Hi, Leaf Eriksen here!
I am an interface and layout designer currently studying at the University of San Francisco who is passionate about raising the standard for style, structure and accessibility in design.
I have experience prototyping apps in Figma and bringing them to life with SwiftUI, and building websites in HTML, CSS and JS. I also enjoy making animated interactive graphics with p5.js and building layouts for print in the Adobe and Affinity suites.
I am currently working as an iMac Lab Assistant and Design Tutor for USFCA’s Art & Architecture department, and as an intern at OnCourt Live, a college tennis software startup.
If you want to make something awesome with me, please reach out!
Interactive Web Typography
🛠️ p5.js ⏰ May 13th, 2026
What:
Animating Robert Montgomery’s poetic text art TREES WILL RIOT, which was made as part of a fundraising and awareness campaign for Greenpeace. The background is based on a photo by Joe Mabel.
Why:
I am often inspired by Robert Montgomery's work, so celebrating him in an assignment on artistic typography just felt right.
View Interactive Animation
Amtrak App UX Redesign
🛠️ Figma ⏰ March 23rd, 2026
What:
A restructuring of the ticket purchasing and viewing flows in Amtrak’s mobile app, focused on accelerating and streamlining linear tasks, and improving the organization of the app to improve retention.
Why:
For me, the least enjoyable part of a great trip is being mad about mediocre software. I redirected that energy towards imagining a world where that software is just another part of what makes traveling great.
Learn More (Figma login required)
Book Cover Project
🛠️ Adobe InDesign ⏰ December 10th, 2025
What:
A custom book cover design for The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett.
Why:
Pratchett's worlds have inspired me all my life, and I wanted to celebrate that while improving at Indesign.
Presidio Pet Cemetery Booklet
🛠️ Adobe InDesign ⏰ November 18th, 2025
What:
A booklet about the typography of the Presidio Pet Cemetery and the history of cemeteries in San Francisco.
Why:
The SF Presidio is a beautiful, lively place, and I wanted to tell the story of a part of it that most people have never seen.
Read Full Booklet
Personal Playing Card
🛠️ Aseprite ⏰ September 12th, 2025
What:
A self-introduction card with the phrase I would say to teach people my name. Visually inspired by the Legend of Zelda (NES) intro screen.
Why:
When I was very young, I couldn’t pronounce L in my name, with it often coming out more like "weef", so I would introduce myself like this. To this day it is still how I introduce myself in loud spaces. No phrase on a card could represent me better than this.
Gundam Fanzine
🛠️ Adobe InDesign ⏰ June 1st, 2025
What:
A 16-page fanzine about Mobile Suit Gundam, the anti-colonial military robot anime that has been on air since 1979.
Why:
This is one of me and my dad's favorite franchises in the world, and I always love the opportunity to share it with more people.
Read Here
Pixel Portrait of Susan Kare
🛠️ Adobe Illustrator ⏰ April 2nd, 2025
What:
A pixel art portrait of Susan Kare, inspired by her graph paper portrait of Steve Jobs, extensive work on the first Machintosh, and Solitare for Windows 3.0. I also explored various environments it could be placed into, like as the logo for a fictional game studio.
Why:
Kare's work at Apple shaped the products that introduced me to pixel art, iconography, and interface design. I jumped at the opportunity to pay an homage to her legacy.
The State of EV Charging
🛠️ Affinity Photo ⏰ February 25, 2025
What:
A poster visualizing the current issues with EV charging and information on a new program from the California Energy Commission that could lessen these issues.
Why:
The California Energy Commission had recently announced it is starting a new program providing fully subsidized charging stations to businesses in the state.
SpatialFolders
🛠️ Xcode ⏰ November 26, 2024
What:
A macOS File Manager application designed to recreate the unique workflow of Finder in Classic Mac OS.
Why:
I wanted to experience what spatial file management is like with all of my real work instead of having to rely on empty emulators and stories of people's experiences with Classic Mac OS.
Learn More
wearin' a demon
🛠️ Adobe Photoshop ⏰ November 18th, 2024
What:
A tryptic of photographs taken in Golden Gate park, color graded and styled for visual consistency and captioned with and inspired by lyrics from 5g by brakence.
Why:
In my first year of college, I was feeling particularly low, and felt these lyrics more than ever.
Architectural Shapes and Colors
🛠️ Adobe Illustrator ⏰ October 16th, 2024
What:
Architexture from around my campus, vector-illustrated based on photos of the campus church and various other buildings that complemented the diagonal lines of the center photo of my dorm.
Why:
My first year dorm room was at the end of a hallway that felt impossibly long. When building a grid of USF architecture, it felt necessary for the origin point of my work to be the long walk at the start and end of every day.