377: Future-Proof Designer

377: Future-Proof Designer

Author: Brian Lovin, Marshall Bock December 16, 2020 Duration: 26:12

This week, we talk about the skills and tools that designers can learn to become future-proof. In The Sidebar, we share our impressions, tips, and best practices for using Figma Variants.


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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 do a deep dive into Figma's recent release of Variants. We talk about the interface itself, best practices, and tips for making the most of Variants.


Follow up:

  • Katherine tweeted some solid praise for our Patreon - thank you for supporting the show!

Main topic:

This week's listener question comes from Loucas Papantoniou on GitHub: Design has matured as a discipline, there are a lot of good people in the industry, we've design systems, better processes, but it also becomes more commoditized. In what skills do you think an experienced designer should invest now to be 'Future-proof' in the next few years? For instance 3D and AR/VR are expected only to get more and more popular, AI and machine learning are already very much in demand, etc. What do you think? On what do you invest yourself in nowadays?


Cool Things:

  • Brian shared Talking to Strangers, the newest book from Malcolm Gladwell. Here's your teaser: Something is very wrong, Gladwell argues, with the tools and strategies we use to make sense of people we don't know. And because we don't know how to talk to strangers, we are inviting conflict and misunderstanding in ways that have a profound effect on our lives and our world.
  • Marshall shared Dr. Garuda on YouTube, a fascinating channel of montage-style videos of clay masterwork. The creations are wildly good and the videos showing the process are inspiring.

Design Details on the Web:


Bonsoir!


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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