marklearst
Principal Design Engineer who builds accessible design systems and React component libraries that teams actually want to use. I build open source.
At GM, I architected Aurora serving 4 brands with 60% component reuse and WCAG 2.2 AA compliance. I ship open-source with real adoption: a11y Companion (400+ users), FigmaVars Hooks, Diabetic Utils.
Building Variable Design Standard — spec-driven design token governance.
featured work
Primitree
DTCG token pipeline that turns design system architecture into a checkable contract. Layer rules, identity-preserving diffs, and emitters for CSS, Tailwind, and TypeScript.
GlucoseIQ
Headless TypeScript library for CGM and glucose data. 17 clinical metrics, device connectors, FHIR interop, and SVG rendering over a zero-dependency core.
a11y Companion
Canvas-native accessibility review for Figma and FigJam. v3.0.0 adds three on-canvas audits, live contrast inspection, native Dev Mode annotations, and evidence-bound sign-off.
Variable Design Standard
Open specification for design variable governance and cross-tool synchronization. DTCG 2025.10 compliant, solving tool lock-in and version control gaps.
Aurora Design System
Built GM's first cross-brand React design system achieving 60% component reuse across 4 brands (Chevy, Buick, GMC, Cadillac) with WCAG 2.1 AA compliance.
Skydio Component Library
Built React/Storybook component library and onboarded product and engineering teams on adoption patterns for autonomous drone platform.
what colleagues say
"The rare developer that is the marriage of creative and technology. He elevates the aesthetic and user experience of any product he is developing.
"Master craftsman with attention to detail, deep experience and passion. Mark can make the smoothest most meaningful animations with the tiniest amount of code.
"One of those rare talents that understand creative, motion and development. He's the guy that will stay up all night reading up on the latest programming frameworks.
