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ABOUT / BILLY KARAFILOSKI

I MAKE THE
HARD PARTS CLEAR.

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I'm Billy Karafiloski, a New Jersey-based product and visual designer with 10+ years of experience across SaaS, ecommerce, web, mobile and brand. I've worked inside cross-functional teams and as the only designer responsible for a product, taking work from early ideas and research through UX/UI, design systems and launch.

I started in graphic design, and that visual foundation still shapes how I work: clear hierarchy, strong typography and attention to the details people actually notice. Today I also use AI-assisted workflows and development tools to prototype faster, test ideas earlier and take design closer to working software.

I'm most useful when the problem isn't fully defined yet. I like getting close to the work, asking the questions that matter and giving teams something clear enough to discuss, build and improve.

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How I work with teams

Good work gets better when the thinking is shared. I like clear ownership, early conversations and staying close enough to the build to see what changes once an idea becomes real.

  1. Own the problem

    I don't need a perfect brief to get started. I ask questions, find the constraints and help turn ambiguity into something the team can act on.

  2. Show the thinking

    I share work early, explain the tradeoffs and make decisions easy to discuss. Good collaboration is easier when the reasoning isn't hidden.

  3. Stay close to build

    I work with developers through implementation, reviewing the details and adjusting when the real product teaches us something the mockup didn't.

CAPABILITIES

WHAT I BRING TO THE WORK.

Product

Finding structure in complex products and workflows, from early direction through detailed interfaces.

  • Product strategy + UX/UI
  • User flows + prototyping
  • Usability testing
  • Design systems + accessibility

Visual

Bringing product, brand and communication into a consistent visual language.

  • Brand identity + art direction
  • Graphic + marketing design
  • Typography + visual systems
  • Packaging + print

Build

Taking ideas beyond static mockups when a working prototype or lightweight build helps the team move faster.

  • Interactive prototypes
  • AI-assisted MVPs
  • Design-to-development collaboration
  • Implementation review + testing

CURRENT TOOLKIT

The stack changes with the work. These are the tools I use most often today.

  • Figma
  • Adobe Creative Cloud
  • Framer
  • WordPress
  • Lovable
  • Claude Design

Adobe tools include Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Lightroom.

Beyond the
artboard.

Away from the project file, I'm usually learning something, building something, playing chess or digging through music.

Chess keeps the strategy part of my brain busy. Music keeps me paying attention to rhythm, pattern and culture — and eventually led me to build Sampled Planet.

I was born in Ohrid, Macedonia and raised in New Jersey. That mix still shapes how I see design, culture and the things I choose to make.

I speak English, Macedonian and Serbian, with conversational Spanish.

Read: A few moves ahead
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