Mannequin
React, Twig, Drupal, GitHub ActionsBridging design and development by emulating complex creation in a tailored environment. A component-based Drupal theming tool built at Last Call Media — lead designer and front end developer on this open source project.
Mannequin is an open-source Drupal theming tool built at Last Call Media. It bridges the gap between design and development by letting designers create and preview component variations in isolation — without needing a full Drupal backend running. Think of it as a Storybook equivalent for the Drupal ecosystem.
The ChallengeDrupal's theming layer is tightly coupled to its backend. Designers couldn't see their components without spinning up databases, content types, and test data. This created a slow feedback loop that frustrated both designers and developers.
Lead Designer & Front-End Developer — designed the product interface and built the React-based component preview system.
ToolsResearched existing component development workflows (Storybook, Pattern Lab)
Designed a standalone preview UI that renders Twig templates with mock data
Built the front-end layer in React with hot-reloading for instant feedback
Created GitHub Actions CI pipeline for automated testing
Wrote comprehensive documentation for open-source contributors
Adopted by 3 agency teams within 6 months of launch
Reduced theming feedback loop from hours to seconds
15+ contributors on the open-source repository
Featured in Drupal community presentations