387: Design Craft Tips & Tricks

387: Design Craft Tips & Tricks

Author: Brian Lovin, Marshall Bock March 3, 2021 Duration: 28:59

This week, we dig into specific tips and tricks to level up your craft game: how to leverage tools to make faster iterations, stay organized, and allow your mocks to easily scale over time. In The Sidebar, we dig into how to give design critique without having full problem or product context.

Golden Ratio Supporter:

A huge shoutout to Copilot, the best app for budgeting and tracking your personal finances. It’s our favorite tool for categorizing our spending, having our net worth available at a glance, and getting monthly (and yearly!) digests of all your spending.

Get the app at copilot.money.

Latest VIP Patrons:

  • Tim S
  • Olivier Ifrah
  • Taner Aydın
  • Alisa Zhukova
  • Nordy Vlasman
  • Anuja Upadhye
  • Kacie
  • Paulina Dera
  • Mirko Poloni
  • Johannes
  • Jason Lockwood
  • Gary Moran
  • Marshal Uhls
  • xenolon
  • Joshua Gittoes
  • Zoe Lee
  • Sumire Hibiya
  • Cara Brashears
  • Daniel Hermoso
  • Lakshman Ramesh
  • Simon Hua
  • Ashish Negi
  • Alexander Duffner

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 talk about how to give design critique without having the full context on a problem or product area.

Follow up:

  • Stevanus Satria tweeted: The next MMORPG I play my character shall be a wizard hailing from the Northland wielding a powerful electric guitar 🤣 Please do!

Main Topic:

This week Marshall runs us through all his craft tips and tricks: little ways to use tools to make designing interfaces faster, more efficiently, with more organization, and in a way that will scale as you explore.

Cool Things:

  • Brian shared the Lift desk stand from Artifox. It’s expensive, but very pretty, and has some smart integration with magnets.
  • Marshall shared Mistborn: The Final Empire, a story by Brandon Sanderson. The book is a fantasy heist kind of tale, where the magic is based on metallurgy and its interesting combinations. The audio book is 24 hours, so not too bad!

Design Details on the Web:

Byeee!


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
Podcast Episodes
414: Memorable Software Moments [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:30
This week, we recall our most recent “wow” moments with the products in our lives. What are yours? In The Sidebar, we talk about different loading state strategies and their impact on the user experience.Golden Ratio Sup…
413: Design Mentorship [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:27
This week, we talk about design mentorship: what does an effective mentor do, how to find a mentor, how to avoid giving bad career advice, and more. In The Sidebar, we talk about obsessing over the pixels, wasting time o…
412: Side Project Perfectionism [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 35:19
This week, we talk about how we combat perfectionism in our side projects, the value of shipping, and why sharing a project too early can backfire. In the Sidebar, we recap Apple’s September event with our hot takes and…
411: Follow-upisode [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:31
This week, we follow up on last week’s conversation about designing at agencies, hiring contractors, Yelp’s app icons, and Bock’s Constant. In the Sidebar, we talk about designing with your mind’s eye and how learning to…
410: Agency vs In-House Design [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:46
This week, we compare agency vs. in-house design work, dissect the tradeoffs, and share interview tips for anyone moving from an agency to a product company. In The Sidebar, we share our favorite Keynote tips and tricks…
409: Twitter’s Follow Button [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 21:33
This week, we talk about Twitter’s new follow buttons. Are they a mistake? Or a fix for something broken that we’d all become used to? Our opinions on buttons emerge! In The Sidebar, we talk about what to do with time of…
408: News Desk, Vol. 2 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:34
This week, we talk about Yelp’s new logo and app icons, Apple’s new child safety initiatives, and the miniature masterpieces of the Olympic pictograms. In the Sidebar, we curate practical negotiation tips, strategies, an…
407: Pixel 6 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 27:46
This week, we talk about the new Pixel 6 announcement, how it stacks up against the competition, and what we’re most excited about. In The Sidebar, we share our design regrets: things we shipped that ended up being mista…
406: Who Leads UI Design? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 24:55
This week, we dig into questions like: who should design a team’s visual style guide? And: who should break a tie in subjective aesthetic arguments? In The Sidebar, we share our tips and strategies for succeeding as a ne…
405: News Desk, Vol. 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:43
This week, we talk about the new Microsoft emoji, a cool Android 12 feature, the joy of watching Apple iterate in public, and the new “King of Buttons” aka the Steam Deck. In The Sidebar, we talk about the challenge of h…