Design that moves brands forward.
James Rhodes — AI Design Engineer & Product Director
I direct digital products from first idea to launch — AI-native, design-led, and built to earn attention and trust.
Selected work (10)
Vetted by the networks that turn most designers away, and certified in the tools I build with.
Toptal
Top 3%
Selected into the top 3% of freelance creative talent in North America.
Contra
Top 5%
Ranked in the top 5% of Contra's premium creative network.
Framer
Certified
Certified Framer Expert
Webflow
Certified
Webflow Expert
Ibelievethestrongestbrandsarebuiltwithintention,notdecoration.TodayIpairseniordesigndirectionwithAI-nativeworkflows—soeveryproductshipsfaster,sharperandbuilttomovepeople.
Top 3% on Toptal, top 5% on Contra, certified in the tools I build with — and an AI-native workflow that ships senior craft faster.
Top
3%
Selected into the top 3% of freelance creative talent in North America.
Ranked in the top 5% of Contra's premium creative network.
Design lead for global brands — adidas, Roots, OpenReel.
13+
Years designing for brands, from retail to SaaS.
framer
Design-to-production builds with motion, CMS and interaction at the core.
webflow
Scalable marketing sites with component systems and clean CMS architecture.
→ design the onboarding flow
✓ shipped · reviewed by James
AI-native
AI-supported, human-directed. Senior taste at machine speed.
01 / 04
Brand & Website · 2026
Parabolic
Parabolic buys SaaS companies and rebuilds them around AI. We designed its brand from a blank page, then built the website on it.
- Parabolic
- OpenReel
- Major Athletics
- PlanBetter
Brand & Website · 2026
Parabolic
Parabolic buys SaaS companies and rebuilds them around AI. We designed its brand from a blank page, then built the website on it.
Product Design · 2021 — Now
OpenReel
Product design partner to a video creation platform through its acquisition by Parabolic. We designed OpenReel 3.5 as a working prototype, then the website that sells it.
Website & Software · 2026
Major Athletics
The website and the software that runs Canada's first integrated performance and recovery facility — from booking to the Major Score.
Brand & Website · 2026
PlanBetter
An AI-first health benefits platform for small and mid-sized teams. We built its brand, then its website — with PlanCompare at the centre.
10 case studies in all
View all work- 01
AI Product Design
AI-powered products and agentic experiences people understand and trust — from first prompt to production UI.
Oryn™ — the brand studio app - 02
Product Direction
Guiding digital products through their whole life — strategy, design, launch and iteration.
OpenReel — product design, v3.5 - 03
Design Engineering
Design and code as one discipline. Shipped in Next.js, Framer and Webflow, accelerated by AI.
Major Athletics — scheduling software - 04
Brand Identity
Marks, systems and guidelines that hold up everywhere — and that AI tools can follow.
Parabolic — brand identity in the wild - 05
Creative Direction
Vision, narrative and art direction that make a brand unmistakable.
Tecton Ketones — street campaign - 06
Motion & Interaction
Movement as a language — micro-interactions to full scroll stories.
Capital Lynk — AI-animated hero
I'm an AI design engineer and product director based in Toronto. My career started in retail and campaign creative at adidas Canada, where I grew from senior graphic designer to leading the creative services team behind programs like the NBA.
13+ years,
one direction.
Year
2013
Apr 2013 — May 2014
adidas
Senior Graphic Designer
Designed marketing campaigns and in-store retail creative across adidas Canada — print, POS and digital — developing Canadian-market creative.
May 2014 — Apr 2017
adidas
Creative Services Manager — Digital Art Director
Directed creative across adidas Canada's retail, digital and campaign initiatives, including high-profile programs like the NBA.
Nov 2017 — Dec 2019
Roots
Sr. Manager, Web Design & E-Commerce
Led a team of four designers to elevate Roots' digital presence across web, email and campaign creative, directing end-to-end design for seasonal launches.
Jul 2018 — Present
Embark Studio™
Founder — AI-native design & product studio
Built Embark from the ground up into an AI-native design and technology studio. Today I partner with startups as a founder — directing product, brand and web so they take off.
Now — partnering with
Founder-partner to startups — directing product, brand and web so they take off.
An AI-native studio that designs and builds for ambitious companies, and the AI platform that keeps their websites moving after launch. One powers the other.
01AI-native design & technology studio · Est. 2018
We design the brand, build the website, and give you the system to run it.
An AI-native design and technology studio building brand systems, websites and focused digital products for ambitious companies. Every engagement is creatively directed by me — design and development handled by one small senior team, with no account layer and no hand-off.
- Founder-directed
- Design + development, one team
- Systems over one-offs
- Built to keep moving
02AI platform · Software
Update your website,
just by asking.
Oryn learns your brand, products, content and design system — its Brand Mind. Ask for a new page, a stronger headline, updated imagery or a whole campaign, and review everything before it goes live.
- 01
Ask
Describe the change in plain language.
- 02
Checks
Responsive, images, metadata, accessibility.
- 03
Approve
You publish. Nothing goes live on its own.
Pilates & wellness in Austin.
LunaFit is a fictional demo of the Oryn workflow.
Brand Mind · onAI-supported, human-directed. Machines accelerate the making — taste, judgement and the final call stay with me.
Human-directed
Interviews, positioning, the call on what matters.
✦ AI-supported
Research synthesis, competitor sweeps, first-pass copy.