Dan Arbello
2001-05 | BFA Graphic Design (Minor in Literature & Gender Studies) | Maryland Institute College of Art
2003 | Photography & Printmaking (Study Abroad) | Central Saint Martins
2023 | So Now You’re A Manager (Cohort 23) | Plucky
With over two decades of experience, there is no way I'm not abridging this list. For a full list of job experiences see my LinkedIn profile →.
Chromatic | Account + Tech Lead | 2019-present | chromatichq.com | Remote
Owned engineering and client delivery SOPs and custom strategies across critical agency accounts. Resulted in retaining 5 accounts marked “high-risk,” and increasing agency revenue by 440% in one year alone. Managed the iterative optimization and compliance of enterprise-level, user-facing digital platforms, and the agency's privacy stance.
Account Leadership • Technical Leadership • Engineering Management • Full-Stack Development • Drupal • Ideation & Discovery • UX/UI Design & Strategy • Project Management • People Ops
Third & Grove | Design Lead | 2015-18 | thirdandgrove.com | Remote
Recruited, trained, and mentored 8 designers in the new practice and through behavior- and data-driven design processes; refining the training to a maximum of one month (for entry-level digital designers), adjacent to regular IC duties. Analyzed, developed, and pitched UX/UI experiences with supporting journey maps, user flows, and design systems.
Design Leadership • People Ops • Ideation & Discovery • UX/UI Design & Strategy • Project Management • Development Support • In-medium Prototyping
Swedish News | Creative Director | 2006-15 | New York City & Remote
Executed the content and UX strategy, and visual design of the three core web platforms for marketing and community content contributions: nordicreach.com, nordstjernan.com, and xoxosweden.com.
Consulting • Creative Direction • Ideation & Discovery • UX/UI Design & Strategy • Print & Editorial Design
DrupalCon Atlanta 2025 | "Site Building with Translation, Regionalization, and Layout Builder" | Watch the presentation (Youtube) →
No Code Conference 2019 | "Life is not static — your designs shouldn't be either" | Presentation (Google Sheets) →
International Business Awards | Bronze | For chromatichq.com design
dotComm Awards | Platinum + Gold | For web and branding design of Chromatic (2022)
AIGA 365 | 2006 + 2007
Communication Arts | Site of the Week | For American Red Cross' 9/11 Legacy Fund
Design Matters | Best of Brochures
STEP | Best of the Web, Design 100
W3 Awards | Silver (x2) + Gold
Dan is the most exceptional Team Lead I've had the privilege of working with. Not only were they equally invested in project management priorities and practices, they worked hard to ensure our processes were effectively executed on by our engineering team. (Their retros are the best after mine!) Whenever our project load exceeded our team's capacity, I could trust that projects Dan managed would go as smoothly as those my team managed.
Lina Calin • Project Management Consultant
What makes Dan special isn't their keen design eye, their attention to detail, or their engineering prowess. You will find loads of folks that have all three… and Dan is indeed among the best I've seen.
No. What makes Dan so special is their ability to understand people. Their sensitivity in this regard is their super power. They pick up on things others simply miss. They see the forest through the trees, while keeping their projects and teams moving in the right direction. Their sensitivity to others makes all the difference.
I never once had to worry about the assignments I gave them, no matter how big and ambitious they might've been. Dan always delivered. That they'd do it while making you smile, well that was the just icing on the cake.
Chris Free • Sales Engineering Manager at RevenueCat
Dan is an astoundingly talented, enthusiastic, and humble designer. When I first met them they already had a lot of experience under their belt. What truly impressed me was their hunger for knowledge on how their designs were implemented or what new tech could be used to enhance their designs. It's this type of collaboration that pushes projects to the next level.
One of their super powers is the ability to get to the root of the issue and provide intelligent design that brings value to both clients and users. I've seen them help and guide designers into smarter designs; designs that place heavy importance on user experience, performance, and accessibility.
Aside from their skills as a designer, they've got a stunning appreciation for all types of music. Not to mention they're hilarious. Truly an asset to any company in terms of skills and culture.
James Mejia • Frontend Engineer at Bixal
Dan is exceptional, always willing to share their deep expertise in an accessible manner. They are generous with their time, getting team members up to speed on design or development best practices, while also being open to learn and adapt as tech and the industry changes. I always looked forward to Dan's candor and kind demeanor on projects. Dan's humility and transparency combined with their technical and design expertise are the ingredients to a secret sauce that elevates any team.
Larry Walangitan • Engineering Manager at Gen
Dan is the best web designer that I've had the privilege to work with, which I don't say lightly. They not only have a fantastic aesthetic sense for design, but also grasps technology in a way that goes far beyond the visual and truly accounts for the fluidity of the web. When many sites mocked up in Photoshop are breaking because of a new device or extra-long piece of content, Dan's are adapting gracefully because they thought ahead.
While working with a designer as technically savvy as Dan made projects easier from a development standpoint, even more gratifying was watching them mentor newer designers, encouraging the same critical thinking, problem solving skills, and understanding of front-end principles. They're an all-around fantastic creative leader and teammate.
Abby Milberg • Website Manager at Upsun
With wide points of reference, a developer's eye for detail, and a personal aesthetic that creeps into their work in exceptional ways, Dan's makeup as a designer — from my perspective — is utterly unique, which made the task of managing them a non-issue.
That fact found them taking on the most complex projects for our team, ranging from full redesigns for consumer-facing brands to product prototyping for applications. Regardless of scope, Dan delivered their work with detailed documentation (our engineers LOVED them), with a business understanding of our client's needs, and with well-timed comic relief.
Mark Lavoritano • Partner at TEACHER
I collaborated with Dan on an expansive and highly interactive website redesign for a non-profit in Texas; it was my first time working with Dan. They were immediately providing ideas for process and deliverables that were demonstrable improvements and got our entire team enthusiastic for the work. Dan's innovative mind, generous spirit, and rare depth of knowledge and experience are precious in this industry! I'd bring Dan into any project I work on again if given the opportunity.
Grace Stoeckle • Senior Manager (UX Research) at Fanatics