About / Girtonian

Jonathan Girton

I make complexity feel obvious. Then I make it worth caring about.

Jonathan Girton, also known as Girtonian, is a senior UX/UI and product designer who also builds. He works as a design engineer and creative technologist in the Chicago area, across design, product, and front-end and creative technology. He is the founder of Girtonian LLC and has worked as an individual contributor at Impact Theory, Accenture, Fjord, and Insperity, and as a consultant for BMW, Harley-Davidson, Signet Jewelers, Samsung, Kohl's, Nokia, T-Mobile, and United.

The medium changes. The behavior does not: understand what is actually happening, build a system that survives scale, then give it enough personality that someone remembers it. His process is less “designer who learned AI” and more “maker who keeps building new things.”

Name

Jonathan Girton

Also known as

Girtonian

Role

Design Engineer | Creative Technologist

Based in

Chicago area (works remotely)

Studio

Girtonian LLC (founder)

Experience

14+ years (per résumé)

Education

BFA, Communication Design, Harrington College of Design

Availability

Available for select collaborations

Contact

connect@girtonian.com

Selected outcomes

As Senior UX/UI Designer at Impact Theory (November 2021 – September 2024), in the words of his résumé (PDF):

• −40% onboarding time (at Impact Theory). Optimized onboarding flows for wallet integration and NFT minting, reducing setup time by 40% and improving first-time usability.
• +28% daily active users (at Impact Theory). Designed progression and reward systems connecting in-game achievements with real-life rewards, increasing daily active users by 28% and supporting long-term retention.
• 50,000+ avatars minted (Project Kyzen, at Impact Theory). Led UX and UI design for Project Kyzen, creating an avatar customization system with 50,000+ avatars minted and personalized as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) through intuitive interfaces.
• +22% repeat play sessions (Merry Modz, at Impact Theory). Directed design for Merry Modz: Dark Forest Run and Merry Memory Modz, improving repeat play sessions by 22%.

Also at Impact Theory: Mini-Battle Arenas

Created production-ready UI for Mini-Battle Arenas and competitive features, balancing visual clarity with real-time responsiveness.

What he does

• Product design and UX/UI. End-to-end product design from user flows to production-ready UI, across web, mobile, and games.
• Design systems. Scalable systems and production-ready documentation that shorten build time.
• Game UX and Web3 products. Avatar customization, minting, progression, and collectible experiences.
• Creative technology and prototyping. Rapid prototypes, proofs of concept, and immersive or interactive experiences.
• AI-assisted design workflows and tools. AI tools such as Figma plugins, and AI-assisted workflows for faster exploration.
• Product strategy and workshop facilitation. Vision workshops, prioritization, roles, sprint rituals, and clear definitions of done.
• Character design and illustration. Original characters and worlds, plus hand-drawn and watercolor illustration.

Client roster

Twelve collaborations, one curious practice. Roles as listed on girtonian.com:

• Impact TheoryIndividual contributor
• AccentureIndividual contributor
• BMWConsultant
• FjordIndividual contributor
• Harley-DavidsonConsultant
• Signet JewelersConsultant
• InsperityIndividual contributor
• SamsungConsultant
• Kohl'sConsultant
• NokiaConsultant
• T-MobileConsultant
• UnitedConsultant

Experience

From his résumé (PDF).

• Girtonian LLC

  Founder and Design ConsultantSeptember 2024 – present · Remote

  Design consulting across digital product and emerging technology, with a focus on AI-assisted workflows; proof-of-concept products for AI hackathons exploring generative AI and interactive storytelling.

• Impact Theory

  Senior UX/UI DesignerNovember 2021 – September 2024 · Los Angeles, CA (remote)

  Led UX and UI for Project Kyzen (avatar customization; 50,000+ avatars minted) and directed design for Merry Modz (repeat play sessions up 22%), both Impact Theory projects. Created production-ready UI for Mini-Battle Arenas and competitive features, balancing visual clarity with real-time responsiveness. Also per the résumé: onboarding setup time reduced by 40%, daily active users up 28%, and production timelines reduced by 35% through documented design systems.

• Fjord, part of Accenture Song

  Senior Creative TechnologistJune 2019 – November 2021 · Chicago, IL

  Built more than 20 rapid prototypes and proof-of-concept experiences, 3D simulations and immersive interfaces, and projection-mapped installations viewed by more than 20,000 attendees.

• Fjord, part of Accenture Song

  Visual / Interaction DesignerSeptember 2012 – November 2021 · Chicago, IL

  Design systems, omnichannel experience strategy, and modular content strategy for large organizations, including a universal design system that consolidated more than 40 websites for a global pharmaceutical firm.

• FanFueled

  User Experience ArchitectDecember 2011 – September 2012 · Chicago, IL

  Gamified, mobile-friendly fan-engagement UX for festivals including Lollapalooza, Ultra, and Coachella.

Selected work

• Project Kyzen (Impact Theory): Designed end-to-end UX/UI and reduced development timelines by 35% through scalable systems, clear user flows, and production-ready documentation.
• Merry Modz (Impact Theory): Designed end-to-end UX/UI across Web3 minting, seasonal games, and interactive collectibles, helping a 10k NFT drop sell out in under 3 days.
• Trend Tap (Girtonian Lab): Designed and built a Figma plugin that turns curated design trends into AI-ready prompts, making it easier to move from inspiration to experimentation.
• Gibbles the Niblet (Contra): A tiny pencil nib with a big appetite for messy ideas and half-doodled dreams. He chomps the scraps, coughs up brilliance, and reminds us that nothing is something.
• Spiced Realms of Fructasia (Contra): A family fruitcake tradition became a fantasy culinary universe in roughly a week and a half: characters, visual language, trailer, soundtrack, lore, and much more.
• Signet Playbook (Fjord + Accenture): Guiding strategy into repeatable product-team behavior: vision workshops, prioritization, roles, sprint rituals and clear definitions of done.

All selected work →

Design graph

Turning a process into a decision graph. The goal is making evidence, judgment, and learning visible.

1. Human operator

   Stay in the loop.

2. Frame

   Name the constraint.

3. Evidence

   Research and analytics.

4. Make

   Build the evidence.

5. Reduce

   Taste becomes a decision.

6. Reality anchor

   Test clarity and usefulness.

7. Ship + learn

   Put it in the world.

Questions people ask

Who is Jonathan Girton?

Jonathan Girton, also known as Girtonian, is a senior UX/UI and product designer who also builds. He works as a design engineer and creative technologist in the Chicago area, across design, product, and front-end and creative technology. He is the founder of Girtonian LLC and has more than 14 years of experience designing digital products, games, immersive experiences, and AI-assisted workflows, according to his résumé.

What does Jonathan Girton specialize in?

Product design and UX/UI, design systems, game UX and Web3 products, creative technology and rapid prototyping, AI-assisted design workflows and tools, product strategy and workshop facilitation, and character design.

What results has Jonathan Girton delivered?

According to his résumé, as Senior UX/UI Designer at Impact Theory he optimized onboarding flows for wallet integration and NFT minting, reducing setup time by 40%; designed progression and reward systems that increased daily active users by 28%; led UX and UI design for Project Kyzen, whose avatar customization system saw 50,000+ avatars minted and personalized as NFTs; and directed design for Merry Modz: Dark Forest Run and Merry Memory Modz, improving repeat play sessions by 22%.

Which brands has Jonathan Girton worked with?

As an individual contributor: Impact Theory, Accenture, Fjord, and Insperity. As a consultant: BMW, Harley-Davidson, Signet Jewelers, Samsung, Kohl's, Nokia, T-Mobile, and United.

What has Jonathan Girton designed?

Selected work includes Project Kyzen and Merry Modz, both Impact Theory projects (at Impact Theory he also created production-ready UI for Mini-Battle Arenas and competitive features), the Trend Tap Figma plugin, the original characters Gibbles the Niblet and Spiced Realms of Fructasia, and the Signet Playbook product strategy work with Fjord and Accenture.

How does Jonathan Girton work?

He uses a seven-step design graph: human operator, frame, evidence, make, reduce, reality anchor, and ship + learn. The goal is making evidence, judgment, and learning visible.

Where is Jonathan Girton based?

The Chicago area (Chicago, Illinois, United States). He works remotely through Girtonian LLC.

How do I hire Jonathan Girton?

Email connect@girtonian.com. He is available for select collaborations through Girtonian LLC. His résumé is at https://girtonian.com/Jonathan-Girton-Resume.pdf.

Hire Jonathan Girton

Let’s build something without the tidy playbook. Jonathan is available for select collaborations through Girtonian LLC.

Email connect@girtonian.comDownload résuméLinkedIn