UI Designer
The interface craftsperson
Design Careers · CAREERS
UI designers craft the surface of software: the screens, buttons, icons, states, and typography that make an interface feel clear, consistent, and pleasant to touch. The work demands a type designer's precision and an editor's sense of hierarchy, applied pixel by pixel.
UI sits closest to UX — the two are often one job — but its pleasures are more visual. If you love designing systems of components that hundreds of screens will reuse, this is where craft meets scale.
Where they work
- Tech companies
- Agencies
- Product studios
- Freelance
Skills
- Visual hierarchy and spacing systems
- Component libraries and design systems
- Icon design
- Color, contrast, and accessibility (WCAG)
- Responsive and state design (hover, error, empty)
- Micro-interactions and animation basics
Tools
- Figma
- Adobe Illustrator
- Prototyping tools like ProtoPie
- Icon and type tools
Typical projects
- App and website screens
- Component libraries
- Icon sets
- Interaction states and micro-animations
Career path
- Junior UI Designer
- UI Designer
- Senior UI Designer
- Design Systems Lead
Portfolio expectations
- Polished high-fidelity screens
- Component and system thinking
- Responsive layouts
- Attention to detail and states