Design engineering

An independent studio specializing in design, mobile, web, and the infrastructure that holds them together.

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Good ideas. Full volume.

Led by Mike Weslander in Durham, NC. We design and build websites, React Native apps, and the interfaces in between, from the first sketch to launch.

Say hello See the work
studio
Weslander, LLC
principal
Mike Weslander
based
Durham, NC
professional
since 2009
independent
since 2017

selected work

Grist 50 2021: the title over video of a hiker in the desert.

Grist · 2018–2025

Grist 50

Lead developer · interaction & UX design

Grist’s annual list of 50 emerging leaders working on climate and justice solutions. A new design every year, built to be shared, browsed, and remembered.

Every edition since 2018. ★ marks our favorites.

Sennos fermentation monitoring on desktop and three phones, with the sensor.

Sennos

Sennos app & Sennoslink

React Native + web app UI

Real-time fermentation monitoring for breweries. The mobile app and the web app’s UI layer: complex graphing, live sensor data, alerts. Built alongside Sennos’ backend team.

sennos.com ↗

GoPlaySave · React Native

GoPlaySave app

Architecture, initial build, GraphQL setup

A savings and discovery app for the Triangle, built in collaboration with Brandon Mathis: app architecture, the initial build, and the GraphQL foundation.

goplaysavetriangle.com ↗

Clients & collaborators, 2009–now

  • Grist
  • Grateful.org
  • Moogfest
  • Caterpillar
  • Lincoln Electric
  • Curi
  • Sennos
  • Adwerx
  • MuniBilling
  • Purpose UX
  • Ali | Heijmen
  • HighSpring
  • Healthcare Realty
  • Vaco Built
  • Klearly
  • GoPlaySave
  • ViiV (GSK)
  • SOMO Studios
  • Castra Consulting
  • All Things Open
  • Freelance League
  • MaterialWise
  • Prepped Health
  • Clarametrics
  • Workshop
  • Signature FD
  • First
  • BrightWolf
  • Validic
  • GiiG
  • GrowPath
  • Environmental Defense Fund
  • Illustrative Mathematics
  • Precision Fermentation

what we do

Design, code, launch, and the space between.

  • Web apps

    React and TypeScript front-ends, from a marketing site that has to feel alive to a dashboard that has to stay out of the way.

    React / TypeScript / Next.js / D3.js

  • Mobile apps

    React Native for iOS and Android, shipped through the App Store and Play Store, with the native polish people expect.

    React Native / Expo / App Store

  • Design

    Design to production. Design systems, SVG, motion, and the typography that makes a site feel like a brand instead of a template.

    SVG / Motion / Illustrator / Figma

  • WordPress & content

    Custom themes and blocks for newsrooms and nonprofits who publish every day and need the CMS to get out of the way.

    WordPress / PHP / ACF / Blocks

  • Full stack & infra

    The back half too: Node and PHP services, APIs, databases, and the infrastructure under them. Whatever it takes to ship and keep it up.

    Node / PHP / GraphQL / SQL / AWS / Docker

  • Consulting

    Training teams on the tools we’ve used for years: mentoring junior developers, and getting senior ones up to speed fast.

    Mentoring / Pairing / Code review / Architecture

whoami --stack

Front-end at heart. Full stack when it counts.

We’ve worn every hat on the way to shipping, so the parts nobody sees get the same care.

  • front-enddailyTypeScript · React · React Native · Expo · Next.js · Vite · SVG · D3.js
  • interfacedailydesign systems · prototyping · motion · accessibility · Figma
  • back-endfrequentNode.js · Python · PHP · SQL · GraphQL · WordPress
  • infrabegrudgingDocker · AWS · NGINX · Apache · Webpack

cat AGENTS.md

Code is language.

Clean code is the best prompt. We give agents a harness, not a box: the real problem, a way to check their work, and feedback they can act on.

  • daily drivers: Claude Code · Codex · Cursor · Gemini
  • building with: OpenAI API · Vercel AI SDK

our app

Of Chords

Follow the feeling.

Find the chord you haven’t tried yet. Explore a whole key, hear the possibilities, and write a progression of your own.

Coming soon to the App Store

ofchords.io ↗
The Of Chords website: “What comes after G?” with a four-chord progression.

about

Mike Weslander, smiling, in a cap and a teal sweater.
Mike Weslander · Durham, NC

Hi, I’m Mike.

I studied psychology at Grinnell College, which turned out to be good training for interface work. I started at Athena GTX in 2009 as a UX designer and left as a lead developer, then built all sorts of front-ends at Smashing Boxes.

In 2017 I started Weslander, LLC. Since then I’ve been building + maintaining sites and apps independently. I’ve tackled some projects fully solo, others by managing a team of subcontractors, and some embedded as a team member.

Off screen, you’ll find me on a tennis court or playing with VolleyVolley ↗

  1. 2017–nowWeslander, LLCFounder · Design engineer
  2. 2015–2017Smashing BoxesFront-end engineer → Senior software engineer
  3. 2009–2015Athena GTXUX designer → Lead developer
  4. 2005–2009Grinnell CollegeBA, Psychology

contact

Let’s make waves.

Tell us what you’re working on: a site, an app, a stubborn interface. We’ll get back to you.