A bit about me
Hi! I'm Stuart. I'm a Design Systems Consultant and Front-End Architect, and for the past ten years, I've had the privilege of helping companies and organizations like UCL, Monotype, EMBL and Springer Nature with their design systems.
I’m passionate about modern CSS, progressive enhancement, and accessibility. I love helping teams create Design Systems and it's front-end codebase that is clear, maintainable, and easy to update over time.
I used to run the successful Sass News weekly newsletter, but for the past seven years, I’ve been publishing a newsletter dedicated to Design Systems. Sharing insights, resources, and inspiration for teams building scalable and cohesive design solutions.
Beyond consulting and writing front-end code, I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned with the community. Whether it’s through conference talks, workshops, or contributing to industry publications, I’m passionate about helping others build better, more scalable design systems and front-end workflows.
Speaking
Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of speaking at a variety of conferences, meetups, and events, sharing my expertise on topics like Design Tokens, modern CSS, and front-end architecture. From intimate meetups to larger conferences and online events, I’ve enjoyed connecting with audiences to explore how we can craft better, more scalable front-end solutions.
My talks often centre around practical insights, from systemising design components to modernising Sass workflows, always with a focus on empowering teams to build maintainable, accessible, and innovative digital experiences
Design Tokens and CSS: Systemising the Design of Components
Venue: Front End North
Date:
2020-02-07
Design Tokens and CSS: Systemising the Design of Components
Venue: FrontEndNE
Date:
2019-12-05
Design Tokens and CSS: Systemising the Design of Components
Venue: London CSS
Date:
2019-08-08
Design Systems and Front-End Architecture
Venue: Colchester Digital Conference
Date:
2019-05-10
L-I-V-I-N
Venue: MK Geek Night,Design Exchange Nottingham,Front End London
Date:
2016-06-06,2016-10-14,2016-12-05
Workshops
Running workshops has been an incredible way to dive deep into hands-on learning with teams and individuals.
Over the years, I’ve led sessions on topics like mastering Sass, exploring Design Systems, and unlocking the potential of modern front-end workflows. Whether it’s introducing the fundamentals or hosting dynamic workshops, I love helping attendees build confidence and practical skills they can immediately apply to their projects.
My workshops are designed to be interactive, approachable, and, most importantly, empowering.
Design Systems Rock!
Venue: WebDevConf
Date:
2016-10-06
Getting Super Powers with Sass
Venue: WebDevConf
Date:
2015-10-08
An introduction To Sass
Venue: Founders Hub,UCL,Port80,Bath University,WebDevConf,Monotype
Date:
2014-01-08,2014-02-17,2014-05-15,2014-05-25,2014-10-09,2015-12-02
Technical Editing
SitePoint
As well as working in the industry, sharing what I’ve learnt where I can I am a big fan of reading others thoughts and ideas. With the popularity of the Sass News email newsletter and some of my own writing on Sass authoring techniques I was approached by SitePoint in 2014 to join them as a technical editor for their Sass–based articles. This lead to an 18 month period of commissioning, editing, and publishing 2 articles a week for their platform.
Better CSS with Sass
Craig and Amie that ran Five Simple Steps approached me to be the technical editor for Cole Henley’s short Pocket Guide – Better CSS with Sass.
Hardboiled Web Design (5th Anniversary Addition)
I remember constantly refreshing my mobiles web browser over a 3g signal in a converted barn in the middle of nowhere when Five Simple Steps published Andy Clarke’s first edition of their fantastic book – Hardboiled Web Design.
When the change arose, and Vitaly from Smashing Magazine DM’d me and asked me to help with the technical editing of Andy’s five year anniversary edition of the book I jumped at the chance.
