Dive Club 🤿

Dan Mall, an experienced designer with expertise in design systems and Figma variables, shares his take on the future of design systems, the challenges of scalability, the potential of AI in design tooling, and advice for creating a design system for small teams. He also discusses the relevance and interpretation of atomic design and how to avoid overextending design systems.

Anthony Hobday, a self-taught interface designer, shares tips for improving visual design skills. He discusses matching design to concept, mastering color, enhancing website design, and improving typography. The podcast emphasizes the significance of following rules while also breaking them to create compelling designs.

Grace Ling, engineer turned designer and founder of the biggest design community online, talks about standing out in today's job market, including tactics to fast-track learning, breaking into new companies, and practicals for designers. Topics include challenges faced by UX Designers, using LinkedIn for connection and inspiration, the value of feedback and learning in the age of social media, networking and making connections, landing a role at EA, and finding design through internships and online communities.

If you're looking to level up how you use variables in Figma then this episode is for you ✌️ Luis goes deep into strategies based on team size, provides naming guidance, and even breaks down how he thinks about structuring libraries with variables in Figma. Lastly, Luis shares a behind-the-scenes of his journey as a designer advocate and even gives a unique prediction for how AI will take shape inside of Figma.Don't forget to follow Luis on Twitter and check out his awesome files in the Figma community

Steph Golik, an early design leader at Cruise, discusses how designers can transition to entrepreneurship and raise venture funding. Highlights include the advantages of designers in entrepreneurship, the role of design in startups, their journey to becoming a founder, investing in selling for fundraising and customers, their background in transportation architecture, de-risking their startup Huddle, and a new course for designers wanting to start their own companies.

Fons Mans, the designer of the Dive brand, discusses his branding process and strategies for creating standout visuals. Topics include brand manifestos, mood boards, structuring Figma files, light mode vs dark mode, designing for new platforms, and recreating work to improve visual skills.

Charli Marie, Creative Director at ConvertKit, discusses insights about brand and marketing strategy, data storytelling, and career growth. Topics include advocating for a promotion, contributing to company strategy, balancing creativity and data-driven decision making, the importance of understanding HTML and CSS for designers, typography in design, and finding the right balance between creativity and systemizing in marketing design.

Bonnie Kate Wolf, an experienced and well-respected icon designer, shares her journey to success, including stories from designing the Netflix icon library. She discusses pricing tactics, client process, and the importance of consistency in icon design. The podcast also explores starting small with icon sets and the power of Figma in transforming the design process.

Topics discussed include storytelling in product strategy, collaborating with PMs, handling pushback in design, selling ideas, transitioning into a management role, personal growth as a leader at GASO, challenges of facilitating meetings as a designer, continuous learning, opinionated software, building a design team, and the impact of AI on design.

In this episode, Dan shares his insights on using Framer from his experience as an early adopter. He also discusses his approach to learning to code while building his own product and shares some tips for others looking to do the same. And obviously, we couldn't call it a Deep Dive without chatting a bit about the impact of AI as well as learning how Jay-Z used to influence the product roadmap at TIDAL 👀