I'm Rafael Forcadell, a Senior UI Designer and Frontend Developer with 20+ years of experience designing scalable digital products. I blend strong visual design with practical frontend engineering to deliver interfaces that are not only beautiful but highly usable and accessible. I specialize in design systems, accessibility (WCAG 2.1), and frontend engineering with Angular, TypeScript, and JavaScript. I thrive when collaborating with cross-functional, international teams to translate business goals into delightful, user-centered experiences, and I enjoy incorporating AI tools to improve design and development workflows.

Rafael Forcadell

I'm Rafael Forcadell, a Senior UI Designer and Frontend Developer with 20+ years of experience designing scalable digital products. I blend strong visual design with practical frontend engineering to deliver interfaces that are not only beautiful but highly usable and accessible. I specialize in design systems, accessibility (WCAG 2.1), and frontend engineering with Angular, TypeScript, and JavaScript. I thrive when collaborating with cross-functional, international teams to translate business goals into delightful, user-centered experiences, and I enjoy incorporating AI tools to improve design and development workflows.

Available to hire

I’m Rafael Forcadell, a Senior UI Designer and Frontend Developer with 20+ years of experience designing scalable digital products. I blend strong visual design with practical frontend engineering to deliver interfaces that are not only beautiful but highly usable and accessible.

I specialize in design systems, accessibility (WCAG 2.1), and frontend engineering with Angular, TypeScript, and JavaScript. I thrive when collaborating with cross-functional, international teams to translate business goals into delightful, user-centered experiences, and I enjoy incorporating AI tools to improve design and development workflows.

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Experience Level

Language

Portuguese
Fluent
English
Advanced

Work Experience

Senior UI Designer / Frontend Developer at Social Ladder
August 1, 2023 - January 1, 2026
Led UI design and frontend development of Angular applications for community and ambassador platforms, supporting scalable growth and multi-product use. Scaled and maintained a shared design system across multiple products, ensuring visual consistency and development efficiency. Improved accessibility compliance by aligning interfaces with WCAG 2.1 standards, enhancing usability for diverse user groups. Built modular, reusable Angular UI components with focus on performance and usability. Collaborated with product managers, designers, and engineers across international teams. Experienced in integrating AI tools into design and development workflows.
Senior UI Designer at Ape1001
December 1, 2012 - Present
Independent designer and developer delivering custom websites and visual identities. Designed and developed WordPress-based solutions tailored to client needs. Led art direction, UI design, and frontend implementation for diverse digital projects. Partnered directly with clients to translate business goals into scalable digital solutions.
Senior UI Designer at Softfocus
March 1, 2021 - August 1, 2023
Designed and prototyped user interfaces in collaboration with development teams. Created responsive UI libraries and design systems. Led UX reviews and visual standardization initiatives across products.
Senior UI Designer / Frontend Developer at Ape1001
December 1, 2012 - Present
Independent designer and developer delivering custom websites and visual identities. Designed and developed WordPress-based solutions tailored to client needs. Led art direction, UI design, and frontend implementation for diverse digital projects. Partnered directly with clients to translate business goals into scalable digital solutions.

Education

Undergraduate Studies in Graphic Design at Federal University of Paraná (UFPR)
January 1, 2001 - January 1, 2003

Qualifications

Add your qualifications or awards here.

Industry Experience

Software & Internet, Media & Entertainment, Professional Services
    paper Branding Projects

    Strategic Identity & Visual Systems

    Over the past 20+ years, I’ve developed branding projects for professionals, startups, and B2B companies across multiple sectors including healthcare, architecture, technology, and education.

    My branding work focuses on:

    • Concept-driven identity systems
    • Logotype design aligned with positioning strategy
    • Visual consistency across digital and print touchpoints
    • Scalable brand foundations for growing businesses

    Rather than decorative logos, I build identity systems that reflect strategic clarity, personality, and long-term differentiation.

    https://www.twine.net/signin

    paper Hawwwah | Cineópera

    Experimental Project – Interactive Storytelling & Frontend Experience

    Hawwwah is an experimental interactive project exploring narrative, motion, and immersive frontend experiences.

    The project combines:

    • Advanced scroll-based animations
    • Interactive storytelling techniques
    • Visual composition driven by motion and timing
    • Custom animation logic and performance optimization

    It functions both as a creative exploration and as a demonstration of high-level frontend capabilities, especially in animation-driven interfaces and experiential web design.

    https://www.twine.net/signin

    paper Socialladder

    Community & Ambassador SaaS Platform – UI/UX & Frontend Leadership

    At SocialLadder, I worked at the intersection of product strategy, UX design, and frontend architecture for a fast-growing community and ambassador management SaaS platform used by global brands.

    I led UI redesign initiatives focused on improving usability, visual consistency, and scalability across the dashboard experience. My work included:

    • Redesigning complex data-driven interfaces for ambassadors and brand managers
    • Improving task flows, gamification systems, and engagement mechanics
    • Contributing to design system evolution for scalable feature development
    • Implementing interfaces in Angular with strong collaboration between design and engineering

    The role demanded product thinking beyond screens, ensuring that user experience decisions aligned with engagement metrics and business growth.

    https://www.twine.net/signin

    paper Proagro Fácil & ZoomRural

    Agribusiness Financial Platforms – UX & Product Redesign

    At Softfocus, I worked on Proagro Fácil and ZoomRural, platforms serving Brazil’s agribusiness and rural credit ecosystem.

    These systems handle highly regulated financial processes and complex workflows. My role focused on:

    • Simplifying dense technical interfaces
    • Redesigning user flows for rural credit and insurance operations
    • Improving data visualization and dashboard usability
    • Collaborating closely with business analysts and domain experts

    The challenge was transforming bureaucratic, regulation-heavy systems into more intuitive and operationally efficient experiences for financial institutions and agricultural professionals.

    https://www.twine.net/signin
    https://www.twine.net/signin

    paper TôAqui

    QR-Based Smart Identification Platform – Product Creator, UX & Engineering

    TôAqui is a smart identification platform built around QR technology, initially focused on pets and later expanded to kids, events, and organizations.

    I designed and developed the product from the ground up, including:

    • Brand identity and positioning
    • UX architecture for scan flows and user dashboards
    • WordPress-based SaaS backend with custom post types and REST endpoints
    • Static scan pages optimized for performance
    • PDF generation and multi-subdomain structure
    • VPS infrastructure, deployment automation, and load testing

    The platform was built with real-world scalability in mind, prepared for high-traffic environments such as large events and public venues.

    TôAqui represents my hybrid approach: design-driven product thinking combined with deep frontend and backend execution.

    https://www.twine.net/signin

    paper Planeta Ideal

    Talent Attraction & Onboarding Experience – UX Strategy & Interface Design

    Planeta Ideal was originally created as a strategic recruitment platform designed to attract high-quality talent aligned with the company’s culture and long-term vision.

    Instead of functioning as a traditional institutional website, the platform was conceived as a narrative-driven experience that communicated values, work environment, growth opportunities, and organizational identity.

    My role involved:

    • Structuring the experience architecture to guide candidates through the company story
    • Designing an engaging interface aligned with employer branding strategy
    • Creating clear conversion flows for talent capture
    • Aligning visual language with internal culture and positioning

    Later, the platform evolved to support onboarding processes for new collaborators. The experience was adjusted to:

    • Introduce new hires to company culture and operational processes
    • Organize onboarding materials in a structured and intuitive way
    • Reduce friction during the first weeks of integration

    The challenge was designing a platform that first attracted the right people and then supported their integration into the organization — maintaining consistency between external promise and internal experience.

    https://www.twine.net/signin