I’m Rob Bond — a Winnipeg-based designer and developer who works at the intersection of branding, web, ecommerce, and automation. I’ve been doing this, in one form or another, since 2001. That’s long enough to have watched entire platforms rise and fall, to have rebuilt sites from scratch more times than I can count, and to have a clear sense of what actually works versus what just sounds good in a proposal.
When you work with Rocket Science Designs, you’re working with me directly. Not an account manager. Not a junior assigned after the sales call. Me — the person who scoped it, who’s building it, and who you’ll hear from when something needs to be figured out. That’s the arrangement, and it’s intentional.
Connect with Rob on LinkedIn →
What I actually bring to a project
Most designers can’t write code. Most developers don’t understand brand. Most marketers can’t do either. After two decades working across all three, I can — and that combination changes what’s possible when you’re working with a limited team or a tight timeline.
I’ve designed logos that ended up on products sold nationally. I’ve built and managed Shopify stores doing real volume. I’ve written email flows, shot product photography, edited video, configured automations, and wired up APIs — not as side experiments, but as the actual work, for real clients and real businesses including my own. When I make a recommendation, it’s grounded in having done the thing, not just knowing the theory behind it.
Background
Rocket Science Designs has been a Winnipeg business since 2005. It started as a screen printing and apparel studio — custom shirts, team gear, event merchandise — before evolving into the digital consultancy it is today. The craft mentality carried over: care about the details, deliver something that holds up, don’t hand people work you wouldn’t put your name on.
Before going fully independent, I spent five years at FXR — a Canadian powersports apparel brand — as Senior Web Coordinator. I led the migration of their enterprise ecommerce platform from Magento to Shopify, built and managed the app ecosystem that ran their online operations, and worked directly with IT on Shopify–NetSuite integrations. I managed a small web team and collaborated with an external dev agency on custom feature builds. It was high-stakes, high-volume ecommerce at a brand with national and international reach — and it’s where a lot of my Shopify depth comes from.
Before that: Web Coordinator at Mondetta/MPG (another Shopify migration), Acting Marketing Manager at AGF, and 15 years as Web and Product Database Manager at River City Sports — where I started in ecommerce before most people knew what ecommerce was.
Alongside Rocket Science Designs, I’m currently building Rocket Reception — an AI-powered receptionist platform for small businesses, built in TypeScript and Node.js, with a PostgreSQL database hosted on Render. I designed it, built it, and continue to iterate on it. It’s the clearest example of what I mean when I say I work across the full stack.
Education
I hold two diplomas from Applied Multimedia Training Centres in Winnipeg: a Web Design & Internet Specialist Diploma (with an Outstanding Achievement Award) and a Multimedia Design & Communication Diploma, both completed in 1999–2000. It was a hands-on, production-focused program — exactly the right foundation for the kind of work I’ve spent 20+ years doing.
Skills & tools
Languages & development: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Liquid, SQL (MySQL, PostgreSQL), Node.js, Prisma — with working knowledge of React and Tailwind.
Platforms: Shopify (deep), WordPress/WooCommerce, WHM/cPanel/DNS management.
Design & creative: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Figma, Canva, DaVinci Resolve, CapCut.
Automation & integration: Make.com, Zapier, n8n, webhooks, custom API development.
Marketing & analytics: Klaviyo, Mailchimp, Sendlane, Google Analytics (GA4), Search Console, Google Ads, Meta Business Manager, SEO strategy and implementation, AI search optimisation (AIO).
Workflow: GitHub, VS Code, ClickUp, Asana. I document what I build and leave things in a state someone else could pick up.
How I work
I take on a limited number of projects at a time so the work actually gets the attention it needs. I communicate clearly, I meet deadlines, and I tell you honestly when something is outside my wheelhouse rather than figuring it out on your dime. Pricing is transparent — project, retainer, or hourly depending on what fits — and I won’t lock you into something that doesn’t serve you.
If that sounds like the kind of working relationship you’re looking for, I’d be glad to hear what you’re building.