Design Life

Charli, a creative director at Convert Kit, dives into the thrilling rebranding journey of the company. She reveals why they opted for a public rebranding instead of a grand launch, addressing challenges and surprising hurdles along the way. Charli discusses the essential roles that keep the team motivated and how community feedback is crucial for success. The conversation touches on how the rebrand is poised to affect their product and the intriguing connection between rebranding and burnout.

Designers discuss understanding the impact of their work on business success, including the balance between visual appeal and conversion rates. They share insights on hiring processes, challenges in measuring impact, and tips for showcasing design effectiveness in portfolios. The episode also covers updates on course enhancements, travel plans, and upcoming conference attendance.

Figma's latest release at Config 2024 brings exciting updates like Autolayout, new UI, AI features, Figma Slides, and collaboration with Zach Grosser. Speakers dive into practical applications of AI in design, discuss dev mode updates, and share their enthusiasm for the new features in Figma. They also explore the benefits of Figma Slides for team collaboration and project management.

Exploring the challenges of managing a failing side project, the hosts discuss a failed live workshop, lessons learned, reasons for low ticket sales, and improvements for future events. Emphasis on embracing failure as a learning opportunity in the creative process.

Learn how to optimize your design job application in the competitive 2024 market. Discover tips on standing out with strong portfolios, personalized applications, and networking. Gain insights on showcasing your expertise through side projects and navigating job search challenges in the design industry.

Charli reflects on her 7-year journey at her workplace, discussing the importance of difficult conversations for job clarity. Femke shares struggles when transitioning roles and values relationships within a company. They talk about 'golden handcuffs', recognizing signs for job change, and taking the first steps towards new opportunities.

Charli and Femke talk about their experience of having retreats with their teams, how retreats should be structured, what is their purpose and how to make the best out of in-person time with your teammates.As remote work becomes increasingly prevalent and we usually do not get the chance to see our co-workers’ faces outside of video-calls, team offsites can greatly improve the team dynamic and subsequently enhance communication between team members. Changing scenery and experiencing new things with your team will create space for creativity to approach challenges and open doors to have crucial discussions, paving the way for growth and innovation.Show Timestamps:0:57 Intro01:50 Life update6:13 Femke’s offsite in Denver7:56 Charli’s team retreat in France10:00 Purpose of retreats at Charli’s workplace10:30 Retreats as a manager vs. an individual contributor (IC)11:46 Structure of the retreat17:22 Did the offsite match out to the expectations?20:50 Femke talks about her upcoming off-sight to San Francisco23:55 Is there anything that you learnt at an offsite in Denver that you will bring to San Francisco?24:33 Takeaways from this episode Show links:Charli's live workshop in New ZealandFemke’s course “Product strategy for designers”Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at hello@designlife.fm

Femke and Charli explore personal branding, discussing strategic planning, controlling perceptions, and objectives it can help achieve. They highlight its importance for designers, evolving personal brands, and managing discrepancies. The conversation covers authenticity, leveraging strengths, and navigating social media impact on personal branding. Anecdotes on freelancing, unexpected recognition, and aligning personal brand with offerings are shared, emphasizing reputation building and self-expression within organizations.

Charli and Femke give an elaborate reply to one of the listener's requests: whether deadlines should be taken seriously. The hosts share real stories of how they approached deadlines in different projects, how unrealistic deadlines should be handled, what to do in situations when a deadline cannot be met, how to discuss deadlines and set reasonable expectations, and how one's perspective on them changes depending on their role in the project. Show Timestamps:01:13 Intro02:34 Charli’s workshop and life updates04:21 Femke’s life update07:01 Question submission from a listener about deadlines07:14 Femke and Charli share how they approach deadlines in different situations11:52 What is the importance of deadlines?17:02 Charli elaborates on why she does not like fake (buffer) deadlines19:00 Situation when the deadline is absolutely non-negotiable26:08 Femke and Charli discuss milestone approach to projects rather than working towards one big hand off29:08 Conclusion Show links:Charli's live workshop in New ZealandFemke’s course “Product strategy for designers”Share your topic suggestions for the show with us at hello@designlife.fm

Guests Charli and Femke share their experiences with burnout in creative professions. They discuss signs of burnout, recovering by dropping side projects, and importance of diversifying daily activities. Topics include impact on career choices, defining healthy balance, and avoiding over-investment in work. Personal hobbies are also explored as a means of leisure versus monetization.