On finding the essence of your thinking

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.

Jul 08, 2024

Professionals across various industries have historically relied on concepts to communicate and sell ideas. Concepts are very common in advertising, branding, marketing, graphic design, fashion, architecture, and many more creative fields. It all comes down to the human brain's innate attraction to narrative and metaphor and how we can leverage this to push ideas forward.

Design concept: on finding the essence of your thinking →

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Editor picks

Creativity: from small-c to big-C →
Why creativity needs to happen across systems.
Don’t be fooled by Figma’s new AI features →
How to maintain focus on designers’ roles and responsibilities.
Designing beyond the colonial imaginary →
Why is Design assumed to have a singular history rooted in Eurocentrism?

The UX Collective is an independent design publication that elevates unheard design voices and helps designers think more critically about their work.

Keyboard simulator →

Make me think

Figma AI and its implications →
“There are many companies, and the number seems to be increasing, that are more than happy to turn the jobs of designers over to folks who are able to wield tools to produce a facsimile of what a designer is actually capable of.”
The design purity trap & how to escape it →
“The problem is that most of humanity doesn’t believe in design purity. They barely know what design is or what designers do. Work is a social process which means communication skills and relationships are critical. This idea of design purity is a trap for designers, since it sets up impossible expectations the real world will never provide.”
Careful technology →
“Technology is doing more with less. This is a definition we should not lose sight of. The wheel allows one to move more weight, or with less effort. The gas boiler allows heating with less labor than coal. Email is faster and cheaper than postal mail. There are other tradeoffs made of course, we’ll get to that.”

Little gems this week

Designing for high engagement: tips from a top nutrition app →

The political and societal power of video games →

Accessible form validation from scratch: preparing for validation →

Tools and resources

How UX can be a key differentiator for AI →
From raw power to adaptive interfaces.
Did Figma AI just take my job? →
The evolving landscape of UX design in an AI world.
How to create delightful animations →
Principles that make animations great.