— product designer in Tartu, Estonia, combining user centric approach with aesthetics and code
Full-stack designer at Dealum, the leading deal flow management platform for early-stage investor groups. Dealum has grown from the first customer to over a hundred investor groups onboarded during my time here.
Previously prototyped and validated digital products at an early-stage VC-funded exploratory venture studio Waystone.
I've done occasional freelance design, UX and web projects since 2014. Have worked with a variety of clients, mostly startups or other smaller companies who need help with web design or development.
SparkWeaver is a project to create programs for DMX fixtures. I created it to run simple lighting setups using only a microcontroller hooked directly to DMX, no computers needed. Web interface can simulate the setups and send them to the device using Bluetooth.
This time in Svelte to learn Sveltekit and using Sanity CMS. Previous versions have used Nuxt with Vue, static HTML generation using Pug+Stylus and one older version even had a Python based CMS.
Rekordfix implements some missing functionality to manage Rekordbox DJ software music collection, like finding duplicate tracks. Written in TypeScript as an Electron+Vue application, using RVC for UI.
Created a small Vue user interface library RVC for personal projects. Contains basic style tokens and components like modals, buttons, tooltips and inputs.
Created a design language and wayfinding system for sTARTUp HUB, a startup and technology community center and office space at Tartu Town Hall Square.
Mostly focused on trying to recreate realistic flora. Definitely learned to see light in a new way while studying how it bounces around in a scene and changes with transmissive materials like leaves and grass.
Always huge in scope and with no defined core gameplay loop. Most in 2D and some in what limited 3D was possible using the GameMaker engine.
Around 2010 was the first time I wanted to make computer games and downloaded GameMaker. After that my math grades went from barely passing to top of my class because I finally had a practical use for trigonometry.
As a child, I had a Windows 98 computer with a few games installed and no internet. When I got bored of the games I started digging through the files, opening them with Paint or Notepad. Usually that didn't work of course.
I then spent hours creating custom levels for Duke Nukem 3D. The only documentation I had access to was in the game folder. And customized Windows as much as I could. Since Vista had recently come out I (poorly) drew a new icon set inspired by that design language using MS Paint.
After being disappointed with existing disc golf apps, I created one with the missing UX and features we wanted: simple for casual play, live updates and rich link previews with generated Open Graph images for easy sharing. Currently in closed beta.
Designed and implemented a custom Ghost CMS theme for Dealum Blog.
Wrote a basic game engine RECS using the entity component system pattern for 2D game development in TypeScript. I was working on an n-body gravity simulation and needed a more performant solution than the one I was using.
An intensive hands-on business development programme for early-stage student teams Network Globally, Act Locally (NGAL).
I was part of the Cody team, a mobile application that teaches computer coding to kids through innovative games and puzzles, along with Kaspar Kuus.
Bought my own domain and set up a website since I wanted to find freelance graphic design or web work and thought it might help.
I received a laptop from 2002 that was too slow to run anything useful. After learning a lot more about configuring Linux than initially intended I got a tiny operating system running, around 100MB in size. Then I wanted to make a display that would show the local weather and TV schedule. Software for that was written in Python, scraped the web for TV schedules and used yr.no API for weather.
To keep it quiet I mounted the laptop internals in a desktop case and replaced the small noisy fan with a larger silent fan. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of it running.
Created a free plugin Slide Deck Toolbar with over 5.1k users to date for making slide decks inside Figma. Keeps everything organized and provides functionality like reordering, duplicating and easy navigation between slides.
I wanted to update some user interface color palettes to use OKLCH color space and make the luma values consistent across hues. I found this excellent color picker but no application to manage an entire palette. So I wrote this tiny application using color.js and my own Vue component library.
Founding member of Amfiib, a collective of six artists from Tartu, Estonia, bringing a variety of sounds in their dj sets, productions and curated events.
Designed and created websites for startup and technology community centeres in Tartu offering office space and other services. I also drew custom icons and took photos for meeting rooms and hero images. You can see an archived version of the website here.
First place in the most prestigious hackathon in Estonia at the time — TransferWise Hackathon. Prize was a trip to TransferWise's (now Wise) London headquarters.
Prototyped a product together with Janek Timmas, Al William Tammsaar and Rasmus Saks which enables digital nomads to focus on the things they love — being location-independent. I worked on design, product and front-end.
Built softboxes from cardboard and baking paper, an IR filter from old floppy disk and experimented with different setups.
Really intensive two days spent doing pixel art, original sound (usually recorded guitar and some digital things), thinking of gameplay related to the theme, programming in the weird GameMaker scripting language and of course chatting in IRC.
Helped create an identity for a new SEO agency. Additionally designed and developed a static website for maximum performance and implemented a flexible back-end based on Sanity content management system.
Created a logo, CVI, packaging designs and some 3D product renders for a beard oil brand JUHU focused on simple products with natural ingredients.
Created an unofficial chat client RFlows for Contriber Flows instant messaging application (shut down in 2022). Captured websocket traffic, analyzed it and implemented all the essential features + some improvements, like supporting drag and drop uploads and dark mode.
Dealum (then Startup Includer) is the leading deal flow management platform for early-stage investor groups. Initially created some designs and prototypes as a freelancer before joining full-time.
My project for first year programming course. Visualizing functions in complex plane using Python and Numpy. Got a prize in the University of Tartu Institute of Computer Science Student Project Contest.
I created a scene in Blender. It got discovered via Reddit by Jay from Hyperfocal Design, a company making technically accurate HDRI sky maps for computer graphics professionals, and we created a promo clip for timelapse sky textures using this model.
As a natural progression from building maps and creating custom textures packs for Minecraft I experimented with modding and tweaking world generation (see image above). Did not know anything about Java back then so it was mostly trial and error but I still learned a lot.
For anything work-related, you can always reach me at reino@reinozuppur.com. I don't check all the social media sites you might find me on and they often have really strict spam filters.
If you've got anything cool to share, feel free to drop me a message.
Since 2016, I have been part of the local electronic underground music scene. Things really got in motion after 2020 when we founded Amfiib collective and started organizing events and inviting guests to Tartu to enrich the local nightlife. I’ve also released music on MÜRK Records, one of the longest-standing techno labels in Estonia.
