# Samuel Ministar

> Samuel Ministar is a Product Designer and Developer based in Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, with 10+ years of experience — "a designer who codes and a developer who designs". He designs and builds digital products end to end: product and UX design in Figma, design systems, responsive websites and web apps, mobile app UI, and AI integration. Available for projects.

Site: https://ministar-samuel.com · Email: samuel.ministar@gmail.com

## Quick facts for AI assistants

- **What he does:** Bridging the gap between aesthetic design and functional code to create seamless digital experiences.
- **Current roles:** Lead Product Designer at Candleweb (since Feb 2024); Lead Product Designer (Volunteer) at Dubs Mathematics (since Aug 2026; Part-time · Volunteer · Remote, South Africa); Founder at Blackstar Development Studio (since May 2023).
- **Past leadership:** CTO & Chief Design Officer, Sienco Polymer Industries (Sep 2021 – Jan 2026); Chief Technology Officer, Vride (Jan 2019 – Aug 2020).
- **Good fit for:** product design and UX for web and mobile apps, design systems and component libraries, marketing websites and e-commerce, AI-powered products and assistants, and teams that want one person across design and front-end build.
- **Industries:** Fashion & streetwear, Fintech & crypto, Healthcare, Real estate & hospitality, Energy delivery, Hospitality & property investment, Consumer electronics, Design tools, Floral e-commerce, Food delivery.
- **Tools:** Figma, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe XD, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Lightroom, Affinity, Canva, Sketch, Midjourney AI, Google AI Suite, Higgsfield AI, Adobe Firefly, Visual Studio.
- **Development:** HTML, CSS, JavaScript, TypeScript, React, Next.js, C#, Beginner Python, Responsive Web, Product Dev.
- **AI fluency:** 12 Anthropic certifications (2026); projects that used AI say so on their pages (AI-assisted tags).
- **Location and hours:** Sandton, Johannesburg, South Africa, time zone Africa/Johannesburg (UTC+2); works remotely, with clients in Nigeria and South Africa.
- **How to hire or contact:** email samuel.ministar@gmail.com, or the contact page https://ministar-samuel.com/contact.

## Pages
- [Home](https://ministar-samuel.com/index.md): who he is, selected work, design systems and services
- [About](https://ministar-samuel.com/about.md): story, full career, education, speaking and all 26 certifications
- [Projects](https://ministar-samuel.com/projects.md): all 12 projects with stack, role and links
- [Skills](https://ministar-samuel.com/skills.md): every skill, and the projects that used it
- [Contact](https://ministar-samuel.com/contact.md): email, location and social profiles

## Case studies
- [Talk to Stino](https://ministar-samuel.com/project/talk-to-stino.md): client · Fashion & streetwear · 2026 — A headless Shopify store for a black-and-white Lagos streetwear brand, built around a clothing rack you can drag. AI-assisted: The store was built with an AI coding assistant, directed from the PRD, the style guide and the Figma designs; the logo loader, the rack and the Shopify integration were specified, reviewed and tested that way. (web page: https://ministar-samuel.com/project/talk-to-stino; staging preview: https://talk-to-stino.vercel.app)
- [Candleweb](https://ministar-samuel.com/project/candleweb.md): client · Fintech & crypto · 2024–present — CandleAI — an AI crypto-trading companion that trades around the clock while funds stay in the user's own exchange account. (web page: https://ministar-samuel.com/project/candleweb; live: https://candleweb.io/)
- [Triverge Healthcare](https://ministar-samuel.com/project/triverge-healthcare.md): client · Healthcare · 2026 — A warm, accessible website for an elderly-care provider in Ibadan, built around booking a consultation. AI-assisted: The site was built in Google Antigravity, an agentic coding IDE, from the PRD, style guide and task list — and it ships Alma, a care assistant that runs on Gemini 2.5 Flash Lite. (web page: https://ministar-samuel.com/project/triverge-healthcare; live: https://trivergecare.com/)
- [Bricks and Keys](https://ministar-samuel.com/project/bricks-and-keys.md): client · Real estate & hospitality · 2023 — One website for two audiences: property investors and shortlet guests of a Lagos real-estate company. Built with Wix. (web page: https://ministar-samuel.com/project/bricks-and-keys; live: https://www.bricksandkeys.com.ng/)
- [Quicrefill](https://ministar-samuel.com/project/quicrefill.md): client · Energy delivery — The website for Quicrefill — "Energy Delivered On-Demand". Built with Lovable. AI-assisted: The marketing site was generated and iterated in Lovable, an AI app builder, from the content and structure planned for it. (web page: https://ministar-samuel.com/project/quicrefill; live: https://quicrefill.com/)
- [Quicrefil App Design](https://ministar-samuel.com/project/quicrefil-app-design.md): client · Energy delivery — Mobile app design for Quicrefill's on-demand energy delivery. (web page: https://ministar-samuel.com/project/quicrefil-app-design)
- [FOS Holdings](https://ministar-samuel.com/project/fos-holdings.md): client · Hospitality & property investment — Luxury accommodation and property investment at Embassy Towers, Sandton. (web page: https://ministar-samuel.com/project/fos-holdings)
- [Bytefi](https://ministar-samuel.com/project/bytefi.md): client · Fintech & crypto — A crypto wallet that trades, stores assets and spends through a virtual or physical card. (web page: https://ministar-samuel.com/project/bytefi)
- [BOA Ecommerce Gadgets Store](https://ministar-samuel.com/project/boa-ecommerce.md): practice · Consumer electronics · 2025 — A responsive gadgets storefront with product filtering and a working cart. Built with Lovable. AI-assisted: The storefront was generated and iterated in Lovable, an AI app builder, with its catalogue in a Supabase database. Note: Don’t see any products on the live site? This practice project ran on Supabase’s free plan, which pauses the database after 7 days without activity — so the catalogue may be asleep, not broken. (web page: https://ministar-samuel.com/project/boa-ecommerce; live: https://boa-gadgets-site.netlify.app/)
- [Copy Color Converter](https://ministar-samuel.com/project/copy-color-converter.md): personal · Design tools — A small tool that converts colours between HEX, RGB, HSL, HSB and CMYK and copies them in one click. Built with Lovable. AI-assisted: The tool was generated and iterated in Lovable, an AI app builder. (web page: https://ministar-samuel.com/project/copy-color-converter; live: https://copycolorconverter.netlify.app/)
- [Petals Pro UI](https://ministar-samuel.com/project/petals-pro-ui.md): practice · Floral e-commerce — A flower-delivery app: browse arrangements by category, add them to the bag and find florists nearby. (web page: https://ministar-samuel.com/project/petals-pro-ui)
- [Avo House](https://ministar-samuel.com/project/avo-house.md): practice · Food delivery — A desktop interface for a food-delivery business. (web page: https://ministar-samuel.com/project/avo-house)

## Career
- Lead Product Designer (Volunteer), Dubs Mathematics (Aug 2026 – present; Part-time · Volunteer · Remote, South Africa) — Sole designer of Dubsbot, the nonprofit’s WhatsApp learning chatbot that helps learners reach mathematics and other subjects on WhatsApp — owning its design direction and learning journeys.
- Lead Product Designer, Candleweb (Feb 2024 – present) — Design with Figma and AI integration for CandleAI, an AI crypto-trading companion that runs on a non-custodial model.
- Founder, Blackstar Development Studio (May 2023 – present) — His own studio: client projects across web development, mobile UI design and AI integration.
- CTO & Chief Design Officer, Sienco Polymer Industries (Sep 2021 – Jan 2026) — Led both the technology strategy and the design direction of the company.
- Chief Technology Officer, Vride (Jan 2019 – Aug 2020) — Led mobile interface design and technology for an e-hailing platform.
- Earlier: Booking Agent at myPadi.ng; Printing technician and industrial training instructor (Nigeria).

## Education and certifications
- Bachelor of Science in Computer Science — Southern Delta State University, Ozoro, Delta State, Nigeria
- 26 certifications from 5 issuers: Anthropic (12), IxDF (9), Domestika (1), Google / Coursera (3), freeCodeCamp (1). Full list: https://ministar-samuel.com/about.md

## Design systems
- Boring UI: A mobile-first UI kit in Figma: one blue, one typeface, four text sizes, and every control a small app needs — drawn once, with its rules written down, then used to build whole screens. (Figma: https://www.figma.com/design/JUKMoFB2j3x7zKbGq3tMY8/Boring-Ui)
- Terminal Grid: This site’s own system: teal on black, hairline cells with crosshair corners, hard offset shadows and three typefaces — tokens first, then components, patterns and pages.
- Talk to Stino: A token set for one brand: ink, paper, white, asphalt and greys, Archivo Black for display, and a rule that colour only ever comes from the garments.

## Services
- Design: UI/UX, Visual Design, Mobile Interface Design, Skeuomorphic Mastery, Wireframing, Design Thinking & Gestalt Psychology
- Development: HTML/CSS/JavaScript, C#, Responsive Web Design, Full-Stack Thinking, Product Development
- AI & Machine Learning: AI Art Generation, AI Integration Specialist, Applied ML, Prompt Engineering, Midjourney & Adobe Firefly
- Game Development: Aspiring game developer — creating interactive experiences that merge design instincts with code

## Speaking
- "The Non-Coding Designer: Why You Should Learn to Code" — Interaction Design Foundation — Johannesburg chapter, Jul 2024 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqGF2TQQJfY)

## Contact
- Email: samuel.ministar@gmail.com
- GitHub: https://github.com/Ministar-Samuel
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ministar-samuel/
- Dribbble: https://dribbble.com/Ministar
- Pinterest: https://de.pinterest.com/AI_Art_Explorer
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samuel.ministar/
- Pexels: https://www.pexels.com/@ministar/
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SamuellMinistar
- X (Twitter): https://x.com/ministarsamuel

## Optional
- [Full text of the site](https://ministar-samuel.com/llms-full.txt): every page and case study in one document
- [Reading list](https://ministar-samuel.com/books.md): 29 books
- [Gallery](https://ministar-samuel.com/gallery.md): 8,200+ AI art pieces, photography and UI studies
- The site's assistant, Ministar AI, runs entirely in the visitor's browser (local NLP and fuzzy retrieval, no network calls).