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L Dante Guarin — Fractional Design Lead · Product Design · Design Systems

Let's Work!

I help growing product teams decide better, build better, and put the design systems in place to scale. Leadership where you need it, hands-on where it counts, and a direct line to Product, Engineering, and your leadership team.

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20+ years of leading design across web, branding and product

How I work

Short-term leadership. Full-time commitment to the work.

I embed with your team rather than operating from the sidelines. I work directly with founders, Product, Engineering, and Design to understand what's getting in the way, establish priorities, and move the work forward.

  • Design leadership

    Direction, critique, team mentorship, hiring, and organizational structure.

  • Product strategy

    Helping teams turn ambiguous problems into something they can actually build.

  • Design systems

    Creating the foundations, standards, and governance that make quality repeatable.

  • Hands-on product design

    Diving into the work when something needs design attention.

  • Interim leadership

    Keeping the team moving when you're between design leaders or building your team.

L Dante Guarin in an A's cap and white-framed glasses, holding up a sneaker.

About me

Why you should work with me

I started as a web designer, designing and coding sites for the music industry, professional and consumer brands, and government agencies.

From there I moved into product design: med-tech, marketing tech, data, and B2B enterprise software.

Trusted by

  • Adobe
  • Teamshares
  • Upwork
  • T-Mobile
  • Microsoft
  • Greenpeace International
  • and many more

Product & Design

Photography

  • A rusted steel factory window with cracked wired-glass panes and the number 518, set in red brick.

    Nashville, TN Capturing wonderful textures in broken glass, steel and brick.

  • Crushed cars stacked high in a scrapyard under a grey sky, a Dodge truck grille at the bottom.

    Nashville, TN All journeys end.

  • The candy-red dashboard of a classic hot rod with pinstriping, round gauges and a wooden steering wheel.

    San Diego, CA A Sunday at Balboa Park.

  • A dense wall of pink, white, purple and yellow roses and hydrangeas.

    Toronto, Canada A bed of roses.

  • A smiling woman with long braids seen through a car window, the street reflected across the glass.

    Palm Springs, CA Cooling down in the car from 100+ degree heat.

  • My son, with curly hair, looking upward, lit blue from one side and red from the other.

    Lighting Test Shot This is my son as a test subject while testing a new light setup.

  • Sean O'Bryan Smith seated among rows of wooden theater seats, holding a five-string bass.

    Sean O'Bryan Smith Jazz bassist. Nashville, TN

  • John Gray in a leather jacket against a brick wall, wiping his face with a white towel.

    John Gray Pastor and speaker, John Gray. Nashville, TN

  • Kortney Wilson in a pink feather headpiece and tall brown boots, leaning against a peeling teal wall.

    Kortney Wilson Musician & TV Personality. Nashville, TN

  • The three members of The Beat Kangz in sunglasses on a gravel lot, the Nashville skyline behind them.

    The Beat Kangz Producers & Entrepreneurs

  • Union Jordan 2 sneakers and trousers covered in a projected geometric light pattern.

    Union Jordan 2 Light experiments with projectors