Hey, I’m Lauren Barless.

An empathetic design leader with a streak of curiosity, I strive to discover what people need to create things they love.

Most recently, I was the product design manager at Format, where I designed interfaces for our flagship product, helped shape our roadmap, and mentored other designers. I also led a small but mighty design team to launch our newest product, Workflow — a suite of online tools to help photographers run their business.

Here are a few of the useful things I’ve helped to research, test and design at Format:


More about me

Based in Toronto, Canada, I live in a very old house with an ever-growing collection of houseplants. Previously, I helped launch the mentorship platform Ten Thousand Coffees, and developed brands at Maker Studios and Pilot Interactive. I’m at my best when I can collaborate closely with product teams to solve real-world problems that people face.

I’m also passionate about mentoring and empowering designers. I help run Ladies, Wine & Design Toronto, a community for women and non-binary people in creative industries, and have mentored with Side X Side Co.

At any given time I’m usually working on a side project or two, and I have about a million hobbies: pottery, hand lettering, film photography, painting, sewing, weaving, embroidery, jewelry making... whatever lets me create things with my hands.


Get in touch

My portfolio is available upon request

You can also reach out via e-mail or follow me on DribbblePinterest or LinkedIn.