Let’s talk
The performance lab Explore the site

Colorado, USA
Open to work and new projects.

Creative front-end developer

I build digital experiences that move.

I’m Darren, a developer based in Colorado. I build websites that are easy to use, with room for a little motion and a closer look at the details.

View selected work Start a conversation

Open to junior developer roles, agency work, and freelance projects.

The performance labStudy 001
Floating laptop, tablet, and camera-equipped phone displaying Darren's portfolio across three screen sizes, connected by luminous orbits
Studio view
Connected experiences / Iris editionDrag to explore
Discover the work

Designed in Colorado.Built by Darren.

Featured project / 01AERO/01 Interactive product story
01 / Selected work
04 projects

A few things
I’ve made.

I like making things that feel good to use.

Here’s a closer look at what I built, the choices I made, and what I learned along the way.

In focus / AERO/01

Beyond the
flat screen.

I built AERO/01 around a running shoe you can turn and inspect. Try the model here, or open the project to see how it came together.

  • Rotate and inspect the shoe
  • Use touch, a mouse, or the controls
  • Switch to a still image at any time
Inside the project Full experience (opens in a new tab)

Self-initiated fictional product concept.

AERO/01 · Bone / Silver
The Bone / Silver AERO/01 running shoe in a three-quarter studio image from the live website
Studio view
Original Blender model / Studio preview
02 / What I bring

From the first sketch
to a working website.

I work on both the design and the code. Here’s what that looks like across the projects I’m building.

01

Creative development

I build responsive pages and add motion where it helps: a smoother transition, a clearer state change, or a detail worth exploring.

Interaction / Motion / Responsive web
02

3D web experiences

I bring Blender models into the browser with Three.js, with controls to explore them and still images for when 3D isn’t the right fit.

Three.js / WebGL / Product storytelling
03

Front-end development

I use React and TypeScript to build reusable components, handle the awkward edge cases, and make navigation work with a keyboard.

React / TypeScript / Accessibility
04

Digital product design

I work through page layouts, type, and color so people can find what they need and know what to do next.

Visual systems / UI / Prototyping
The current toolkit

ReactTypeScriptThree.jsJavaScriptHTML & CSSReact RouterSCSSGit

The process / Keep refining

How I take a project
from idea to launch.

01 / Discover

First, I ask who the site is for, what they need, and what the project needs to accomplish.

Darren Hayden smiling while holding an acoustic guitar.
Photo 1 of 2. Away from the keyboardMaking time for music.
03 / Away from the screen

A developer.
A runner.
A sense of rhythm.

Most of my time goes into a few things I care about: building for the web, distance running, and music.

Running has taught me to keep showing up, even when progress is slow. Building a website takes some of that same patience, with plenty of small wins along the way.

A little more about me
04 / Open to what’s next

Let’s make
something move.

Open to junior developer roles, agency work, and freelance projects.

Start a conversation Colorado, USA