Hello

I'm Mark Schafer, a book-loving designer living in Hay-on-Wye, Wales, the world's first booktown.

Portrait by Rue Song

I'm a lead/staff-level product designer, currently embedded with the great team at Chapter, where we're building new products to serve America's seniors. Previously, I worked at Twitter via its acquistion of Scroll, where I was lead designer. Prior to that, I led the Foundry design team at Palantir – the culmination of six years designing enterprise data analysis tools for the commercial sector, having been Palantir's first design hire in NYC.

My background is in graphic design and typography. I have an ever-evolving list of hobbies, which includes bookmaking, running, knitting, sign painting, music, and photography. I take joy in exploring a diversity of design projects outside my main work. Past examples include designing a classic book of theology, hand lettering chalkboards, and directing a music video for indie rock artist My Brightest Diamond. Hot pink is my favorite color.

I believe the practice of design should be both purposeful and principled. Design is best used to help real people in the real world. Digital products should be designed to serve people, not the other way around.