on-brand no matter who is driving it.

The architecture follows the same logic. The background is the only part that needs generating, so FLUX handles it server-side. The rest of the composition is deterministic, so it runs as live layers in the browser: grid, panels, slice shift, plate.

Current controls: aspect ratio, grid, panels with two color options, slice and offset direction, a plate for copy and CTA, animation, and export to JPG or video.

Build and setup

Same constraints as the brand: no budget, no team. So the tool is one person's build, running for free.

I wrote it end to end with Claude Code and host it on Vercel. The first release ships with a library of stipple backgrounds generated in Midjourney through a custom profile, which keeps every output inside the brand's visual range.

The widget above is a lite version that generates a composition automatically. Click "Generate new artifact" to try it.

View and test the full Nengine

Conclusion

Tools like this give clients a way to produce on-brand work without internal design resources. Nengine is a deliberately narrow example. The same approach scales to far more complex visual systems.

Features not present in this version: content-aware layering, where the tool reads a composition on the fly and makes placement decisions (keeping a box off someone's face). Adaptive copy, where text holds to legibility or brand metrics and adjusts when it falls outside them. The pipeline and specs for a live ComfyUI generative profile. Deeper animation controls.