Hi, I'm Dave Tanner

I'm a graphic designer and front-end developer based in the South West of Western Australia. These days I work on product UX/UI at Buzzy building AI stuff.

About

I'm a designer and front-end developer with over 25 years of experience making work that's clear, useful, and built to last.

I've worked across agency, startup, and in-house teams. That's included everything from brand and marketing campaigns to enterprise products and platforms, along with front-end builds, content, and customer support.

I also enjoy smaller, more personal projects: t-shirt designs, illustrations, and work for friends, local groups, and community organisations.

Need one person who can connect the dots across design and front-end without turning it into a whole production? That's usually where I fit best. I can help with:

  • Brand, identity & illustration
  • UX & UI design
  • Design systems & component libraries
  • Front-end development (HTML, CSS, JS)
  • Rapid prototyping & MVPs
  • Web design & build
  • Content design & UX writing
  • Accessibility & performance tuning

Clients

Some teams and brands I've worked with include:

  • Toyota
  • Optus
  • AMP
  • Samsung
  • Media Prima (Malaysia)
  • Symantec
  • Nickelodeon
  • BHP Billiton
  • The Sydney Opera House
  • Precisely
  • Eurapco
  • ...and plenty of smaller local legends too.

Big brand, small business, community group, same approach: practical, thoughtful work that actually helps.

Need a hand with design, front-end, or just figuring things out?

Bear

Illustration, 2025

Bear's a doggo! Printed on glass, and also tweaked as a t-shirt design.

Bear on glass
Bear on t-shirt
Bear as a puppy
Bear as a puppy ❤️ 🐶

Tellypod

Video Platform, 2014 | Agency: Boomlabs

Tellypod was a proof-of-concept for a Malaysian on-demand video platform. The interesting bit was the interface: a simple, responsive browsing experience built around horizontal scrolling for touch devices and early smart TV screens.

I worked on the front-end and UI for the platform, along with the broader design system around it. There was a fair bit going on under the hood too, from user accounts and subscriptions to streaming and a custom HTML5 player.

The challenge was keeping something fairly complex feeling clean and easy to use, while still building it on solid web standards and in a way that could be themed, extended, and properly maintained over time.

Tellypod home screen on TV-style layout
Tellypod series browsing interface
Tellypod episode detail screen
Tellypod user dashboard
Tellypod style and markup guide

Buzzy Workspace

App Platform, 2026 | Agency: Buzzy

Buzzy is an AI-powered app platform, and a big part of my current day-to-day work. I work on the product UX/UI with a very small team, which means moving quickly, keeping things practical, and designing across a lot of different surfaces. The platform includes an AI-driven workspace, a WYSIWYG editor, and a full component library with built-in themes, all designed to stay usable, flexible, and responsive on top of a modern React-based front-end.

Check out the live app here (requires signup).

Buzzy builds and manages applications through their entire lifecycle
Buzzy Workspace interface screens
Edits can be done by hand, via AI in the workspace, or externally via MCP
A prebuilt toolkit and custom themes are included
System emails have their own backend admin, test and preview system
System emails need to be designed too!

Buzzy Figma Toolkit

Figma Community File, 2024 | Agency: Buzzy

The Buzzy Figma Toolkit is a Figma-based design system for quickly designing apps inside Figma, with the Buzzy plugin then used to turn those designs into working apps on the Buzzy platform. A big part of the job was making sure the components matched how Buzzy actually builds things, not just how people often hack layouts in Figma, so the system stayed simple, generic, and quick to theme and extend.

Check out the design file here (requires Figma account).

Buzzy Figma Toolkit 2026
Components like tables are specifically designed to work with the Buzzy Figma plugin - for instance, the data is organised by rows, not columns
Themes are controlled via Figma variables, and can be applied to any component or template
As with any design system, components are the building blocks of the Buzzy Figma Toolkit

Buzzy Tees

Tees, 2019 | Agency: Buzzy

A few t-shirt designs for the Buzzy team over the years, made for conferences and events.

Buzzy Tee featuring a toucan
Buzzy Tee featuring cut wires
Buzzy Tee featuring peacock design

Buzzy Templates

Web App, 2024 | Agency: Buzzy

The Buzzy Templates app is a library of starter apps for the Buzzy platform. People can browse templates, preview them, and use them as a starting point for new apps, with the source Figma file included as part of the workflow.

I designed, built, and deployed the app directly from Figma in a matter of days using the Buzzy plugin. I also designed and built the front-ends for most of the templates in the library, from fairly simple content-driven layouts through to more involved tools like AI chat and location-based reporting.

Check out the live app here , or check out the Figma template files directly.

The Buzzy Templates app homepage
Buzzy Templates app screen gallery
Screenshot of the Buzzy Templates app in Figma
A look at the Buzzy Templates app in Figma. The app is built directly from the Figma file - including all UI, functionality and database components!

Buzzy Website

Website, 2026 | Agency: Buzzy

The current Buzzy website was rebuilt in a few days on the Astro framework, with a custom Tailwind CSS front-end. I used Codex to handle the bulk import and reformatting of the old site content, which left me free to focus on the structure, messaging, design, and imagery.

The aim was to keep it simple, quick to update, and easy to theme as the site evolves.

You can see the live site here.

Buzzy website hero section
Buzzy website platform overview
Buzzy website product detail section
Buzzy website customer stories section
Buzzy website responsive layout preview
Of course it's responsive.

CMB

Branding, 2016 to present

I've been helping the Cape Mountain Bikers with design work for a while now, from branding bits and pieces through to event materials and the occasional trail cleanup.

Cape Mountain Bikers assorted stickers
Logo sheets
Cape Mountain Bikers t-shirt designs

CMB + Rocky Ridge Beers

Label design, 2018 and 2025

Cape Mountain Bikers worked with Rocky Ridge Brewing and Dunsborough Cellars on a limited-edition beer release to help raise funds for the club. I was happy to get involved since it combined two things I like, beer and MTB. The 2018 run used sticker labels, while the 2025 cans were printed directly and had the artwork tweaked by @artstinkink before print.

The Rockdrop Pale label design
Final 2025 printed beer can
The original run of cans used stickers
Launch posters and stickers

Crow Tee

Tee design, 2024

Custom tee design based on one of my favourite birds. Crows are clever, scrappy, full of attitude, and fun to draw.

Crow tee graphic

Dunsborough Needs a Pool Tee

Logo / tee design, 2019

Logo and tee design for a local community push to get a pool in Dunsborough. Pretty straightforward, but the kind of local project I'm always happy to help out with.

Dunsborough Needs a Pool tee graphic

Fill your heart with what's important

Words to live by

La Dispute The Last Lost Continent

Fill your heart with what's important, and be done with all the rest

peckvonhartel

Website, 2006 | Agency: Freshweb

Ah, 2006. Viewports were a roomy 1024px, mobile wasn't a thing, and most people were still on dial-up. Flash was the main game for interactivity, but we still built a bespoke portfolio site for a leading Melbourne architecture firm that was fast, usable, and fun to explore, using standards-compliant HTML and CSS (for the time).

peckvonhartel website homepage

Freshweb

Website, 2006 | Agency: Freshweb

Freshweb was a small boutique digital agency, and still one of the most fun teams I've worked with. We did a lot of high-end Flash work across both marketing and training and education projects, alongside the usual CMS-driven corporate builds. The Freshweb site itself was a collaborative studio project that evolved through multiple iterations as the team and the work grew.

Freshweb website homepage

Healthe

Website, 2004 | Agency: Hothouse Interactive

Healthe was a Sydney health insurance and medical records startup. As design lead at Hothouse Interactive, I designed and built the website and created interactive marketing campaigns, from storyboards through to execution. It was a good example of what was possible with semantic markup (and Flash!) at the time.

The Healthe website homepage
Storyboards for an interactive marketing campaign

Little Calamity

Brand & Web, 2010

Little Calamity was a local handmade kids' clothing label run by friends. I worked across the full brand presence, from logo and identity through to web and email touchpoints. The web setup combined a Big Cartel store with a Tumblr blog, with a natural, handmade feel carried by hand-drawn illustration and warm, tactile visuals.

Little Calamity brand artwork
Little Calamity secondary brand artwork
Little Calamity website screen
Little Calamity wide layout

Luca's Surfboard Art

Surfboard art, 2019

Little Poska art project with my son Luca (aged 10 at the time) to customise his boards.

Luca's first board completed
Luca's customised surfboard quiver
Luca at work

McKenzie Logo

Branding, 2006

Logo design for a mate's custom surfboards - I learnt a bit about Scottish history from this one. That board in the photos has been around Australia one-and-a-half times, and is now retired in our garage.

McKenzie shield logo detail one
McKenzie shield logo detail two
McKenzie shield logo detail three
Shield logo on a surfboard
Logotype on a surfboard

Ski Mouse

Illustration, 2024

No particular reason, except that mice are cute.

Ski Mouse illustration

Skullywags

Illustration, 2024

Skulls are always fun to draw ☠️

Skullywags group
King skull
Jester skull

Stingers Logo

Logo / Illustration, 2003

Fun logo and illustration work for a corporate event, with a bit of bite to make it stand out.

Stingers logo closeup one
Stingers logo closeup two

Yallingup Swim Squad Tee

Logo / tee design, 2020

Logo and tee design for a local swim squad. Clean, practical, and made to work well on shirts without overcomplicating things.

Yallingup Swim Squad tee design

iiNet Freezone

Website, 2009 | Agency: Viocorp

iiNet Freezone was a web-based on-demand and live video platform, built by a small team at Viocorp in close partnership with iiNet. At the time, Flash was the practical way to handle commercial streaming, especially once ad placement was in scope, so we used it to keep things reliable. I handled UX/UI end-to-end, from IA and wireframes through to final visual design.

iiNet Freezone homepage
iiNet Freezone detail page

Viocorp

Website, 2010 | Agency: Viocorp

Viocorp (now Viostream) built a bespoke streaming and on-demand platform, and I worked across both product UI and client delivery. I also led design for Viocorp's own web presence, from the main site through to support, event, and marketing properties. It was a genuinely hands-on period: shaping the platform while keeping the wider brand and web ecosystem moving at the same time.

Viocorp website homepage
Viocorp website product page

Viostream Platform

CMS & admin suite, 2009-2011 | Agency: Viocorp

Viostream was Viocorp's core video streaming platform suite, spanning a range of product interfaces. I worked from wireframes through to design and some front-end code, helping shape the initial styleguides and design system along the way. I also produced documentation and training manuals, and provided hands-on customer training.

Viostream Platform site management dashboard
Viostream Platform player settings interface
Viostream Platform masthead, navigation, and form layout examples

About this site

This site is a hand-coded showcase of my work and a space for a few ideas, experiments, and details worth sharing. It's a static site built with HTML, CSS, and a little JavaScript for the dialogs and theme switcher.

Features

  • Accessible
  • Responsive
  • Performant

Technologies

  • HTML
  • CSS
  • JavaScript

The CSS is hand-built and intentionally lightweight, with a small amount of reset styling and a custom system layered on top; it's largely my own interpretation of a lightweight CSS framework, with a focus on accessibility, performance, and maintainability.

The gallery items display using a native HTML dialog with CSS transitions, not a JavaScript framework modal dialog. Thanks to Cynthia Costa for the gallery grid with hover.

The theme styling is controlled by CSS variables that are easy to modify and override.

Feel free to 'inspect elements' and see how it's all put together - the CSS is commented and includes refs and credits where applicable.


If you have any suggestions or feedback, especially on accessibility, please