Design Systems Specialist — Berlin & Helsinki
Hendrik Kettelhut
Self-taught. 10+ years. Turning chaos into clean systems.
I'm a product designer who obsesses over consistency — and yes, I am the one to notice when something is off by a pixel.
Started in Berlin.
Never stopped
building.
My journey started in 2011 at a Berlin design agency — before I even knew what a design system was. I learned by doing, broke things, fixed them, and slowly developed an obsession with making interfaces that actually hold together at scale.
While earning a degree in Print and Media Technology (B.Eng.), I freelanced and consulted in parallel. After graduating in 2016, I continued freelancing for a few years before joining Yara International in 2018, where I've grown from product designer to Design Lead — driving consistency across products and leading design teams across Europe, India, and Singapore.
Today I focus on the infrastructure of design: the tokens, governance models, contribution frameworks, and shared languages that let product teams move fast without breaking things.
02 – What drives me
Human connections
Design is ultimately about people. I care as much about the teams I build as the systems I create — mentorship and collaboration aren't side effects, they're the work.
Radical consistency
A pixel off is a trust deficit compounded. I notice the details because the details are what separate a system that scales from one that quietly falls apart.
Curiosity over credentials
Self-taught, always learning. I geek out on design systems, emerging tools, and ways to make digital products a little more human — regardless of whether it's in a job description.
Minimalism as a discipline
Every component, every token, every decision should earn its place. Removing things is harder than adding them — and usually more valuable.
Fun facts about me
- 🇫🇮 Based in Berlin, soon to move to Helsinki
- 🤘 Doesn't like loud noises but heavy music
- 👾 Games from time to time and loves the grind
- 🃏 Loves to play Magic The Gathering
- 🤓 Huge nerd for Star Wars and Lord of the Rings
- 📚 Loves reading fantasy books
- 🛹 Tries skateboarding again every year