Raf V. — About
Hi, call me Raf. I’m a designer based in Europe with a decade of experience in digital products. I’ve designed native AI experiences at Walmart and contributed to agentic developer products at Coinbase. Before that, I was a founding designer at Theoriq and an early designer on Zalando’s SE design system team.
Today, I lead the design of AI products at Turbo Design and partner independently with thoughtful founders on projects or longer-term retainers.
In 2014, while studying software engineering, an advertisement in Positano stopped me. Something about it felt off. Trying to articulate why led me to design.
I grew up on Italy’s Amalfi Coast and have lived in Toronto, New York, and across Europe. Over the past decade, I’ve designed and built products with early-stage teams and companies like Walmart, Coinbase, and Zalando. That range taught me to move quickly when little is defined, and make considered decisions when systems and organizations are complex.
Why design? I want to help make everyday life better, with awareness and intention. That means designing digital products and tools people find useful and want to return to, and helping teams bring them into production.
Where do I do my best work? I work best alongside ambitious founders and product teams, from defining what to build to bringing it into production. I lead, mentor, and bring people together while staying hands-on in design and code.
What guides your work? I care about making complex things clear, useful, and joyful for the people using them. I bring curiosity and enthusiasm to understanding what matters and finding the right problems to solve.
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Image 1 of 4: Theoriq Studio with a session list, conversation, and a code workspace alongside tabs for data, charts, and planning