Hi, I’m Aashman. I enjoy designing software, creating visual art, and playing tennis. I also love learning a little bit about a wide range of things and then drawing (often rudimentary) connections between them.
I studied architecture at RISD, did cool 3D printing stuff at Formlabs, and have since spent nearly 6 years at Palantir in New York.
Things I like (543) Things I recommend (34)
2011-Now
Mucking about with various creative tools
I've been fiddling with various digital (and some physical) tools for over 18 years. Even when the tools are physical, they tend to have some kind of technology in them, like robot arms, 3D printers, and CNCs. I do not care for AI art, but continue to be bewildered by it. That said, I use LLMs primarily as a tool to help write code, something I am terrible at despite having tons of silly ideas.
Wikiwalk––Stroll through Wikipedia articles by following the first link in each article, creating a chain of connected concepts.
Map Quest––Pick a spot in the world and just
2019—Now
Product design lead at Palantir
I split my time between Foundry, the flagship data OS, and a newer 0→1 product called Apollo, a software deployment platform. Palantir really grows your ability to rapidly understand and demystify dense concepts and often requires jumping into and between several new domains in a short period of time. This has been great for my ADHD. I've also really enjoyed being a designer in such a strong engineering environment, it complements my design background surprisingly well and lets me better harness technology for creative purposes.
At Palantir, I’ve spent a lot of time learning about and designing workflows for concepts like dev-ops, vulnerability management, change management, data integration tools, data visualization, and more. Here are some of my thoughts on desinging such software––specifically around cataloguing interaction paradigms and designing complex interfaces.
2016—2019
General designer at Formlabs
I spent 3 years doing a really wide range of work that was always hovering within the extremely broad umbrella discipline of design. Over three years, I designed 3D demo parts, public 3D installations, hardware interfaces, the website, trade show booths, technical drawings, and more. I also got to dabble in photography, applications engineering, and industrial design. Felt like design grad school, 10/10 would recommend.
7 days 700 pens • Times Square Lens • Formlabs website • Form wash & cure •
2011—2016
Bachelor of Architecture, Rhode Island School of Design
RISD allowed for a very interdisciplinary approach to architecture—worked on projects around computational drawing, parametric design, sculpture, typography, web-art, and more.
I love tennis, manufacturing, infrastructure, typography, photography, and humor. Get in Touch via LinkedIn or Twitter.
Projects
Wikiwalk Explore the links between concepts in Wikipedia, starting with a term of your choice.
Map Grid Generate fun aerial screenshots.
Sports Various digital media explorations around athletic movement.
Palantir Apollo Software to ship software.
Writing about interface patterns
Dive club podcast
Palantir Foundry End to end data OS for your enterprise.
Form Wash & Cure UI
Formlabs Website
Various graphics for Formlabs
Sample parts
Installations–Times Square and the MIT Media Lab