About me

Designer by day, builder by craft

I help teams turn vague ideas into products people genuinely enjoy using — with equal care for pixels, code, and the humans in between.

Portrait of Yukina Reini in her studio
Available for new projects
Hello, I'm Yukina

A quiet obsession with clarity

I'm a product designer and front-end developer with 8+ years of experience across fintech, e-commerce, SaaS, and brand work. I've led design for two startups from first sketch to public launch, and collaborated with studios on everything from identity systems to design tooling.

My approach is simple: listen carefully, think clearly, design honestly. I believe great products feel calm — nothing fights for attention, everything makes sense, and the interface quietly gets out of the way.

When I'm not designing, I'm sketching type, photographing architecture, or mentoring junior designers through portfolio reviews.

— Yukina Reini
What drives me

Three values, no compromise

01

Clarity over cleverness

If a user has to think twice about an interface, the design has failed. The best solutions feel obvious — even when they took weeks to find.

02

Craft in the details

Spacing, type, motion, and states — the 5% of polish that separates good products from loved ones. I sweat the details so users don't have to.

03

Honest process

Clear scopes, honest timelines, and real feedback. I'd rather say "that idea needs work" early than deliver something mediocre on time.

Experience

The road so far

Independent Designer & Developer

2022 — Present
Freelance · Worldwide

Working directly with startups and studios: product design, web builds, brand systems, and design-system consulting for clients across 12 countries.

Lead Product Designer

2020 — 2022
Pulse Analytics · Remote

Owned the full product surface of a growing analytics SaaS — from onboarding to dashboards — and built the design system that scaled the team from 2 to 14 designers and engineers.

Senior Designer

2018 — 2020
Studio North · Tokyo

Designed e-commerce and editorial experiences for international brands, earning two regional design awards and a growing reputation for clean, conversion-friendly layouts.

Product Designer

2016 — 2018
Kite Studio · Amsterdam

Cut my teeth on mobile apps and design systems, learning the discipline of shipping — real constraints, real users, real releases.

BFA, Graphic Design

2012 — 2016
Royal Academy of Fine Arts

Four years of typography, visual systems, and a growing suspicion that the web would be where the interesting design problems lived.

Capabilities

Design & build skills

Design

Product & UI Design95%
Design Systems90%
Brand Identity85%
Prototyping & Motion88%

Build

HTML / CSS / JavaScript92%
React & Front-end Frameworks85%
Accessibility & Performance90%
Creative Direction80%

Want to work together? I'd love to hear from you.

Whether it's a full product, a redesign, or just a second opinion — my inbox is open.

Get in touch