“When we graduated as graphic designers, my classmates and I were quite confused about our role in the professional world, despite having studied design for 5 years. Terms like “design thinking” were often thrown around in casual conversation but what it was or how to think like a designer was never really elaborated upon.”

Why is the design industry so misunderstood? →

The UX Collective is an independent ad-free design publication that elevates unheard design voices, reaching over 400k+ designers every week. Curated by Fabricio Teixeira and Caio Braga.

Editors’ picks

The vanishing designer →
UX design in the age of standardization.

Why collaboration is so vital for humans →
Manfred Max-Neef’s theory of fundamental human needs.

How to design dataviz that is actually valuable →
Understanding how people interpret data.

Bryan font: how this designer captured his father’s handwriting and turned it into a font.

Food for thought

On the phenomenon of bullsh*t jobs →
“…And these numbers do not even reflect on all those people whose job is to provide administrative, technical, or security support for these industries, or for that matter the whole host of ancillary industries (dog-washers, all-night pizza delivery) that only exist because everyone else is spending so much of their time working in all the other ones.”

How TikTok’s algorithm figures you out →
“A Wall Street Journal investigation found that TikTok only needs one important piece of information to figure out what you want: the amount of time you linger over a piece of content. Every second you hesitate or rewatch, the app is tracking you.”

Design for disassembly →
“The reality is that consumption-based capitalism isn't going anywhere. But we as designers and business leaders have the opportunity and the agency to devise ways to implement healthier making and sourcing methods by rethinking our approaches to design.”

Little gems this week

The typographic voice of London →

5 bitter design manager’s lessons I wish I had learned earlier →

A complete guide to alcohol markers →

Tools and resources

Tricycle →
Automation tools for designers.

WCAG color rules →
Ever wondered why color contrast ratio doesn't always seem to work?

JAM →
Collaboratively edit your website, on your own website.

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