Photo by Joseph Gonzalez on Unsplash
Eliot Frost
Co-founder & Design Lead
Eliot Frost is the systems thinker behind Fireflies Collective's digital practice, bringing order and elegance to complex design challenges. With a background in both computer science and graphic design, he bridges the gap between creative vision and technical execution. He's happiest when building design systems that empower teams and scale beautifully.
About Eliot
Eliot Frost took an unusual path into design. He studied computer science at MIT before realizing that what excited him most about software was not the logic but the interface — the moment where human intention meets digital response. He enrolled in the MFA program at the School of Visual Arts in New York, and that dual perspective has defined his career ever since.
Before co-founding Fireflies Collective with Maya Chen, Eliot spent four years as a senior product designer at a well-known fintech startup, where he built the design system from the ground up and led a team of eight designers. The experience taught him that great digital design is not about flashy interactions but about reducing friction and creating clarity. He carried that philosophy into the studio.
At Fireflies Collective, Eliot oversees all digital projects — from responsive websites and web applications to component libraries and brand design systems. He is meticulous about consistency, accessibility, and performance. His design tokens and documentation practices have become a quiet signature of the studio's work, ensuring that everything the team produces holds together at every scale.
Outside the studio, Eliot contributes to open-source design tooling and mentors junior designers through AIGA's mentorship program. He is an avid rock climber and credits the sport with teaching him patience and problem-solving under pressure. His creative philosophy is simple: structure is not the enemy of creativity — it is the foundation that makes bold ideas possible.
