368: Teaching Design Fundamentals

368: Teaching Design Fundamentals

Author: Brian Lovin, Marshall Bock October 14, 2020 Duration: 28:23

This week, we discuss strategies for teaching design fundamentals and how to make the process engaging and fun for new designers. In The Sidebar, we discuss the pain of noticing problems right before you ship.


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The Sidebar:

The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to full episodes going forward! Sign up at https://patreon.com/designdetails.

In this week's Sidebar, we discuss the pain of noticing things you want to fix right before a ship – and how to avoid this situation!


Follow up:

  • Several of you volunteered to help transcribe (or proofread our transcriptions) for future episodes. We're going to figure out a process here - it will most likely live on GitHub!

Listener question:

This week, Carrie Rong asks:

I'm a student in Canada, where I just started my university's first design community to introduce product, UX, and web design to people who have otherwise never heard of it before. I want to make sure that I teach others to have the mindset of correct design thinking and fundamentals, but I'm self taught myself and not sure how to approach this when everyone seems to just want to jump on the software and make pretty things (especially when my personal style is try to make stuff first, and basics later). I know that being a designer is more than knowing how to use Figma, and I don't want to breed mediocrity in design.

Do you have any suggestions on getting people excited about design fundamentals and how to teach them? Or are the basics more something that you learn with time and practice?


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Every week, Brian Lovin and Marshall Bock settle in for a thoughtful, often meandering chat that pulls back the curtain on how things are made. Their Design Details podcast lives in the rich space where technology and the arts intersect, focusing less on polished case studies and more on the real, sometimes messy, work of design. You’ll hear them dissect the nuances of product decisions, debate the evolving culture of creative teams, and share personal stories from their own experiences in the industry. It feels less like a lecture and more like eavesdropping on a conversation between two deeply knowledgeable friends. The discussions regularly venture into the philosophical side of craft, examining why certain choices resonate and how design shapes our daily interactions with the world. For anyone curious about the thinking behind the pixels and interfaces, this show offers a consistent, grounded perspective. Tuning in provides a sense of community and a candid look at the process, making it a staple for designers and creators who appreciate substance over flash.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Design Details
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