Design Life

As designers our jobs can be done from anywhere! Ironically this can often mean that we don’t need to travel for work within a company, but opportunities can still arise to work with a team in another office, visit a client, go on a user research trip or perhaps travel to a conference. In this episode we discuss our experience with travelling for work, and share advice on how to stay productive during the break in your usual routine. Join the community to get free resources Come to Craft + Commerce

There’s often more to a project than just design. As designers we regularly find ourselves working with illustrators, copywriters, photographers and more. In this episode we chat about how we’ve worked with content creators and their involvement in the design process. In this episode we mention: Things I use – Femke’s blog post Nike+ Training App ConvertKit ‘I Am a Blogger’ Webflow Craft&Commerce Conference Mackenzie Child

Handing over your design to a developer or a team of engineers for it to be built is an important part of the design process. In this episode we talk about that handoff and how to make it run smoothly so that everyone is happy, and the finished product matches your design! Are you a community member? Sign in to your account and get access to a free template of the Design Handoff Deck that you can use with your team. Sign up here. How do you design a design doc by Dropbox The power of the design doc by Deliveroo Notion design doc template Zeplin Atomic InVision Coda

Despite all the advances the world has made with gender equality over the years, there is still a severe lack of women in tech. In this episode we discuss our experience entering the tech industry and sharing our thoughts and frustrations on the matter. The Confidence Gap – Article on The Atlantic Startup podcast Phrases to replace ‘you guys’ Diversity and Inclusion at Patreon

For many designers, deciding what new design or prototyping tool to choose can be overwhelming, with new tools launching every month! How can you choose the right one while also maximising your time? In this episode we discuss how we go about learning a new tool and how we choose which tool to learn.

In this episode, we share our current struggles, both personal and professional and what we are doing to overcome them. We also look at the struggles we faced in our careers in the past, and talk about the catalysts that helped us to change. Ladies that UX Amsterdam Ladies that UX London Tobias Van Schneider Join the community!

I think also goals are good checkpoints, like the time before you reach the goal is obviously a really important time but I think afterwards is equally important like stop reflect okay I achieved this and then think about what could be the next one

Ever have that feeling where you have too many passions and not enough time to do it all? This week we address this question from a listener who’s been struggling with feeling as though she has too many passions, and share our experience.

Recently, Femke attended a workshop about articulating design decisions and in this episode she shares a few nuggets of wisdom she learned there with you. We also discuss our experience presenting our work and getting stakeholders on board, and answer questions from our listeners.

Networking is a vital part of your design career, but at conferences or meetups it can be hard to drive a meaningful conversation. In this episode we discuss ways to move beyond ‘what do you do?’ when talking to new people at an event and share some examples of times when connecting on a deeper level has paid off for us.

Competition can be healthy or harmful, depending on how far you take it! In this episode we discuss an email from a listener about toxic competition, and share our experience with similar situations. Ux Conference London Femke’s Website (live!) Epicurrence

Do you ever feel guilty when you’re not spending time creating? It turns out, many creatives do. In this episode we discuss this guilt and why it’s irrational, and how to cope with it.

This week we get nerdy and talk about tech; more specifically, upgrading technology. When should you upgrade? Do you always need to have the latest device? How do we decide what to upgrade to? We discuss all of this and more!

As designers it sometimes feels like we are perpetually redesigning our own websites! In this episode we discuss our approach to tackling our redesigns and what tools we’re using to build the site, as well as share some advice for not getting overwhelmed with the task. Join the community!

As creatives, sometimes dealing with things like finances and paperwork don’t come naturally to us, but they’re important to figure out. In this episode we discuss the legalities and details of setting up an official business including accounting, expenses, paperwork, and when to even bother with registering it!

Both Design Life hosts have made the decision to shift their career in the past and change design disciplines: Femke from marketing to product design, and Charli from print to web design. In this episode we discuss what it was like to make this shift and share some advice for how to go about it if it’s something you’ve been thinking about doing too.

More and more designers and other creatives are starting to make video content these days, and there’s still plenty of room for you! In this episode we discuss getting started with making videos and give advice for dealing with the initial hurdles you’ll face. Join the community!

In this episode we discuss an approach to getting things done that might help you get more out of 2018 and finally complete some projects you’ve been trying to make time for by setting a monthly focus. Join the community!

Networking isn’t just for corporate people in business suits, it’s a handy skill to master as a designer! In this episode we discuss our experience with networking and share our best tips for finding the right people to talk to, and making the most of the connection. Join the Design Life Community!

This week we’re talking about boredom. It’s something that strikes us all every now and then and we shouldn’t be ashamed about that. In this episode we discuss the ways it affects us and some possible solutions for dealing with it. Join the Design Life Community!

All designers go through a stage where they create work they aren’t proud of. What should you do when you’re trying to build your portfolio up, but are working on projects you don’t love because you need the money? In this episode we discuss our own experience with this conundrum and share our advice for dealing with it. We have new stickers! Buy your pack now Join the Design Life community

Where do you want to be in your career in five years time? How about ten years time, or thirty? In this episode we discuss the future of our careers and what we want to achieve as designers. You’ll learn a little more about us and our goals, and hopefully we’ll get you thinking about what you want out of your career too so that you can make sure you’re on the right path. We have new stickers! Buy your pack now Join the Design Life community

Launching something you’ve been working hard on to the world wide internet can be intimidating. In this episode we share what we’ve learned from launching things recently, what we wish we’d done differently, and give you advice to apply to your own launch no matter how big or small your audience might be. Join the Design Life community designlife.fm/stickers

The Design Life community has now launched! Join before Nov 20th and get discount pricing for life + a bonus free sticker pack. JOIN HERE. What could be better than gathering regularly with a group of people as motivated as you are to discuss your projects and get advice? In this episode we discuss mastermind groups and their value. You’ll get advice for finding the right people to start one with, and for running it successfully to get the most value from it.

Sign up for the community! Launching Nov 13th. Starting a new design job can be scary. Not only are there new colleagues to get to know, but new design processes and projects to get your head around, and no doubt a million questions. In this episode we continue our jobs series and share our advice for how to handle your first day of a new job.

We’ve reached one hundred episodes of the show! So what better topic to talk about than sticking with a side project consistently over a long period time? In this episode we answer questions from our listeners about running a side project for two years, and share advice for how to commit for the long haul. Sign up for the Design Life community

Slumps in motivation happen. No matter how passionate you are, no matter how good you are at time management; sometimes you just don’t feel motivated. In this episode we talk about how we deal with the slump, chat about possible reasons for it occurring, and give advice for trying to get out of it. More at www.designlife.fm Sign up for the community

We talk a lot on this show about starting side projects and working on bringing your ideas to life, but what happens when the passion dies and you find yourself not wanting to work on a project anymore? In this episode we discuss our reasons for sunsetting side projects and share ways for you to figure out if you should put an idea on hold. More at www.designlife.fm Sign up for the community

It’s time to start making money from your side projects. Designer/entrepreneur Nathan Barry joins us for this episode to share advice for selling products without seeming too pushy, setting goals for your side projects, and how to launch them. If you’ve been wanting to start earning money online, this episode will give you the advice and confidence to start doing it. More at www.designlife.fm Sign up for the community

Hardware is an essential part of the design process, but how much you invest in that is up to you. In this episode we talk about the technology and gadgets that make up our hardware setup and discuss our research process before buying new tech items, along with why you don’t need a shiny new MacBook to be a designer. More at www.designlife.fm Sign up for the community

The interview stage can be both the most exciting and the scariest part of the design job hunting process. In this episode we share our advice for nailing a design job interview: what to bring, how to prepare, what to ask questions about and how to deal with those unexpected curveballs you might be thrown. Join the community Follow Design Life on Twitter

If speaking at a conference is on your career goals list, this episode is for you. In it we discuss the public speaking opportunities we’ve had, and share advice for not only securing your own spot at an event but also how to plan and present your talk with confidence. Join the community Follow Design Life on Twitter

As humans we are designed to be afraid of taking risks, but a certain amount of risk is necessary to achieve success. In this very special episode Eric Friedensohn (a talented lettering artist and friend of the show) joins Femke to discuss why it’s important to take risks, and how to be smart about them. Sign up for the community Follow Eric Friedensohn Listen to more on our website

Lets say you’ve already done the job hunt – you’ve narrowed it down to a select few companies you want to apply at. Now it’s time to prepare your application. In this episode we share our advice for your CV, cover letter and portfolio, as well as chat about the emotional side of the job application process. Find more at www.designlife.fm Join the community!

Doing great work is just one part of building a reputation and an audience; you also need to get your work noticed. In this episode we give advice for feeling confident sharing your work, and how to go about it in the right way. More at www.designlife.fm

In this episode we’re kicking off the start of a new mini-series about finding a new job. To start with we’re talking about the job hunt process and giving you advice for where to look for your new role and how to research a company to see if it’s a place you’d like to work. More at www.designlife.fm

Do you feel like you need to be careful what you post online? Can you be yourself on social media? In this episode we discuss the divide between our personal and professional sides and how we handle this online. We’ll share thoughts on how this affects job prospects and some rules of thumb to follow. More at www.designlife.fm

Us creative types can often be distracted by shiny new ideas, especially when we’re at a tough point in a project. The temptation of working on something new is easy to give in to, but it’s not always the best thing for achieving our goals. In this episode we talk about shiny object syndrome, how it’s affected us, and advice for dealing with it to stay on track. More at www.designlife.fm

Project scoping is one of the scariest and hardest parts of the design process when you’re new to it. It takes time and practice to get right, and in this episode we’re sharing the best tips on project scoping from us and our listeners. You’ll also hear about some times when we got it wrong, so that you can learn from our project scoping mistakes. More at www.designlife.fm.

Professional development and growing your skills is important in any design job, but when you’re freelancing it can be hard to fit in as any time you spend learning is time not spent working for clients. in this episode we discuss the responsibility we have to develop our skills and how we incorporate learning into our projects. More at www.designlife.fm

The Design Life community beta is open! Join now. These days it seems like there is always a new tool or framework to try. It’s easy to feel the pressure to keep up with it all and stay relevant; especially when all of your peers are talking about it. In this episode we discuss our approach to trying new software and tools and how we deal with the pressure to stay up to date. More at www.designlife.fm

Feeling down about yourself, and like you’re super uninteresting and unsuccessful isn’t fun. In fact, it downright sucks. But it’s something we all seem to face. So that’s what we decided to discuss in this weeks episode along with feeling too old and comparing ourselves to others. More at www.designlife.fm

As ambitious people, we often find ourselves in situations where we’ve committed to too many things and have to deal with the overwhelm that comes along with it. In this episode we discuss what to do in this situation and how to learn from it for the inevitable next time. More at www.designlife.fm

We have ideas all the time, and sometimes those ideas are so big that we don’t have the skillset to actually follow through on them. So what should you do when that happens? In this episode we discuss our approach to big ideas and the learning or asking for help that comes along with them. More at www.designlife.fm

Bullet journalling has become an incredibly popular way to manage projects and tasks. In this episode we discuss how we use the system and why we decided to try it, as well as give advice for getting started if you’re interested in trying it yourself. More at www.designlife.fm

Design Life will soon be launching a community! In this episode we share in depth our plans for the community and tell you everything you need to know about the beta launch (sign up athttp://192.241.209.196/community to be notified), as well as talk about the value we’ve gotten from being surrounded by like-minded people.

Design is often misconstrued as being about surface level visuals, when actually a lot of work goes in behind the scenes before you reach a beautiful finished product. In this episode we discuss the difficulties in communicating the value of design and give advice for talking to friends and clients about it so that you can be paid way you’re worth. Our site: www.designlife.fm Us on Twitter: @designlife Join our community!: http://192.241.209.196/community

In the future, making videos will be just as common as writing blog posts. In this episode we talk about the benefits of creating online video (hint: it’s more than just audience growth!) and Charli gives advice to Femke for getting started and what to expect. More at www.designlife.fm.

Design software is becoming more and more accessible, with some tools offering automatic layouts and quick logos. As designers should we worry about this future? In this episode we discuss the commodification of design and give thoughts on the future of our industry and what we can do to make sure we’re providing value. More at www.designlife.fm

Procrastiworking is work you do instead of another task; think of it as productive procrastination! But it is still just that: procrastination. In this episode we talk about the process and cons of it and give our tips for avoiding it or making it work to your advantage. More at www.designlife.fm