VP of Design @shopify, leading the Brand Design Studio
Toronto, ON
Joined March 2009
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First rule of @shopify Editions club: Talk about Editions! We have a philosophy of sharing what we learn as broadly and generously as possible. The latest: a protein-packed walk-through of how we've progressively asked less of the browser across each Edition. Great talk from @JoshSanger_eth at Remix Jam 2026. @remix_run youtube.com/live/TaKBQnYm9tM…
Canvas is a way better interface for designing online stores. It's intuitive and joyful and you'll sigh aloud with the relief of building in a modern way.
Beneath almost every launch from @Shopify, though, the hero is Sidekick, an AI assistant that is a cracked expert in all things commerce. If you're running a business with Shopify and not using Sidekick, dive in. It is sitting there cheerfully waiting for you to give it hard problems, boring tasks, and everything in between.
(Also w/ my creative director hat I obviously love this product and the dope launch asset the team made w/ luscious, tactile, white lotus vibes soundtrack. If you're a designer and not leveraging sound, you have a new gear to unlock! 🔥)
This is big ... AND: I'm over here admiring how insanely good my team has gotten at crafting beautiful product storytelling. Distilling, framing, transitions, easing, SOUND DESIGN. And in 2026, you know we’ve got a hundred ways to make a chat interface look dynamic and interesting.
In five years at Shopify, I've watched the primary artifact for launches shift from landing pages to video to these compact motion assets that communicate powerful products in seconds. Whatever tools you use, product storytelling is a *language* and witnessing fluency is joyful. 🔥
Our @Muse connector is live
Connect your Shopify store and talk to your Muse about orders, inventory, and analytics
It remembers your goals and follows up before you even ask
Every tech company eventually makes a chore coat. We are not immune.
Ours says “Employee of the Month” and here’s Sarra Tang, founder of Hoi Bo, earning the title on repeat.
I’m a little bit in love with the class photo of Canadian entrepreneurs behind some of my favorite brands.
Making a functioning prototype is intoxicating. And now, anyone can do it. The trap is mistaking our astonishment at what we were able to make for evidence that what we made is good.
We need to be able to throw away and redraw prototypes as quickly as we erase whiteboards, and with the same level of detachment. We must guard against whole teams getting distracted by searching for merit in bad protos just because their makers (often oneself, btw) are dazzled by the magic of what AI can produce.
“Slop grenade” is such a useful term to name this phenomenon.
Lazy work used to mean too little output.
Now, with AI, it often means too much and more work for everyone else.
@tobi call it "slop grenades."
A "Slop Grenade" is when you let AI produce the work and pass it on without adding any value (including checking it).
Someone else has to wade through it, catch the mistakes, and clean up the mess.
You save time and look productive but someone else pays for it.
The photocopiers have gotten better and I’m now surrounded by people who can do wicked work with their digital Sharpies, but this is still the ethos. Thanks for the chat @toddhenry.
The design and event team built something so authentically @Shopify for DotDev this year. Thank you for capturing it @kawai__yutaka. 💚
I talked about the importance of making room for grace notes in @Shopify ‘s product, brand, and culture. @harleyf embodies this idea in the way he champions entrepreneurship with his whole heart 365 days a year. There is no better hype man for this journey. No surprise: there is also no better hype man when you’re about to take the stage in front of 7500 people laying the rails for the next chapter of entrepreneurship. Thank you, Harley! 💚🚀🙌
So many of us in the design community are devastated by the loss of legend @DIA_Mitch. He was a huge inspiration to so many, such a generous spirit and generational talent. ❤️💔
Had a chance to sit down with @DIA_Mitch and our own @MSchwaibold to talk about moodboards, rhythm, tools, and design than makes you feel something. Sharing a few highlights from @Shopify's internal design series, The Dish.
OK, we’re giving away the whole playbook on every angle of @Shopify’s latest Edition. Thanks for helping share this with the world @crnacura. 💚
Today we have something truly special for you!
Creative Engineer Andy Thelander from @Shopify takes us behind the scenes of the epic Everywhere edition, sharing the rendering system, custom asset pipeline, performance techniques, and creative workflow that brought the experience to life.
A fantastic deep dive into modern creative engineering: tympanus.net/codrops/2026/06…
Can’t stop, won’t stop. @Shopify’s Spring Edition is LIVE.
Maggie Fost retweeted
We're growing our Design Apprenticeship Program @Shopify, opening applications for our Fall cohort today! We've expanded the program to include brand design in addition to product design 😎
Come join us
shopify.design/dap