# Micah Rich

> Senior Design Engineer • Full-Stack Developer • Product Designer

I build stuff that challenges the way things have always been done.

For 15+ years, I've been designing, coding, or rethinking entire systems. I thrive in the space between strategy, creativity, and execution.

I’ve been approached by and led projects for: 

Disney, Spotify, Google, Stripe, Adobe, Heroku, Mozilla, Pentagram and more.

I've built platforms that changed industries, and co-founded the first open-source font foundry when the industry said it couldn’t be done. I don’t just solve problems — I spot the gaps, rethink what’s possible, and create something better.

I make sense of chaos. I build structure where there isn't any. And I believe the best work happens when you question the rules, learn fast, and find the humanity in the tech.

Contact: work@micah.sh | Portfolio: https://micah.sh
Resume: https://micah.sh/micahrich-resume-1.9.8-minimal.pdf

## Experience

- **A Good Company - Founder, Designer, Developer** (Jan 2009 - Aug 2014): My first company — where I proved I could build anything I set my mind to.
- **Citizen - Head of Internal Tools** (Jan 2017 - Jun 2018): I transformed Citizen's mission-critical internal tools from prototype-stage experiments into production-ready systems, improving emergency response time by 60% for millions of users
- **General Assembly - Product Manager, Curriculum Designer, Instructor** (Aug 2014 - Nov 2015): I transformed GA's flagship web development course from fragmented local programs into a unified, modern curriculum reaching thousands of students across 14 global markets
- **The League of Moveable Type - Founder, Designer, Developer** (Jan 2009 - Present): Launched the first open‐source font foundry, complete with website, blog, podcast, merchandise, and online courses.
- **Wildebeest - Head of Product, Tech Lead** (Oct 2015 - Dec 2022): From teaching to leading a design & development agency that specialized in wild custom digital experiences.

## Featured Projects

- **Sprint Zero** (2026): Product strategy and design sprint consulting for early-stage startups and product teams.
- **Shadcn Theme AI** (2025): A project that uses AI to generate themes for Shadcn.
- **Mailbag** (2025): Rebuilt our 5-year-old newsletter tool with agents — to write, edit, and assemble in our voice.
- **Compact Magazine Website** (2024): Designed and developed a new website for Compact Magazine in collaboration with Pentagram.
- **Readable Tech** (2024): A project that measures the likelihood of reading disabilities and provides a customized reading experience.
- **Lettercase** (2023): 16-year passion project transforming font selection from endless browsing into AI-powered contextual recommendations.
- **Typography Courses & Workshops** (2023): Developed a series of online and in-person courses and workshops on typography, partnering with industry experts.
- **The Weekly Typographic Podcast** (2022): 141 episodes, 215K+ listens across 6 years—Olivia and I turned our newsletter debates into a beloved typography podcast.
- **FontBureau Interactive Typography Articles** (2022): Interactive articles on variable fonts, later integrated into Google Fonts Knowledge for hands-on typography learning.
- **Google Fonts Knowledge** (2022): Consulted on interactive microsite to teach type concepts, integrated into the main Google Fonts site.
- **Mr. Button's Buttons** (2021): A no-code app that lets users design and link custom buttons inside a Notion page using a simple API.
- **Gangster Grotesk Minisite** (2021): A highly animated and interactive microsite created to launch the Gangster Grotesk font.
- **OnProgram** (2021): A specially-designed mobile app for the Optavia diet — search foods, track meals, and personalize your diet with ease.
- **Google + Lexend – Identity & Website** (2020): Handled branding and the website design/development for Lexend, a Google-funded variable font project.
- **Division IX** (2020): An experiential design project that includes an interactive online game and an intake dossier for new clients.
- **Type Thursday Internal Tools** (2020): Developed custom internal tools for organizing events and revenue sharing for the global Type Thursday community.
- **Stacker UI** (2020): Designed and developed main spreadsheet UI for Stacker, a tool for generating internal tools, portals, and dashboards.
- **Cheetos Superbowl Campaign App** (2020): A machine learning–based application built for a Superbowl campaign, earning awards from Cannes Lion, D&AD, and more.
- **The Confident Designer** (2019): A typography course designed to build confidence in design decision-making and typographic choices.
- **micahrich.in** (2018): A personal photography website that analyzes the EXIF data of photos to auto-generate collections and maps.
- **Signal Video Moderation** (2018): Rebuilt Citizen's video moderation system to give operators time for thoughtful decisions while maintaining real-time experience for users.
- **Signal Audio Processing Tool** (2018): Rebuilt Citizen's emergency audio processing tools to eliminate crashes and support operators handling 100+ clips/hour.
- **Signal Incident Map** (2018): Rebuilt Citizen's incident command center to eliminate crashes and enable real-time emergency coordination for 500,000+ users.
- **Nomad Upstairs** (2017): Design & development for one of the theory11 magic company's world-reknowned magic shows.
- **The Quick Brown Fox Tee** (2016): A merchandise project designed exclusively for the League's superfans.
- **GA WDI Curriculum Redesign & The GA WDI Handbook** (2015): Overhauled the web development immersive curriculum making it more modular and modern, and created a brand-new, engaging handbook for the program.
- **GA Student Quiz Tool** (2014): Designed and developed an internal tool for tracking student attendance, progress, and NPS scores at General Assembly.
- **Ginkgo Bioworks Identity** (2014): Brand identity and design work for biotechnology company Ginkgo Bioworks.
- **A Good Portfolio** (2012): My first big platform — a way for students to build their own portfolio sites, back before such a thing existed.
- **Good Timing** (2012): An app designed to help you track your time on projects magically, via natural language.
- **Literati.me** (2011): A platform designed to help you keep track of progress in your books and reading progress.
- **LemonLime** (2011): A custom-built self-service portfolio app for a modeling agency & their clients.
- **Moneybox.me** (2011): An app to help Etsy users understand their business better.
- **The League of Moveable Type Website** (2009): Typography and font foundry website design and development.

## Skills & Technical Expertise

### Design & UX

- Product Design
- UI/UX Design
- Design Systems
- Component Libraries
- Design-to-Code
- Prototyping
- Figma
- User Research
- Information Architecture
- Interaction Design
- Visual Design
- Brand Design
- Adobe Creative Suite
- 0-to-1 Product Development

### Technical

- React
- Next.js
- TypeScript
- JavaScript
- Node.js
- HTML/CSS
- Tailwind CSS
- PostgreSQL
- MongoDB
- AI/ML
- LLMs
- Vercel AI SDK
- Resend
- react-email
- System Architecture
- Microservices
- REST APIs
- WebSockets
- Performance Optimization
- Vercel
- Supabase
- AWS
- CI/CD
- Git

### Leadership & Business

- Technical Leadership
- Product Management
- Team Management
- Cross-functional Collaboration
- Mentoring
- Stakeholder Management
- 0-to-1 Products
- Startup Experience
- Technical Strategy
- Code Review
- Agile Development
- User-Centric Design
- Open Source
- Curriculum Development