What led you into design?
So, I used to be a huge gamer and when I moved out into college dorms after high school the internet sucked! Thus I made a decision to check out some cool Photoshop tutorials, and one thing kinda led to another. I spent a lot of time on forums researching e-books on the next money making methods (I was young and I needed the cash for mechanical keyboards), and I discovered these things called forum signatures.
One thing led to the next and worked on tutorial after tutorial then I realized that this was also considered a job. Then that led me to attend The Art Institute where I experimented with all kinds of design mediums which eventually landed me on a career path of product design. Today, I’ve realized it’s all about constant growth.
What does a typical day look like?
Currently, I’ve been waking up around 7 AM which has worked out for me so far. I start my day with the basics (brushing teeth, washing face, and cliff bar) then meditation and reading the book The Daily Stoic. Meditation and The Daily Stoic has been a crucial part of my life and I recommend this book to everyone. Last but not least, I also jump into my bullet journal system.
After all of that work begins with a daily standup sync with all of our product design teams across the world (only 3 teams). This usually happens while I’m in the car on my commute then when I get into work I sync up with the marketing design team (I work between both teams) and by then I’m alerted if there’s anything I missed out for my daily to-do list.
Once all of the meetings are over in my early portion of the day I try to lock in as many deep work hours as I can. Currently, the technique I’ve been using to help secure those hours is simply setting a timer for around 30 mins of undistracted work with NO notifications.
Going into the evening I find the relationship I share with my co-workers very important so on certain days we might get dinner together or do some sort of team building activity. After spending time with them I go home to work on side projects or just building out my social influence reach.
Heading off to sleep I just watch youtube vids ┐(￣ヘ￣)┌
What’s your setup?
At work, I use an iMac (2017) and at home, I use a Macbook Pro (2017) and I’m more than happy with both of them. For my iPhone, I referenced Francois’ iPhone setup to add a “layer of friction between the present moment and the digital world”.
Where do you go to get inspired?
Honestly, it’s very situational depending on what you’re designing for, but I’ll list some of the places that first come to mind.
SiteInspire(amazing list of hip, groundbreaking sites)
Pages.xyz(a lot of e-commerce inspiration here)
Pttrns (loads of real-life app screens here)
Designer News (stay up to date on news and catch inspiring sites before they’re popular)
Behance - Global Search (hear me out, if you begin to search based on geolocations you’ll catch some incoming design trends happening in other countries)
Walking (a good walk can clear your mind)
Playing video games (you never know what could hit you while playing a video game)
What product have you recently seen that made you think this is great design?
SuperHi
SuperHi is a resource for learning code that’s targeted mostly designers, I purchased their book a while back and have been interacting with them on social for the past year. I love the team and the content they create, a lot of people would enjoy this if they give them a chance.
Todoist
I’m all about productivity apps and this one has stuck with me for years now. From the awesome ranking system, to how simple it is to collaborate with others, I can’t help but give acclaim to this product.
What pieces of work are you most proud of?
Ring
One of my favorite pieces of work at Ring is currently secret to my knowledge and I can’t say too much but personally, I think once executed and refined properly it will change neighborhood security as a whole.
Anime Inspired Posters
A while back I came across a design challenge to create something for 30 days, and I thought why not make anime inspired posters? So for 30 days I used Japanese lorem ipsum and had a blast exploring type combinations as well as illustration styles.
Self Taught Collectables
This is actually currently a work in progress with development right now but I’ll give you some background. So personally I would consider myself self-taught and I realized there isn’t (from my knowledge) too many resource websites just covering youtube designers and developers. This site will be a catalog of thought leaders within design and development where someone interested in learning more from youtube in their spare time can discover content.
What design challenges do you face at your company?
I would say the biggest challenges for design at Ring are some of the soft skills. With an expanding team — keeping everyone in the loop and also growing culturally. These are the skills they don’t teach in school!
What music do you listen to while designing?
Any advice for ambitious designers?
Always keep a beginner mindset, there’s always so much more to learn out there.
Don’t fret over all of the cool designs always being launched by everyone else, just focus on the things you like and don’t be afraid to make your own cool designs for them.
Take care of your mind, mental health is very important and we often overlook that. Don’t be afraid to take a break every once and a while, talk to friends and family.
Last, don’t forget to build relationships online through social media, use the tools we are given.
Anything you want to promote or plug?
What would make me happiest is if we connect and you just say hi over on Twitter or Instagram
Thank you again, for this amazing opportunity.
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