About Me
Why a founder-turned-designer-developer is the fastest way to ship your product
I'm Charlie Ellington — a designer-developer who's launched products that raised $120M and secured billions in web3 applications. Experience I now pour into shipping your product in weeks, not months.
Over the past decade I've worn many hats. From digital marketer and sailing instructor to startup founder and design lead — including founding a yoga retreat holiday company that grew to €1.2 million in revenue in just two years. Through it all, one thing remained constant: I love crafting bold, user-centered designs that solve real problems.
My journey took me from teaching sailing to leading a 40-person design team in Web3, and now to running my own solo design practice powered by AI.
I've designed products for leading Web3 companies that collectively raised $120M+ and manage billions in value. This experience now powers my AI-driven approach to ship your product faster.
$120M raised
Staking UI
$200M+ coverage
DeFi pioneer
Web3 leader
Solo Focus, Augmented by AI
Today I'm a solo designer with a twist: I've learned to code with AI. Ten years of design expertise, now turbocharged with AI-powered development. I design it, I build it, I ship it. Fast.
My Journey
Ocean roots
I've been sailing since a kid and kitesurfing since I was eleven years old. Driving a passion for challenges and the ocean.
Sailing-instructor summers
I learnt to work in teams as a sailing instructor. Obsessed with water time, I decided to work for myself rather than start a traditional career.
Yoga retreats in Ibiza & the Alps
Bootstrapped a yoga-holiday company from zero to €1.2M revenue in two years.
Electric yacht conversion
Diesel engine died, so I taught myself DC electronics on YouTube. Ripped out the fumes and wired in solar, batteries, and a silent motor. First taste of hardware hacking.
Freelance design beginnings
Volunteered a redesign for Nexus Mutual. One open-source pull request snowballed into paid work, then a full-time leap into product design.
Deep Work studio
Founded and led a 40-person Web3 design studio. Projects for Ethereum, MakerDAO and others taught me scale, leadership, and when to step back.
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Remote-work campervan
Took a sabbatical, gutted a van, and built a solar-powered rolling office. Coded by cliffs, wing-foiled at lunch, shipped side projects at sunset.
Surfing & values reset
Months of dawn patrol and salt-water reflection distilled my core values: freedom, craft, and work that serves real people.
Meeting Bene
Met my partner Bene, who taught me to flow rather than fixate. Life's richer when you leave space for serendipity.
Growing family
Photo of Bene days before we learned we're expecting our first daughter. Baby arrives December 2025; we're still chasing waves and building a life we love.
Zebra Design — solo venture
Launched a one-person design-as-a-service studio. Founders get my full focus; I get to craft products end-to-end. Win-win.
Philosophy & Approach
I believe great design lives at the intersection of empathy and bold creativity. My approach is to unite a deep understanding of users with daring visual and product ideas — a combination that not only delights users but also drives tangible results like product-market fit and business growth.
I've always been collaborative in my process, working closely with founders, engineers, and other stakeholders. By facilitating workshops and listening closely, I make sure we're solving the right problems and that everyone is invested in the solution.
Core values that guide my work:
User-Centered & Impact-Driven
I design with the end-user in mind and strive to build products that are genuinely valuable to people — and by extension, beneficial to our communities and planet. If a product will improve lives or make a positive impact, I'm all in.
Authenticity & Transparency
After leading a large team, I learned the importance of honesty about capabilities and teamwork. I don't believe in overselling or ego-driven design. I'll tell you what's feasible, and I credit collaboration where it's due (no lone-wolf pretenses here). This authentic approach means you know exactly who you're working with and what to expect.
Flow & Balance
My best work happens in a state of flow — those moments when I'm so engaged in designing that it doesn't even feel like work. Achieving this consistently means structuring work in a healthy way. I prioritize routines and processes that sustain creativity (like focus blocks and even morning surf sessions) so I can bring fresh, energetic focus to my projects. I've seen firsthand that maintaining work/life balance isn't just good for me — it leads to more creative, high-quality results for my clients too.
Solo Focus, Augmented by AI (The Future)
Today, I'm a solo designer with a twist: I've augmented my workflow by learning to code with the help of AI tools. In the past, not knowing how to code kept me strictly on the design side. But recently I realized that I could overcome my lack of coding skills by leveraging modern no-code tools and a bit of help from ChatGPT. So I dove in and started coding. Now, using AI-assisted development, I can rapidly prototype and even build out the designs I create — bringing ideas to life faster and more seamlessly than ever.
What this means for you:
You get 10 years of design expertise plus modern AI-powered development. Your vision won't get lost in translation — I design it, I build it, I ship it. Fast.
This fusion of my years of design experience with new AI-powered coding abilities has unlocked a better process. Instead of throwing designs over the fence and hoping for the best, I can iterate on both design and implementation in tandem. It ensures the final product remains true to the original vision and user experience.
I genuinely believe this hybrid skill set is part of the future of design: creatives who can both design and build, working side-by-side with AI to amplify our productivity and precision. It's an exciting time, and I'm continuously learning and experimenting with these tools to deliver even more value.
Thanks for reading. I'm excited about the projects yet to come. If you have a bold idea and need someone who can ship it fast, let's talk.
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