I'm Mel —

A product designer.

specialising in EdTech and learning platforms.

20+ years of design depth paired with modern AI tooling. I design product UX in Figma and ship it fast — web apps, landing pages, and learning platforms — for startups and small teams.

Mel Rowlands, product designer
20+ years experience
30+ projects launched
Cape Town working globally

Work

A curated selection of recent work spanning platform development, design collaborations, and digital product builds.

More Work
Surface pattern designs licensed to Studio E Fabrics and Nested Bean
Licensing Collaborations
Nested Bean, Studio E Fabrics, Mounting Bloc
International pattern licensing partnerships. Surface pattern designs licensed to major US fabric companies, reaching global markets through established distribution channels.
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Sarah Graham Nourish packaging
Packaging Design
Yuppiechef, Sarah Graham, Jimmy Public, Shackleton
Brand and packaging systems built during seven years co-running Fineday Design Studio — logo, retail packaging, and brand guidelines for food and drinks businesses, with work that's reached shelves locally and abroad.
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The Huddle App interface
App Build
The Huddle App
Mobile application development combining UX design with technical implementation. End-to-end app development from concept through to deployment.
View Live Demo →
Website builds for The Labyrinth Massages, Kate Hair, and Ganz Africa
Website Design & Build
Ganz Africa, Labyrinth Massage, Kate Hair
Complete website design and development for diverse client portfolios. Custom WordPress builds with unique branding, responsive layouts, and optimized user experiences.
View Live Sites →

Capabilities

A wide toolkit, built over time.

01 · Product UX Design
Figma-led UX design
Wireframes, user flows, IA, and interfaces that feel right to use. 20+ years of design depth means strong instincts on hierarchy, clarity, and what to leave out.
02 · AI-Augmented Shipping
Design to live product, fast
Designing in Figma and using Claude Code to take designs from sketch to live product fast. Built for startups who need design and implementation from one trusted hand.
03 · Platforms & LMS
LearnDash builds
Full LearnDash builds. Courses, lessons, quizzes, member tiers, progress tracking — integrated cleanly with payments and UX.
04 · E-commerce
WooCommerce & WordPress
Product uploads, store maintenance, fixing issues, improving UX, supporting growth at every stage.
05 · Front-end Build
HTML & CSS, hand-built
Clean, semantic HTML/CSS — production-ready, no bloat from page builders where it counts.
06 · Brand & Visual Identity
Full Adobe toolkit
Full toolkit across Adobe Creative Suite: logo, packaging, illustration, and surface pattern. Useful when a product needs identity work alongside UX.

About

I've had the kind of career that gives you range — and I've leaned into it. I started as an analyst in the Investment Research division at Goldman Sachs in London — a serious apprenticeship in research, analysis, and producing high-stakes work for institutional clients. I came home to Cape Town and co-founded Fineday Design Studio, where I spent seven years building food brands and packaging — including two licensed international pattern collaborations (Studio E Fabrics and Nested Bean, both in the US).

I then spent a year contracting with Dataloop — working across dashboards, internal tools, and design — which gave me practical grounding in data-led design.

Today I co-run iNGENiO Education — a digital art learning platform for children — where I own the product design end-to-end. UX, AI, visual design, brand, and platform implementation.

What all of that adds up to is an unusual combination: 20+ years of design depth, founder-level product ownership, and a modern AI-augmented workflow. I design product UX in Figma and use Claude Code to ship working products — the kind of speed and scope that used to require a small team. It's the kind of toolkit that suits small and mid-sized businesses and startups that need senior design + execution from one trusted contractor.

2023 — Present
Co-founder & Lead Designer
iNGENiO Education
Co-running a digital art learning platform for children aged 5–18. Own product design end-to-end — UX, AI, visual design, brand, and platform implementation on WordPress, WooCommerce, and LearnDash. Cape Town · remote.
2022 — 2023
Contract Designer
Dataloop
A year contracting across dashboards, internal tools, and design — practical grounding in data-led design that informed my later platform work.
2015 — 2022
Co-owner & Designer
Fineday Design Studio
Seven years building food brands, packaging systems, and published surface pattern collections — including licensed ranges with Studio E Fabrics and Nested Bean (USA).
2007 — 2015
Freelance Graphic Designer
Independent · Cape Town
Eight years of independent design work across branding, print, and visual identity — the grounding that eventually became Fineday.
2000 — 2007
Analyst, Investment Research
Goldman Sachs · London
Seven years in the Investment Research division — research, analysis, and producing careful, high-stakes work for institutional clients. The grounding still shapes how I approach every project.

Contact

Currently designing in Figma, building with Claude Code, and shipping real products on WordPress, WooCommerce, and LearnDash. Available for remote contract work globally.

For project enquiries and bookings, send an email to:

melanie.rowlands@gmail.com