Design Discipline

Gabriella is the co-founder of Dessn, an AI-powered product design platform

Gabriella is a product leader turned founder. Her startup Dessn is building a new way to design interfaces, turning production code into a collaborative design environment.

From the conversation

Books

• Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll — https://link.amazon/B06K8MPz7

• Grid Systems in Graphic Design by Josef Müller-Brockmann — https://link.amazon/B09QDfCqB

• The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges — https://link.amazon/B09eO1qMI

Essays and case studies

• “Dessn: An invitation to let your mind wander” by HEX — https://www.hex.inc/work/dessn

• “Founder Mode” by Paul Graham — https://paulgraham.com/foundermode.html

• “The illustrated guide to a Ph.D.” by Matt Might — https://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/

———

https://dessn.com | https://x.com/GabriellaHach | https://x.com/Dessn_ai

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.designdisciplin.com/subscribe

Daniel is the founder and CEO of Onlook, the developer tool for designers

After watching great ideas get flattened between the mockup and the merge for over a decade, Daniel spent years helping scale companies like Bird and DIMO before building the tool he wished existed all along – one that gives designers the power to bend code into a new creative medium.

From the conversation

Books

• Alchemy by Rory Sutherland — https://link.amazon/B01DjxobL

• Build by Tony Fadell — https://link.amazon/B04xTNfZy

• Creative Selection by Ken Kocienda — https://link.amazon/B05FcD3La

• Good Strategy Bad Strategy by Richard Rumelt — https://link.amazon/B07VI1xd4

• Looking for a Story by Noel Rubinton — https://link.amazon/B04UnUC5K

• Ogilvy on Advertising by David Ogilvy — https://link.amazon/B0bPhui0f

• The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi — https://link.amazon/B0aBDMdcK

• The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu by Tom Lin — https://link.amazon/B063TVx6j

Talks and essays

• “A Conversation with Jony Ive” at Stripe — https://youtu.be/wLb9g_8r-mE

• “Before the Startup” by Paul Graham — https://paulgraham.com/before.html

• “How Art, Technology and Design Inform Creative Leaders” by John Maeda — https://youtu.be/WAuDCOl9qrk

Studios and designers

• Alex McDowell — https://www.designdisciplin.com/p/alex-mcdowell

• Alexander Diner — https://dribbble.com/alexanderdiner

• Ben South Lee — https://x.com/bnj

• Kelly Wearstler — https://kellywearstler.com

• The Office of Ordinary Things — https://ot.studio

• Wiseman Editing — https://wisemanediting.com

Tools and creative influences

• Balsamiq — https://balsamiq.com

• GIMP — https://gimp.org

• Linear — https://linear.app

• Team Fortress 2 — https://teamfortress.com

Podcasts

• Dive Club by Ridd — https://www.dive.club

• Ridd on Design Discipline — https://www.designdisciplin.com/p/ridd

———

https://onlook.com | https://twitter.com/D_R_Farrell | https://danielrfarrell.com

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.designdisciplin.com/subscribe

Danny is co-founder of Decimals, a scout network for hiring designers

Following a career building marketplaces at companies including eBay, Airbnb, and Prolific, Danny is rethinking how high-growth tech companies discover and hire exceptional talent through trusted expert networks.

From the conversation

Newsletters and podcasts

• Dive Club by Ridd — https://www.dive.club

• Hiring Humans by Danny Martinez — https://hiringhumans.decimals.work

• Ridd on Design Discipline — https://www.designdisciplin.com/p/ridd

People and portfolios

• Rich Cahill — https://richmak.es

Companies discussed

• Arrows — https://arrows.to

• LiveKit — https://livekit.com

• Superpower — https://superpower.com

———

https://decimals.co | https://x.com/dannydecimals

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.designdisciplin.com/subscribe

Paul is the creator of Impeccable and jQuery UI

Paul created jQuery UI, has led product initiatives at Google and other technology companies, and is the founder of Renaissance Geek, where he builds products like Impeccable, an AI-powered design tool that helps teams turn ideas into high-quality interfaces faster.

From the conversation

Books

• Geometry of Design by Kimberly Elam — https://link.amazon/B0gTizjym

• The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst — https://link.amazon/B08geTyjS

People and studios

• iA / Oliver Reichenstein — https://ia.net

Tools and projects

• AMP — https://amp.dev

• Fuchsia — https://fuchsia.dev

• iA Writer — https://ia.net/writer

• Pilcrow — https://pilcrow.ink

———

https://impeccable.style | https://paulbakaus.com | https://x.com/pbakaus

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.designdisciplin.com/subscribe

Mark is CEO of Bay Area motion design and marketing agency Skale, specializing in viral launch videos for startups.

Produced in collaboration with Palette, the matchmaker between businesses and design studios, The Brief is a series of live-streamed conversations on how designers and clients work together.

https://askpalette.com

From the conversation

Related episodes

• Ridd — https://www.designdisciplin.com/p/ridd

• The Brief: Niclas Ernst — https://www.designdisciplin.com/p/the-brief-niclas-ernst

Tools and resources

• Adobe After Effects — https://www.adobe.com/products/aftereffects.html

• Attio — https://attio.com

• Epidemic Sound — https://www.epidemicsound.com

• Figma — https://figma.com

• Higgsfield — https://higgsfield.ai

• Remotion — https://www.remotion.dev

Companies discussed

• Bolt — https://bolt.new

• Contra — https://contra.com

• MagicPath — https://www.magicpath.ai

• Poke — https://poke.com

People

• Alex Hormozi — https://x.com/AlexHormozi

———

https://skale.solutions | https://x.com/SkaleSolutions | https://x.com/MarkKnd

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.designdisciplin.com/subscribe

Ioana, better known as UX Goodies, is a product design leader, educator, and content creator focused on the intersection of design and AI.

Ioana has led AI design initiatives at Miro and UiPath’s Clipboard AI, which was recognized as one of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2023. She is the founder of the UX Goodies community, creator of the AI Goodies newsletter, co-host of the Honest UX Talks podcast, and a longtime mentor and educator in the design community.

From the conversation:

Books and articles

• “Aesthetics in the AI Era: Visual + Web Design Trends for 2026” by Ioana Teleanu — https://aigoodies.substack.com/p/aesthetics-in-the-ai-era-visual-web

• Grid Systems in Graphic Design by Josef Müller-Brockmann — https://link.amazon/B09QDfCqB

• Surviving Design by Ioana Teleanu — https://survivingdesign.life

Tools and platforms

• Claude — https://claude.ai

• Decimals — https://decimals.co

• FAUNA — https://flora.ai/blog/introducing-fauna

• FLORA — https://flora.ai

• Granola — https://www.granola.ai

• Miro AI — https://miro.com/ai

• TouchDesigner — https://derivative.ca

• UiPath Clipboard AI — TIME Best Inventions 2023 — https://time.com/collections/best-inventions-2023/6324510/clipboard-ai

People

• Kim Alban — https://www.kimalban.com

• Marisa Chan (Design Team of One) — https://instagram.com/designteamofone

• Marisa Chentakul — https://x.com/meshtimes_

Events and places

• Fusecon — https://www.fusecon.asia

• Hatch Conference — https://www.hatchconference.com

• Museum für Gestaltung Zürich — https://museum-gestaltung.ch

Related episodes

• Danny Martinez — https://www.designdisciplin.com/p/danny-martinez

• Ridd — https://www.designdisciplin.com/p/ridd

———

https://aidesign-os.com | https://x.com/uxgoodies | https://instagram.com/uxgoodies

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.designdisciplin.com/subscribe

Niclas is a software designer from Berlin and the founder of Permanent, a design consultancy that helps startups build lasting software products that win through design.

Produced in collaboration with Palette, the matchmaker between businesses and design studios, The Brief is a series of live-streamed conversations on how designers and clients work together.

https://askpalette.com

From the conversation:

Companies and organizations

• Antimetal — https://antimetal.com

• Attio — https://attio.com

• Interfere — https://interfere.com

• National Design Studio — https://ndstudio.gov

• Pipe — https://pipe.com

People

• Joe Gebbia — https://joegebbia.com

• Soleio — https://x.com/soleio

Design references

• Jacques Marie Mage — https://jacquesmariemage.com

———

https://n16t.com | https://permanent.is | https://x.com/niclasernst | https://x.com/permanent

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.designdisciplin.com/subscribe

Dan is a London-based designer and engineer. After a decade-long career in product design including stints at Raycast, TIDAL, and Barclays, he put on the hat of design engineer at Tailwind Labs and currently continues at Cursor.

Dan is the author of Making Software, a reference manual for people who design and build software.

From the conversation:

Books

• Making Software by Dan Hollick — https://makingsoftware.com

• The Art of Computer Programming by Donald E. Knuth — https://cs.stanford.edu/~knuth/taocp.html

• The iOS App Icon Book and The macOS App Icon Book by Michael Flarup — https://appiconbook.com

Tools and software

• Adobe InDesign — https://www.adobe.com/products/indesign.html

• Affinity — https://affinity.studio

• Cursor — https://cursor.com

• LaTeX — https://www.latex-project.org

• Raycast — https://raycast.com

• Tailwind CSS — https://tailwindcss.com

• tldraw — https://tldraw.dev

People and resources

• 3Blue1Brown — https://3blue1brown.com

• Museum für Gestaltung Zürich — https://museum-gestaltung.ch

• Nick Pattison’s studio, Primary — https://primary.studio

Related episodes

• Carl Rivera — https://www.designdisciplin.com/p/carl-rivera

———

https://alcohollick.com | https://x.com/DanHollick

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.designdisciplin.com/subscribe

Ridd is a product designer, educator, podcaster, and founder, best known for his podcast Dive Club. Previously, he built products and startups for over a decade, and created Figma Academy, helping thousands of designers level up their craft.

From the conversation:

Books

• Alternative Layout Systems by Giliane Cachin — https://alternativelayoutsystem.com/publication

• Geometry of Design by Kimberly Elam — https://link.amazon/B0gTizjym

• Influence by Robert B. Cialdini — https://www.influenceatwork.com/books-and-publications

• The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene — https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/330912/the-48-laws-of-power-by-robert-greene

Talks and interviews

• “Musical Thinking for Design Engineers” by M.A. Baytaş — https://youtu.be/t57p7ARE39Y

• “The Winding Journey of Designing an AI Product” with Sam Stephenson on Dive Club — https://dive.club/deep-dives/sam-stephenson

Tools and platforms

• Claude — https://claude.ai

• Conductor — https://conductor.build

• Granola — https://www.granola.ai

• Paper — https://paper.design

• Superwhisper — https://superwhisper.com

• Wispr Flow — https://wisprflow.ai

Education

• Alpha School — https://alpha.school

• Synthesis — https://synthesis.com

Related episodes

• Dan Hollick — https://www.designdisciplin.com/p/daniel-hollick

———

https://dive.club | https://inflight.co | https://x.com/ridd_design | https://instagram.com/michaelriddering | https://youtube.com/c/MichaelRiddering

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.designdisciplin.com/subscribe

Patrik Hübner is a German interdisciplinary designer and creative technologist known for his work in generative design and creative coding. He operates at the intersection of design, art, and data, using algorithms and real-world inputs to create dynamic, evolving brand identities and experiences.

With over 15 years in the industry, he has worked with major global brands and agencies, blending storytelling with technology to push branding beyond static visuals.

His work has received multiple international awards, including D&AD and Red Dot, and is widely recognized for redefining how design systems can be adaptive, data-driven, and alive.

From the conversation:

Books

• Design Unlimited by Patrik Hübner and Larissa Lenze — https://link.amazon/B02D2nY7L

• How to Speak Machine by John Maeda — https://link.amazon/B05886CRZ

• Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse — https://link.amazon/B08TAXL3T

• The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin — https://link.amazon/B0cj9xZIF

• The Generative Mind: A New Approach to Creative Thinking by Patrik Hübner — https://link.amazon/B04PnCsuA

Learning resources

• Data-Design Dictionary — https://patrik-huebner.com/datadesigndictionary

• Field Guide — https://patrik-huebner.com/field-guide

• Learning Creative Coding — https://stigmollerhansen.dk/resume/learning-creative-coding

Tools and libraries

• glslify — https://github.com/glslify/glslify

• Node.js — https://nodejs.org

• p5.js — https://p5js.org

• Processing — https://processing.org

• TensorFlow — https://tensorflow.org

• Three.js — https://threejs.org

• Vue.js — https://vuejs.org

• Vuex — https://vuex.vuejs.org

Art and artists

• Imaginary Landscape No. 4 by John Cage — https://www.wisemusicclassical.com/work/69243/Imaginary-Landscape-No4--John-Cage

• My Boyfriend Came Back from the War by Olia Lialina — https://rhizome.org/editorial/2016/nov/10/my-boyfriend-came-back-from-the-war

• Recharge by Dries Depoorter — https://driesdepoorter.be/recharge

• The Flemish Scrollers by Dries Depoorter — https://driesdepoorter.be/theflemishscrollers

• Yehwan Song — https://yhsong.com

Podcasts

• Daron Malakian: On Metal, Part 1 — Tetragrammaton — https://www.tetragrammaton.com/podcast/daron-malakian-on-metal-part-1

• Daron Malakian: On Metal, Part 2 — Tetragrammaton — https://www.tetragrammaton.com/podcast/daron-malakian-on-metal-part-2

———

https://youtube.com/@patrikhuebner | https://patrik-huebner.com | https://github.com/patrikHuebner | https://instagram.com/patrikhuebner

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.designdisciplin.com/subscribe