Posts

How to Put Your Stuff Together and Get a Job as a Product Designer: Part 1

December 6, 2021  •  8 min readIllustration of a resume

After decades of experience hiring designers, I've learned what makes candidates stand out. In this first part of a three-part series, I share essential tips for crafting your resume and LinkedIn profile to catch a hiring manager's attention. The key? Remember that design leaders are your users—we're busy people who need to quickly assess if you're the right fit.

How to Buy a Tesla

August 22, 2021  •  11 min readTesla Model Y electric car

After dealing with frustrating CarPlay issues in my Honda CR-V, I decided to make the switch to Tesla. The buying process was unlike any car purchase I'd experienced before—both easier in some ways and more confusing in others. Here's my complete guide to help you navigate buying a Tesla, from test drive to delivery.

A Year of Learning

April 18, 2021  •  4 min readGold #1

During the pandemic lockdown, I turned to learning as a way to stay occupied. What started with optimizing my work-from-home setup led to rediscovering old passions in photography, videography, and 3D animation, eventually culminating in creating art and launching a newsletter.

Art for Biden

November 16, 2020  •  2 min readVote for Joe

When Christopher Simmons called for artwork supporting the Biden-Harris campaign, what started as a single contribution evolved into an obsessive creative series. Through 3D typography and animated loops, I channeled my hopes for democracy into Instagram-ready animations designed to catch eyes and change minds.

Working through My Own Confusion

November 15, 2020  •  1 min readPhoto of a staircase

As someone who's always enjoyed writing across various platforms, I've finally decided to create a single home for all my thoughts and musings. Here's why I'm consolidating my content and what you can expect to find here.

Agitprop in Times of Uncertainty

June 20, 2020  •  2 min readGraphic of a T shaped like a swastika

In times of political and social upheaval, protest art emerges as a powerful voice of resistance. From Design Is Play's anti-Trump posters to Hong Kong's protest art and Shepard Fairey's "We the People" series, I explore how modern agitprop channels frustration into compelling visual statements against authoritarianism and injustice.

Representation Is Powerful

June 13, 2020  •  2 min readWhere are the Black Designers

As a design student in the 1990s, I never questioned why all our celebrated design heroes were white men. Today, with Black designers making up only 3% of the industry, it's time to examine how we teach design history and create meaningful representation in our field.

We Make the World We Want to Live In

June 6, 2020  •  3 min readScreenshot of Facebook's hate speech banner

In the wake of Twitter finally fact-checking Trump's tweets and growing protests over George Floyd's murder, tech companies are being forced to confront their role in enabling harmful content. As designers, we're not just passive observers in this system - we help shape the digital world that billions of people interact with every day.

What Comic-Con Teaches Us about Design and Branding

July 26, 2019  •  8 min readPhoto of the Hall H stage at Comic-Con

As a designer, I've always been fascinated by how Comic-Con creates such passionate brand loyalty. By examining the core elements of storytelling - from worldbuilding to character development - we can apply these same principles to create more compelling brands and products. Here's what I learned from studying one of pop culture's biggest phenomena.

Mainstream Media Just Don’t Understand

May 5, 2019  •  11 min readNew York Times vs Apple

As a tech industry observer, I've long been frustrated by mainstream media's misrepresentation of technology issues. The New York Times' recent coverage of Apple's App Store policies demonstrates this problem perfectly - from misunderstanding MDM technology to making flawed monopoly arguments, their reporting shows a fundamental lack of technical understanding while sending mixed messages about platform responsibility.