Hi, I'm Tristan McDonald 🌞

I design user interfaces to help people understand the services they rely on, and I write codebases that I'll be glad to revisit in a decade.

I have years of experience working as a software engineer, and more in design, logistics, and management. In teams I communicate clearly and work respectfully. I design thoughtful, appropriate interfaces and I write robust, readable code.

My core expertise is in advanced CSS, design-in-code, data modelling, component templating, and writing dependable JavaScript. I have many years of experience working with Django and custom Python applications, and more recently I was the sole engineer on a project using TypeScript, React, and Next.js.

My clients include the United Nations, Oxford University, and various NHS trusts, alongside many other organisations in healthcare, government, NGO, FinTech, and the private sector.

My main contribution to open-source is Tenet CSS, a framework for building large-scale frontends that fluidly interpolates your typographic sizing scale, whitespace, and element sizing, (meaning you write far fewer media queries) and which provides tools to keep your codebase maintainable as it grows.

I've led design workshops at Oxford University and I designed the beta version of the NHS style guide. I founded and ran a small software agency for five years, served as Principal of Frontend Engineering & Design at a software company in Bristol, and most recently worked as the sole frontend engineer on a blockchain-based bond trading platform for a FinTech company.

I'm currently looking for my next role, and I'd be happy to chat about benefitting your organisation.