413: Design Mentorship

413: Design Mentorship

Author: Brian Lovin, Marshall Bock September 22, 2021 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 on unimportant details, and how to tell the difference between polish and procrastination.

Golden Ratio Supporters:

Plume empowers a billion smart devices in homes and small businesses through a suite of adaptive WiFi, AI security, and parental control. They're hiring product designers to build the future of smart home services. They're hiring product designers with 2-5 years of experience shipping products — learn more at designdetails.fm/plume. Oh, and they just raised a $270m series E, so now's the time!

Latest VIP Patrons:

  • Bilal
  • AJ Patshkowski
  • Ben C
  • First Name, pause, Last Name
  • Sam Hermes
  • Sid Kshetrapal
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  • Hoyin

The Sidebar:

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

Follow Up:

  • Manny asks on Twitter: Curious, how much time do you guys usually spend on side projects a day/week? Whenever I work on side projects, I always feel guilty of not spending time with my other half, friends and pets because we haven’t seen each other for a whole day usually
    • Probably...10-20 hours per week, on a good week? Huge caveat: we don’t have kids.
  • Siddharth agreed with Marshall about when to ship: sure you can ship fast and often (i try) and you’ll quickly learn what you didnt know w/ feedback 10/10. but there are some things that only click ✨ when you’re chasing that last 5%, someone else can’t do that click for you

Main Topic:

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.

Cool Things:

  • Brian shared Amplosion and Achoo from Christian Selig (the creator of the Apollo Reddit app, which we love). These are using the new Safari extension APIs that are new in iOS 15! Amplosion automatically redirects away from AMP pages on Google, and Achoo lets you inspect the HTML of a page on your phone.
  • Marshall shared 14 by Peter Clines, the next entry in Marshall’s Book Club. More recommendations from Peter Clines: The Fold and Paradox Bound.

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
464: AI Grab Bag [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:27
This week, we talk about Open AI's GPTs-as-apps strategy, FigJam's AI tools, and our dreams for a future Jarvis-like experience.The Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can s…
463: Design Medley, Vol. 1 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 34:13
This week, we talk about the delicate art of using animation in interface design, how to use button sizes, and managing margins in type styles.The Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon suppor…
462: Refactoring a Design System [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:33
This week, Marshall breaks down his process, tips, and tricks to redesign a design system in Figma.The Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per m…
461: Config and WWDC 2023 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:08:06
This week, we supply some cold (but thoughtful!) takes on everything released during last month's WWDC and Config 2023.The Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe…
460: Arc Boosts ft. Gabriel Valdivia [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:21
This week, we dissect the recently-launched Arc Boosts to try and understand what they're for and where they're going.The Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe s…
459: What Is Humane? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:27
This week, we talk about Humane's latest product demo and what we think it means for the future of AI-powered personal devices.The Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can su…
458: How Do You Simplify a UI? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:18
This week, we share non-obvious tips and tricks for simplifying a UI.The Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per month for access to bonus conte…
457: How to Find Focus [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 25:20
This week, we talk about finding focus when there are infinite things to learn to become a better designer.The Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at…
456: Should Designers Name Their Layers? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 32:53
This week, we fight about whether designers should name their layers (without saying "it depends").The Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for our Patreon supporters. You can subscribe starting at $1 per m…
455: Shift Happens ft. Marcin Wichary [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:06
This week, we talked with Marcin Wichary about Shift Happens, a book about keyboards. We dive into the details of the book, its publication, website, and more.The Sidebar:The Sidebar is an exclusive weekly segment for ou…