Klaviyo designers Alex Korth, Don Ton, Gui Schmitt, Julie Lungaro, Marissa Mac and Zack Breakstone share their top recommendations across a wide selection of categories, including design gear, desk accessories, drawing essentials and favorite apps! 

We have links for all items discussed below if you'd like to learn more.

=== 🎒 Favorite Non-design Related Gear? ===

Grovemade Walnut Stand • https://grovemade.com/product/walnut-monitor-stand/?initial=64

hWool Felt Desk Pad • ttps://grovemade.com/product/wool-felt-desk-pad-dark-grey/?initial=321

Material Dock • https://www.studioneat.com/products/dock?utm_source=Studio+Neat+Newsletter&utm_campaign=4d2bf83fca-cybermonday_2019&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_b3825429c8-4d2bf83fca-311952561&goal=0_b3825429c8-4d2bf83fca-311952561&mc_cid=4d2bf83fca&mc_eid=0eca82354b

Instax Camera • https://www.fujifilm.com/products/instant_photo/cameras/instax_mini_90/

Errant Pack by Boundary Supply • https://www.boundarysupply.com/products/errant-pack

== 👩‍🎨 Favorite Design Related Gear ==

Boss Lady Pen Set • https://www.sweetwaterdecor.com/products/boss-lady-pen-set

Erasable Pen Set • https://www.amazon.com/Pilot-Retractable-Erasable-Assorted-Disappear/dp/B009QYH644

Paper Mate Flair Felt Tip Pens • https://www.amazon.com/Paper-Mate-Flair-Medium-Point/dp/B00T3BNPV8/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=papermate+flair+black+pen&qid=1575570376&sr=8-2

Mark One • https://www.studioneat.com/products/markone

Pano Book • https://www.studioneat.com/products/panobook

Baron Fig Squire Stainless Steel Rollerball Pen • https://www.baronfig.com/products/stainless-steel?variant=1637501239321

Copic Markers 9-Piece Multiliner Inking Pen Set • https://www.amazon.com/Copic-Markers-9-Piece-Multiliner-MLB2/dp/B000MRSUZ8

MUJI Gel Ink Ballpoint Pen Set 6 Color 0.5mm • https://www.muji.us/store/gel-ink-ballpoint-pen-set-6-color-0-5mm-4550182132410.html

Mastermind Desk Pad • https://www.baronfig.com/products/mastermind?variant=31145053580

Field Notes Pitch Black Note Book (Dot Grid) • https://fieldnotesbrand.com/products/pitch-black-notebook

=== 🗄 Desk Accessories ===

Disney 2020 Daily Calendar • https://www.amazon.com/Disney-2020-Daily-Calendar/dp/1452159416

Magic Trackpad • https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MJ2R2LL/A/magic-trackpad-2-silver

Gather • https://ugmonk.com/pages/gather

Grovemade Felt Coasters • https://grovemade.com/product/wool-felt-coaster-set-dark-grey/?initial=337

Bot Classic • https://classicbot.com/store/Classicbot-Classic-p90868388

LG Ultrafine 5k Display • https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HMUB2LL/A/lg-ultrafine-5k-display

=== 📱 Favorite Apps ===

Pigment app • https://www.pixiteapps.com/pigment

Notability • https://www.gingerlabs.com/

Moleskine Draw • https://us.moleskine.com/smart-writing-system

True Skate • https://trueaxis.com/trueskate.html

VSCO • https://vsco.co/

HUJI • https://apps.apple.com/us/app/huji-cam/id781383622

Foodie • https://apps.apple.com/us/app/foodie-camera-for-life/id1076859004

Citymapper • https://citymapper.com/

Dorsia • https://www.dorsia.io/

Superhuman • https://superhuman.com/

Otter • https://otter.ai/

=== ✨ Recommendations Encore ✨ ===

CityLab • https://www.citylab.com/

Knives Out • https://knivesout.movie/

Aggretsuko • https://www.netflix.com/title/80198505

Jake and Jonathan Podcast • https://productbreakfastclub.simplecast.com/

High-Resolution Video Series • https://www.highresolution.design/

Dark Matter • https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Matter-Novel-Blake-Crouch/dp/1101904240

The Creative and Brand design team at Klaviyo reflects on designing Klaviyo’s conference for year 2 - with special guests!

"We all stand in the shoulders of giants" - while that phrase is usually applied in a general sense to knowledge as a whole, there's truth that looking for and providing advice can move humanity forward.

In careers, this is found in mentorship. Klaviyo designers set to tell their personals stories learning from and passing knowledge forward in this inspiring conversation.

Recommendations

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The Year of The Looking Glass • Julie Zhuo • https://medium.com/the-year-of-the-looking-glass

Designing Design Mentorship • Dropbox Design • https://medium.com/dropbox-design/designing-design-mentorship-3bc796a16634

The Making of a Manager • Julie Zhuo • https://juliezhuo.com/book/manager.html

Radical Candor • https://www.radicalcandor.com

Subverted Design • Joel Califa • http://joelcalifa.com/blog/subverted-design/

AirPods Pro • https://www.apple.com/airpods-pro/

In the summer of 2019, Klaviyo hosted our 2nd annual design event: DESIGNIVAL: It's a Design Event. In this post-mortem episode, we dive into the challenges of event planning, how to plan for unknown unknowns, and how collaborating with other design-centric companies worked out.

Company Shoutouts

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Appcues • https://www.appcues.com

Catalant • https://gocatalant.com

Chewy • https://www.chewy.com

Drift • https://www.drift.com

EzCater • https://www.ezcater.com

Formlabs • https://formlabs.com

Hopper • https://www.hopper.com

HubSpot • https://www.hubspot.com

Recommendations

-------------------------

Small Great Things Book • Jodi Picoult • http://www.smallgreatthings.com

Inflorescent • Friendly Fires • https://open.spotify.com/album/1rt1wud5H03IsmAx29ysJp?si=bBHbMpxYSi2wbn_wxztF2Q

There are many design jobs out in the world, so there must be some value in them, right? In this existential episode, Klaviyo designers Don Ton, Gui Schmitt, Robert Yu, and Marissa Mac dive deep on the philosophical question - what is the importance of design in a company?

Once established, how do we communicate it to our peers? We also tackle trends in design, and who is doing a great job advocating design's importance in the industry.

Company Shoutouts

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Criterion • https://www.criterion.com

Netflix Originals • https://www.netflix.com/browse/genre/839338

Apple • http://www.apple.com

Google's Material Design • https://material.io/design/

Lush • https://www.lushusa.com

Carrot Weather App • http://www.meetcarrot.com/weather/

Pretend Store • https://pretendstore.co

Recommendations

-------------------------

Veronica Mars Season 4 • https://hulu.tv/2lHfHRc

Flighty App • https://www.flightyapp.com

How Uber designed its Lite app for the rest of the world • https://www.fastcompany.com/90375845/how-uber-quietly-redesigned-its-interface-for-the-rest-of-the-world

History of Smartphone Notifications • https://www.wired.com/story/history-of-notifications/?verso=true

Values, beliefs, practices - all its part of culture. But how does that apply for design teams? In the 10th episode of the Klaviyo Design Podcast we delved into how to establish, nourish, and maintain a healthy design culture inside companies. We talk about the importance of a cohesive voice in times of brand activation and how a strong design culture can change organizations for the better.

Product design is solving problems, but a solution is only as good as it is useful and understandable for its users. On episode 9, the Klaviyo Design Team talked about the strategies and struggles in understanding who you are designing for - the never-ending search to build user empathy. From user testing tips to getting on the phone with actual, real people. Design assumptions not welcome.

Recommendations

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Arrive App - https://tryarrive.com

Summer Grilled Pizza - https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/how-to/article/how-to-make-grilled-pizza

Obstacle Is The Way book - https://www.amazon.com/Obstacle-Way-Timeless-Turning-Triumph/dp/1591846358

Game of Thrones: The Last Watch - https://play.hbonow.com/feature/urn:hbo:feature:GXKNzTAQOfcJzwwEAAAAL

Facebook's 2G Tuesdays - https://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-2g-tuesdays-to-slow-employee-internet-speeds-down-2015-10?op=1

Booksmart movie - https://www.booksmart.movie

Some say that everything creative is a remix of something else - but in the vast ocean of content that modern life offers to build those mixes - how do you find inspiration? Klaviyo designers come together to discuss how they keep their creative inspiration juices flowing, from traditional to unexpected places. Lastly, we briefly touch on how do we keep our teams in sync, to ensure cohesion, even when people are doing individual assignments. From Pinterest boards to Slack etiquette, KDP EP 8 is here.

Recommendations

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Notion - https://www.notion.so

The Wander Society by Keri Smith - https://www.amazon.com/Wander-Society-Keri-Smith/dp/0143108360

Are.na - https://www.are.na

Eagle - https://eagle.cool

Everything is a Remix - https://www.everythingisaremix.info/watch-the-series

Whimsical - https://whimsical.com

Brand New - https://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/

Robots are coming for our jobs! Or... are they? In this broad conversation, Klaviyo designers Julie Lungaro, Sam Beachell and Gui Schmitt talk about how automation can impact creative fields in the near and far future. From data-informed decisions, seemingly random algorithms, to Design System's role in facilitating some of the more laborious challenges of design, we start to get more comfortable with our imminent robot overlords.

Recommendations

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John Oliver's automation episode - https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=_h1ooyyFkF0

Automate Sketch plugin - https://github.com/Ashung/Automate-Sketch/

Airbnb automated wireframe concept - https://airbnb.design/sketching-interfaces/

High Resolution podcast with Rochelle King - https://www.highresolution.design/9-rochelle-king

Designers: Robots Are Coming For Your Jobs - https://www.fastcompany.com/3057266/designers-robots-are-coming-for-your-jobs

Full Frontal on biases in technology - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxpWvMrPqVs

Microsoft Tay - https://www.theverge.com/2016/3/24/11297050/tay-microsoft-chatbot-racist

Have you ever sat through a bad presentation? Maybe the speaker wasn't engaging or maybe the slides were too distracting. Lots of pressure goes into a well-rounded presentation, the last thing you want to stress over is how your slide deck looks.

In episode 6, the designers at Klaviyo discuss what made some presentations memorable and provide some advice on how to design a presentation that will captivate viewers.

Recommendations

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Canva - https://www.canva.com/templates/presentations/

Apple iPhone 4 Antennagate Presentation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IorfYuF4gMM

Cutthroat Kitchen - https://www.hulu.com/series/cutthroat-kitchen-e499b744-cb1b-4727-9552-1b232e41b350

Ellen DeGeneres: Relatable - https://www.netflix.com/title/80166467

TED Talk: Forget the pecking order at work - https://www.ted.com/talks/margaret_heffernan_why_it_s_time_to_forget_the_pecking_order_at_work?language=en