What led you into design?
For many people, their love for design started when they were young. However, growing up with migrant parents, there were only three acceptable career paths: doctor, lawyer, or engineer. I dreamed of being a doctor my entire childhood until my sophomore year in high school when I abandoned that dream because of Myspace. Yes, Myspace.
I was around 14 or 15 when Myspace came out, and it was the TikTok of my generation. Everyone had one. We had other time-defining platforms like AIM and Friendster, but Myspace offered something different—not only could you have a Top 8 Friends (oh, the drama), but you could also customize your page if you knew a bit of HTML and CSS.
My design career, if you could call it that at the time, started because I saw an opportunity. It wasn’t because I loved or was good at designing, but I saw a chance to make some extra cash by designing my friends’ Myspace pages. I got myself a copy of Photoshop, learned some CSS and HTML, and started selling Myspace themes. The more I did, the more I enjoyed the feeling of creating something unique and new.
I loved that feeling so much that I decided to drop my dream of saving lives by becoming a doctor and pursue the higher calling of becoming a web developer. This was short-lived because my brain couldn’t wrap itself around ActionScript 2.0, so I chose the next best thing: web design—all the glory, none of the ActionScript.
Thankfully, my parents were supportive enough to let me follow this new dream, although to this day my mom still thinks I build computers for a living. This is the way.
What does a typical day look like?
I’d love to say I wake up at 6 AM, go for a run, and start grinding on a side project, but that would be stretching the truth. In reality, some days I wake up 15 minutes before my first meeting, skip breakfast, brush my teeth, and jump on the meeting ready to go. Unlike many of my peers, I don’t drink coffee—I’m naturally super energetic, and one sip of caffeine would make me bounce to the moon—You might say, that’s my superpower.
The rest of the day is filled with responding to emails and Slack messages and carving out time to be productive. I work from home and have two young daughters, so I block out an hour to play with them, grab a quick lunch together, or keep my UNO winning streak alive against them.
As the day winds down, I spend the last hour responding to emails, tying up loose ends, and planning for the next day. Evenings are for personal time with my wife and daughters. I often play golf on weekends, and on weekdays, I might listen to an audiobook while walking or, if time allows, hit the range to practice my golf game—it’s an obsession.
What's your workstation setup?
Where do you go to get inspired?
It depends on what I’m working on and who I’m working for. When I worked for Apple as a Creative Director, I mainly looked at past and current Apple work, as well as concepts that were created but not launched (where else do you get inspiration when designing for the place where most people look for inspiration?). I would also look at magazines, architecture, and other physical products. I typically avoid looking at other websites when designing for the web because it helps me think outside the box and avoid remixing what I just saw.
For other clients or personal projects, I browse Savee, Pinterest, and, need I say it, Apple, for inspiration. I love typography, so I collect—or, as my wife would put it, “hoard”—print pieces, which is another great source of inspiration.
What product have you recently seen that made you think this is great design?
It’s not new, but it’s still one of my all-time favorites: the Nest Thermostat. The design is timeless, the installation is so simple that anyone can do it, and the overall user experience is seamless. It’s been over a decade since it launched, and it’s still as good as it was from day one. I prefer the original Nest app for iPhone—I’m not a huge fan of Google Home—but luckily, I can still use it.
What pieces of work are you most proud of?
It was impossible to pick just one, so after much deliberation, I narrowed it down to two. Both happened to be during my time with Apple, but that’s not to say I didn’t build some cool stuff at other companies and in my free time. These two projects were the most challenging and fun, so I had to go with them.
Apps by Apple. It’s one of those projects I will always remember. It was so much fun and stressful at the same time!
Apple Security. One of the few projects I worked on within the enterprise side of Apple. It was definitely a lot of fun working on the page, but it was especially fun working on this little animation.
What design challenges do you face at your company?
After leaving Apple and taking a year off, I joined an AI startup called webAI. We’re building some incredible products, but like any startup, we face our share of challenges. Establishing our brand and products while everything moves at lightning speed is a constant hurdle. Building the design team while being hands-on with design work in these early stages is like juggling flaming torches—exciting but tricky. However, the entire team is incredibly supportive, and the leadership is understanding, making these challenges feel manageable and even fun at times.
What music do you listen to while designing?
Any advice for ambitious designers?
Let’s start with the cliché but true ones: Stay curious and never stop learning. Design is an ever-evolving field, and keeping up with the latest trends, tools, and technologies is crucial. Now that we have that out of the way, let me tell you something that I have found to be the best thing you can do as a designer.
Be easy to work with. A lot of people overlook this simple yet vital part of their design career. You can be the most talented person in the world, but if you’re a jerk, your career won’t go far. Remember, a successful career is built not only by what you know but who you know—be nice to people and network.
Last but certainly not least, take care of yourself. No one has ever died because we didn’t show up to work one day. Our work is important, and it’s good to take pride in what we do, but let’s not neglect ourselves in the process. Your well-being and your relationships with friends and family are infinitely more valuable than money.
Anything you want to promote or plug?
If you want to connect and say hello, you can find me on X @JaslinTonton. I’m always eager to chat with other creatives. I also recently launched a course to help creatives land their dream jobs. If you’re interested, you can sign up for the waitlist here: https://learn.hellotonton.com/
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