Design Details

By Brian Lovin, Marshall BockTechnology Arts Design

Design Details episodes

February 20, 2019284: Stone Soup
This week, we answer more listener questions, including what software the industry uses, how to get involved in open-source projects, and how to curate a large portfolio. In News, we compare our scores on a design-based spot-the-difference quiz. And as always, we share a couple cool things, like another Netflix Original and some awesome designer directories.
Intro:
Wampas are a species of powerful, furred bipeds that dwell in the snowy wastes of the ice world Hoth
Tauntauns are a species of snow lizard found roaming the windswept snow plains of Hoth
Wampum is a traditional shell bead of the Eastern Woodlands tribes of American Indians
Sponsor:
This week's episode is brought to you by Abstract
Abstract is design workflow management for modern design teams. With Abstract, you can bring your design workflow into a single, unified place for designers, developers, and stakeholders to collaborate and keep work moving forward. Sign your team up for a free, 30-day trial today by heading over to goabstract.com. And if you tweet at @goabstract and @designdetailsfm, with the phrase “improve my design workflow” you’ll be entered for a chance to win a $500 credit to their Business plan.
>> Want to become a sponsor of Design Details yourself? Email [email protected] or [email protected] to get started :)
News:
Cant Unsee is a fun design quiz by Alex Kotliarskyi
Brian got a 6980, and Marshall got a 7330. Tell us what you got!
Listener Questions:
untitl0d asks: "What software does the industry actually use for UI and web design? My BA course is teaching us Wordpress and XD in first year. They don’t even have Sketch on the Macs, and this is a dedicated Arts college. It just feels off."
Some mainstays: Sketch, Figma, Framer X, Invision, Principle, ProtoPie, and Flinto
Note: Adobe XD is free, actually
Chris Doner asks, "How can designers get involved in open-source projects?"
The story of stone soup
Anonymous asks, "How do I curate a large project on my portfolio. There’s a lot of designs between our web app and native apps. Should I summarize the product and try to fit it into one case study? Or Should I select primary components and break them down into separate case studies?"
Here's Brian's list of Product Design Portfolios
One Cool Thing:
Marshall shared The Umbrella Academy, a show (and comic series) about the reuniting of seven super-powered siblings
Brian shared Blacks Who Design, Women Who Design, and Latinxs Who Design, three directories of accomplished designers in the industry
Design Details on the Web:
We are @designdetailsfm
Brian is @brian_lovin
Marshall is @marshallbock
@Sarahberus and @Luperdev make us sound smarter than we are
Join the conversation on Spectrum or leave us a review on iTunes
BYEEEEE!
43 min
February 13, 2019283: Timefoolery
This week, we answer a couple listener questions, including how to reliably align text to a baseline grid, and how to use data to learn from the features you ship. In News, Marshall extols the virtues of a little feature in the recently-released Sketch 53 update. And as always, we share a couple cool things, like a mind-bending Netflix show and an accessibility-focused pull request.
Sponsor:
This week's episode is brought to you by Abstract
Abstract is design workflow management for modern design teams. With Abstract, you can bring your design workflow into a single, unified place for designers, developers, and stakeholders to collaborate and keep work moving forward. Sign your team up for a free, 30-day trial today by heading over to goabstract.com. And if you tweet at @goabstract and @designdetailsfm, with the phrase “improve my design workflow” you’ll be entered for a chance to win a $500 credit to their Business plan.
>> Want to become a sponsor of Design Details yourself? Email [email protected] or [email protected] to get started :)
Follow-up:
For last week's One Cool Thing, Marshall shared LG's 65-inch Rollable 4K OLED TV (video), and go figure, it actually DOES resize to 21:9 (video). Whoops!
Mea culpa is a very fancy Latin phrase meaning "my fault"
Ramon Gilabert suggested a couple secure ways of time-tracking and network control
Timing is "the best automatic Mac time tracker for productive professionals and freelancers"
Little Snitch "makes your Internet connections visible and puts you back in control"
News:
Sketch 53 is available now
Sketch Blog: "Better overrides, a brand new Fill Popover and faster prototyping in Sketch 53"
Listener Questions:
Andreas v.d. Griendt asks "How do you work with developers to get your 8pt grid designs implemented? This is easy for placing a button. But if you actually would align text to a 4pt baseline, this is very challenging. Easy to do in Sketch, but super difficult for developers to implement/understand. For web this would be even more difficult than for native. But dynamic font sizing can be a challenge as well with this approach. What is helpful to do? How do you balance enforcing this?"
Kevin Gutowski asks "Data is, of course, very important. How do you actually learn from the features that you ship? What hard metrics / soft metrics are recorded? How are they being recorded and by whom?"
One Cool Thing:
Marshall shared Russian Doll, a Netflix Original co-created by and starring Natasha Lyonne
Brian shared a pull request by Jaochim that makes Security Checklist more accessible
Design Details on the Web:
We are @designdetailsfm
Brian is @brian_lovin
Marshall is @marshallbock
@Sarahberus and @Luperdev make us sound smarter than we are
Join the conversation on Spectrum or leave us a review on iTunes
BYEEEEE!
32 min
February 06, 2019282: Flow State
This week, we look to Twitter for answers to the eternal question: "How do I find time to design despite tons of meetings, context shifting, and an open office layout?" In News, we detail some exciting ideas in an iOS 13 design concept. And as always, we share a couple cool things, like a spiritual successor to MySpace and a rollable television.
Sponsor:
This week's episode is brought to you by Abstract
Abstract is design workflow management for modern design teams. With Abstract, you can bring your design workflow into a single, unified place for designers, developers, and stakeholders to collaborate and keep work moving forward. Sign your team up for a free, 30-day trial today by heading over to goabstract.com. And if you tweet at @goabstract and @designdetailsfm, with the phrase “improve my design workflow” you’ll be entered for a chance to win a $500 credit to their Business plan.
>> Want to become a sponsor of Design Details yourself? Email [email protected] or [email protected] to get started :)
News:
iOS 13 Concept by Apple_iDesigner
Lock Screen
Home Screen
Dark Mode
Redesigned Apps
Other Features
Multi-Users on iPad
Industry Talk:
Lil Chen tweeted a great question: "What's your secret to finding time to design amongst tons of meetings, context shifting, and open office layouts?"
Marshall just goes home and works some more
Brian uses RescueTime, a way to "find your ideal work-life balance"
Barbara suggests scheduling a "meeting" with a colleague
Sara recommends nixing all meetings scheduled over your blocked time
Jackie says to send an email stating your intentions and when you'll be available
Mattie reminds us that no one checks the ceilings
Wesley likes to use his headphones as a Do Not Disturb sign
One Cool Thing:
Brian shared Jarred Sumner's post "Why Isn't the Internet More Fun and Weird"
Codeblog is bringing glitter back to the web
MDX is Markdown for the component era
Marshall shared LG's 65-inch Rollable 4K OLED TV (video), which has a display that coils up into a box
Note: Sooooo, the screen actually DOES resize to 21:9. Whoops!
Design Details on the Web:
We are @designdetailsfm
Brian is @brian_lovin
Marshall is @marshallbock
@Sarahberus and @Luperdev make us sound smarter than we are
Join the conversation on Spectrum or leave us a review on iTunes
BYEEEEE!
34 min
January 30, 2019281: Steady Habit
This week, we review a listener side project called Steady Habit, an iPhone app made by Sandor Gyuris. And as always, we share a couple cool things like painful mouth plastic and some future geographical plans.
Sponsor:
This week's episode is brought to you by Abstract
Abstract is design workflow management for modern design teams. With Abstract, you can bring your design workflow into a single, unified place for designers, developers, and stakeholders to collaborate and keep work moving forward. Sign your team up for a free, 30-day trial today by heading over to goabstract.com. And if you tweet at @goabstract and @designdetailsfm, with the phrase “improve my design workflow” you’ll be entered for a chance to win a $500 credit to their Business plan.
>> Want to become a sponsor of Design Details yourself? Email [email protected] or [email protected] to get started :)
Side Project Review:
Steady Habit is a simple way to create impactful routines, brought to you by Sandor Gyuris
Learn more at steady-habit.com and @SteadyHabitApp
For posterity, we've preserved the App Store screenshots and product website as they appeared at the time of recording
33:11 - Note: Marshall means "Apple Watch" when he says "iPhone" here. This is becoming a pattern.
One Cool Thing:
Marshall shared Invisalign, an expensive way to make your teeth hurt
Brian shared his plans to move to NYC!
Video: "New York City?!?!"
Video: TLC - Waterfalls
Design Details on the Web:
We are @designdetailsfm
Brian is @brian_lovin
Marshall is @marshallbock
@Sarahberus and @Luperdev make us sound smarter than we are
Join the conversation on Spectrum or leave us a review on iTunes
TTFN!
48 min
January 23, 2019280: Steve Jobs Shoulder Buddy
This week, we discuss your tweets on how to git gud (and stay gud) at visual design. And as always, we share a couple Cool Things, including a hilarious pop culture reviewer.
Sponsors:
This week's episode is brought to you by Abstract and Readymag
Abstract is design workflow management for modern design teams. With Abstract, you can bring your design workflow into a single, unified place for designers, developers, and stakeholders to collaborate and keep work moving forward. Sign your team up for a free, 30-day trial today by heading over to goabstract.com. And if you tweet at @goabstract and @designdetailsfm, with the phrase “improve my design workflow” you’ll be entered for a chance to win a $500 credit to their Business plan.
Readymag is a design tool in your browser that lets you draw up any web publication and publish it online without a single line of code. Use it for free as long as you want, with a library of 1500+ free fonts, advanced animation, and unlimited projects or upgrade to one of the paid plans to enjoy advanced features like custom domains and uploading custom fonts. The first 50 users to apply the promo code DESIGNDETAILS will get 40% off their first payment.
>> Want to become a sponsor of Design Details yourself? Email [email protected] or [email protected] to get started :)
Industry Talk:
Video: "That's kind of a big question" from Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
Check out 271: Principles of Design for some specific examples of good foundational design rules
Guillermo Rauche, David Klein, and Mike Rundle all suggest copying to learn
May-Li Khoe suggests shadowing a stronger designer
PSDTuts is now Envato Tuts+
Material Design and the Apple HIG are wonderful learning resources and good languages to be fluent in
The Illusion of Life is the bible for Disney animation
Joel Kalifa shared some great advice from Ira Glass
One Cool Thing:
Marshall shared Jenny Nicholson, a YouTuber who reviews pop culture things. She's very, very funny.
Brian shared drugs. Don't do drugs.
Design Details on the Web:
We are @designdetailsfm
Brian is @brian_lovin
Marshall is @marshallbock
@Sarahberus and @Luperdev make us sound smarter than we are
Join the conversation on Spectrum or leave us a review on iTunes
TTFN!
41 min
January 16, 2019279: TWIGBY
This week, we discuss performance reviews and promotions, including how to prepare, what to spotlight, and when to self-nominate (along with a few tips and tricks). In News, we talk about Chloe Condon's recent ordeal and how technology affects truth—heavy, sorry—and we look at Twitter's latest threaded replies experiment. And as always, we share a couple cool things like a movie conspiracy theory and a legendary brainstorm transcript.
Sponsor
This week's episode is brought to you by Readymag
Readymag is a design tool in your browser that lets you draw up any web publication and publish it online without a single line of code. Use it for free as long as you want, with a library of 1500+ free fonts, advanced animation, and unlimited projects or upgrade to one of the paid plans to enjoy advanced features like custom domains and uploading custom fonts.
The first 50 users to apply the promo code DESIGNDETAILS will get 40% off their first payment. Get started over at readymag.com
>> Want to become a sponsor of Design Details yourself? Email [email protected] or [email protected] to get started :)
Claudio Guglieri and Anton Repponen have dope sites on Readymag
Follow-up
Michael Knepprath suggested that Brian make a checklist site (securitycheckli.st) out of his security advice from last episode, so he did
Feel free to open a pull request on Brian's repo if you have resources to add
News
Here's the thread for Chloe Condon's bizarre accusation ordeal
Video: "You Won’t Believe What Obama Says In This Video!"
Article: "A first look at Twitter’s new beta app and its bid to remain ‘valuable and relevant’"
The obligatory RIGBY (video) caveat
Urban Dictionary: "subtweet"
One Cool Thing:
Brian shared "Why SNOWPIERCER is a sequel to WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY", a movie conspiracy theory video that's eerily convincing
Marshall shared "RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK: Story Conference Transcript", an inside look into the conception of the first Indiana Jones film
Design Details on the Web:
We are @designdetailsfm
Brian is @brian_lovin
Marshall is @marshallbock
@Sarahberus and @Luperdev make us sound smarter than we are
Join the conversation on Spectrum or leave us a review on iTunes
TTFN!
55 min
January 09, 2019278: Dice Gamble
In this first episode of 2019, Brian explains online security to Marshall as though he is a five-year-old, covering everything from DNSs to VPNs. In Follow-up, we read a few listener tweets, and as always, we share a couple Cool Things, including a misused city simulator and a social network for movie buffs.
Sponsor
Readymag is a design tool in your browser that lets you draw up any web publication and publish it online without a single line of code. Use it for free as long as you want, with a library of 1500+ free fonts, advanced animation, and unlimited projects or upgrade to one of the paid plans to enjoy advanced features like custom domains and uploading custom fonts. The first 50 users to apply the promo code DESIGNDETAILS will get 40% off their first payment.
Get started over at readymag.com
>> Want to become a sponsor of Design Details yourself? Email [email protected] or [email protected] to get started :)
Follow-up
Design Details - 1: "How Nerdy of an Answer Do You Want? (feat. Sam Soffes)" was released exactly four years before the day we recorded this episode (!)
Claudio Guglieri used Readymag for the blog posts we mentioned in 273: "Bespoke, Artisanal, Single-Batch Blog Post"
Listener Tweets:
Ravi Aujla hopes we'll keep talking about UX in games
Chrish Dunne alerted us to a hidden shortcut in Terminal
Federico Zanetello showed off his Home app inspired by our smart home episode
Explain Like I'm Five
The tweet that started it all
1Password Watchtower helps you find passwords you need to change
Lastpass is a good password manager, too
Article: "Password Autofill in iOS 12 now works with 1Password, Dashlane, and LastPass"
Wikipedia: Multi-factor authentication
Article: "The SIM Hijackers"
Podcast: Reply All - 97: "What Kind of Idiot Gets Phished?"
Google 2-Step Verification
Article: "Gmail for iOS now receives 2-Step Verification Prompts, new default over Google app"
Article: "Data of 143 million Americans exposed in hack of credit reporting agency Equifax"
Encrypt your Mac backups by going to System Preferences > Security & Privacy > File Vault
1.1.1.1 is a faster, more private DNS by Cloudflare
iVPN is the VPN service Brian uses
Encrypt.me comes as part of the eero Plus package
Webcam covers on Amazon (not an affiliate link)
To see all the apps that have access to your camera, go to Settings > Privacy > Camera for switches
Adblock blocks ads
Brave is a privacy-focused browser built on Chromium
Duck Duck Go is a privacy-focused search engine
Firefox Multi-Account Containers is an extension that walls off sites
Article: The Wired Guide to Digital Security
Article: "Introducing CYBER: A Hacking Podcast by Motherboard"
Podcast: Reply All - 97: "What Kind of Idiot Gets Phished?" (again)
One Cool Thing:
Marshall shared Pres, a YouTube creator who makes beautifully realistic cities in Cities: Skylines
Video: "Crazy Ira and the Douche"
Article: "How Cities: Skylines took a great big slice of SimCity"
Article: "Steam users have already declared the winner in the great coaster sim war"
Video Playlists: New Windsor and Calavera Beach
A few more great detailer channels: Silvarett, Fluxtrance, Strictoaster, two dollars twenty, and the Bob Ross of city sims, ImperialJedi
Brian shared Letterboxd, a social network for film lovers
Kevin Clark's tweet clued Brian in on the service
Watchlist by Keegan Jones lets you save movies to watch later
Stinger:
Video: "Tigger TTFN"
Design Details on the Web:
We are @designdetailsfm
Brian is @brian_lovin
Marshall is @marshallbock
@Sarahberus and @Luperdev make us sound smarter than we are
Join the conversation on Spectrum or leave us a review on iTunes
BYEEEEEEE!
54 min
December 19, 2018277: Dribbble Stories (feat. Zack Onisko)
In this final episode of 2018, we speak with Zack Onisko, CEO of Dribbble, about our speculation regarding signup walls and the future of the platform. In News, we dissect Dark Mode triggering methods. And as always, we share a couple cool things, including a personalized music recap and a YouTube channel that rewrites superhero movies.
Follow-up
Michael Knepprath asks: "What challenges have you faced due to there being multiple people and a dog that can all trigger your devices?"
Video: "Seinfeld Transitions Compilation"
More shortcuts:
On the iOS homescreen, 3D Touch a folder to see all apps with notification badges in that folder
On the iOS homescreen, drag down to enter Spotlight and easily search apps (or anything else)
Luca Orio mentioned: On macOS, press Cmd+Shift+4 then Space to screenshot specific windows, including their shadow on a transparent background
Silas Sao mentioned: On the iOS homescreen, when dragging an app in "Wiggle Mode," tap other apps to rearrange more than one at a time
News
Things introduces "Dark Mode for iOS"
Interview
Zack Onisko is the CEO of Dribbble and was nice enough to join us to answer some of the questions we posed in episode "274: Well... It's Free ¯\(ツ)/¯"
Note: It's important to "RIGBY" properly when critiquing
One Cool Thing:
Marshall shared Nando v Movies, a YouTube channel that analyses and rewrites superhero movies via subtle suggestions
Video Playlist: "The Justice League Rewrite"
Brian shared Spotify Wrapped 2018, the service's annual recap of your music listening habits
Design Details on the Web:
We are @designdetailsfm
Brian is @brian_lovin
Marshall is @marshallbock
@Sarahberus and @Luperdev make us sound smarter than we are
Join the conversation on Spectrum or leave us a review on iTunes
GOODBYEEEEEEE!
53 min
December 12, 2018276: Hidden Shortcuts, Formal Educations, and "Builders"
This week, we answer three listener questions: one about hidden shortcuts, one about the line between designer and developer, and one about the necessity of a design degree. And as always, we share a couple cool things, like a trailer a few people have seen and a channel that make videos about speedrun progressions.
Listener Questions
Race Swisher says: "You guys should talk about hidden shortcuts that can be super confusing for users."
Article: "This iOS 12 Keyboard Trick for Non-3D Touch iPhone Users is Going Viral"
iOS:
In the keyboard, 3D Touch anywhere on the keys to move your cursor freely
Gboard for iOS has a phenomenal swipe-typing feature, in addition to many other nice little time-savers
In the keyboard, drag from the 123 button to a key in the alternate keyboard, then release to return to the ABC keyboard
In the keyboard, long-press on keys for additional character options
In the iPad keyboard, drag the Dismiss Keyboard button to split and reposition the keys
In the keyboard, double-space for a period followed by a space
On the home screen, 3D Touch app icons for quick actions (in supported apps)
On iPhone X, swipe down on the Home Indicator to trigger Reachability (Settings > General > Accessibility > Reachability On)
In Tweetbot, two-finger swipe vertically to switch between Day/Night mode
In Google Maps, double-tap-and-drag vertically to zoom
In Spotify, swipe horizontally to go to the previous/next track
In Spotify, tap the Search tab a second time to bring up the keyboard and focus the Search field
In Spotify, long-press the Search tab to start a voice search
In Tweetbot, long-press-and-drag to reassign the last two tabs
In Safari, type in the address bar and scroll down the autocomplete suggestions to Find in Page
In Safari, long-press on the Refresh button to Request Desktop Site
In Safari, long-press on the Tabs icon to create a New Tab or Close All Tabs
In Control Center, 3D Touch-and-drag on certain platters for pre-defined options (Timer, Flashlight, Camera)
In Messages, 3D Touch on avatars in the list for quick actions (Call, FaceTime, Pay, Contact Details)
macOS:
[Mojave] At any time, press Cmd+Shift+5 for more detailed screenshot options
At any time, press Cmd+Opt+Shift+3 or 4 to send the screenshot to your clipboard
At any time, press Cmd+Space for Spotlight
In a text field, press Cmd+Ctrl+Space for the Emoji picker, and type to search by emoji name
At any time, press Cmd+Tab to switch to your most recent app, or continue holding Cmd and press Tab again to move forward or ~ (or Shift+Tab) to move backward through the list
In applications with multiple windows, press Cmd+~ or Cmd+Shift+~ to navigate between windows
In Chrome, press Cmd+Opt+Left or Right (or Cmd+Shift+[ or ]) to navigate between open tabs (or Cmd+1 through 0 to jump straight to one of your first ten tabs)
In a text field, press Cmd+[ or ] to adjust the indentation
Colin Lees asks: "What kind of design-related education do you (or your peers) tend to have? Is there a case for designers with no formal education at all?"
Our answer: Having a college degree, regardless of focus, can be a signal to employers that you're more likely to be a responsible, knowledgeable person, but it's not necessary to get a job, as long as you can show that you know your shit. And getting a degree in HCI or Interaction Design is a great way to gain knowledge and get a head-start on good processes, but again, it's unnecessary, as long as you've learned those same lessons on your own.
Sam Chang asks: "Something that's been on my mind lately is the overlap between a designer and a developer. I've noticed, for example, that Brian has taken on more of a developer role at Spectrum, and so I'm curious to hear if Brian sees himself as more of a designer or a developer, or maybe just a builder?"
Our answer: Should designers code? Ultimately, having an understanding of what your developers do every day will help you to be a better designer, and vice versa. So learning how to write code, especially in the same language your colleagues use, can help build empathy and a better understanding of what happens after your mocks are finalized. As the line between "designer" and "developer" continues to blur, maybe the term "builder" is a nice middle ground.
One Cool Thing:
Marshall shared Summoning Salt, a YouTube channel that makes videos about the progression of world record speedruns for some classic games
Some good ones: Super Mario Bros. - World 4-2, Super Mario 64, The Legend of Zelda, and Portal
Brian shared "Marvel Studios' Avengers - Official Trailer, the trailer for the latest film in the Avengers series
Jeff Cannata's "Unsullied" philosophy encourages one to avoid trailers (and spoilers in general) in order to more fully enjoy one's movie-going experience
Video: "Marvel Studios' Avengers: Infinity War Official Trailer" did a good job of not giving too much away
Design Details on the Web:
We are @designdetailsfm
Brian is @brian_lovin
Marshall is @marshallbock
@Sarahberus and @Luperdev make us sound smarter than we are
Join the conversation on Spectrum or leave us a review on iTunes
BYEEEEEEE!
39 min
December 05, 2018275: Now, That's One Smart Home!
This week, Marshall explains his smart home setup to Brian in great detail. In News, Brian reveals an exciting development with Spectrum. And as always, we share a couple cool things, including an Advent calendar for programming puzzles and a thing everybody already knows about.
Sponsor:
This week's episode was brought to you by DuckDuckGo
DuckDuckGo helps you take back your privacy with their private search engine, mobile apps, and browser extensions. And right now they're hiring remote positions for Senior Product Designers! Make the internet a safer place, designing new products at DuckDuckGo.
Follow-up:
Samsung One UI's floating keyboard is a feature in need of a use case
Tonal is a home gym that mounts on your wall
News:
Spectrum is joining Github!
Explain Like I'm Five
ELI5
Marshall wrote up a hefty Google doc that includes links and descriptions for all this smart home stuff, so check it out for details on pretty much everything mentioned in the episode
Note: That Homekit bug seems to only affect shades, but it dims lights just fine, fwiw
One Cool Thing:
Brian shared Advent of Code, an Advent calendar of small programming puzzles
HackerTyper makes it look like ur a 1337 h4XX0r. Just smash the keyboard indiscriminately.
Marshall shared Audible, which is a thing you definitely already know about
Neuromancer kinda started the whole cyberpunk thing
Snow Crash is Marshall's favorite work of fiction
Design Details on the Web:
We are @designdetailsfm
Brian is @brian_lovin
Marshall is @marshallbock
@Sarahberus and @Luperdev make us sound smarter than we are
Join the conversation on Spectrum or leave us a review on iTunes
BYEEEEEEE!
59 min