
Complementary
A podcast about the principles and practices of interface design.
Latest episodes

Jun 4, 2023 • 45min
09: Pace Layering
Anthony and Katie discuss pace layering, design systems and AI.
Articles mentioned:
Nathan Curtis: Design System UI is More Expensive than a Product Team's UI
Mark Boulton: The Fast and Slow of Design
Anthony Hobday, Generalist Product Designer: https://twitter.com/hobdaydesign
Katie Langerman, Systems Designer: https://twitter.com/KatieLangerman

May 14, 2023 • 43min
08: Conveying Good Taste in a Design Portfolio
Anthony and Katie discuss design portfolios, case studies, and networking.
Links mentioned:
Original tweet
Button design walkthrough
Anthony's website
Checkbox design
Hosts:
Anthony Hobday, Generalist Product Designer: https://twitter.com/hobdaydesign
Katie Langerman, Systems Designer: https://twitter.com/KatieLangerman

May 7, 2023 • 40min
07: The Three Pillars of Visual Design: Typography, Layout, and Color
Anthony and Katie discuss what makes typography, layout and color the three pillars of visual design.
Links mentioned:
Non Designers Design Book
Grid systems
Hosts:
Anthony Hobday, Generalist Product Designer: https://twitter.com/hobdaydesign
Katie Langerman, Systems Designer: https://twitter.com/KatieLangerman

Apr 9, 2023 • 47min
06: Design Systems
Anthony and Katie discuss design systems.
Topics covered:
How to define the term “design system”
Design tokens
Naming things and ordinal scales
Breaking out of a design system
Links mentioned:
https://gk3fyi.substack.com/p/the-cost-of-craft

Apr 2, 2023 • 35min
05: Improving Your Visual Design Skills
In this episode, Anthony and Katie discuss how to improve your visual design skills.
Topics covered:
Tacit vs. explicit knowledge
Systematic approaches to learning patterns
Caring about design details
How quality in impacts quality out
Visual design inspiration links:
https://www.lapa.ninja/
https://land-book.com/
https://godly.website/
https://saaslandingpage.com/
https://www.siteinspire.com/
https://twitter.com/awesome_saas
https://twitter.com/saasshots
Other links mentioned:
https://open-props.style/

Mar 19, 2023 • 43min
04: Accessibility
In this episode, Anthony and Katie discuss accessibility for interface design.
Heads up that there's a slight audio quality change about halfway through.
Topics covered:
Incorporating accessibility into your design process
Evaluating a design for accessibility issues
How design systems impact the designer’s role in crafting accessible interfaces
Designing with constraints
Hosts:
Anthony Hobday, Generalist Product Designer: https://twitter.com/hobdaydesign
Katie Langerman, Systems Designer: https://twitter.com/KatieLangerman

Mar 4, 2023 • 35min
03: Skeuomorphism
In this episode, Anthony and Katie discuss skeuomorphism.
Topics covered:
How we define skeuomorphism
The rise and fall of design trends
Applying realism and visual richness to flat design
How design systems might handle embellishments vs. flat design
Hosts:
Anthony Hobday, Generalist Product Designer: https://twitter.com/hobdaydesign
Katie Langerman, Systems Designer: https://twitter.com/KatieLangerman

Feb 18, 2023 • 37min
02: Beauty
In this episode, Anthony and Katie discuss beauty.
Topics covered:
Universal beauty
Classical vs. expressive aesthetics
Practical applications of beauty
The societal impact of beautiful interfaces
Relying on classical beauty techniques when expressive design is out of reach

Feb 12, 2023 • 39min
Pilot: Taste
In this pilot episode, Anthony and Katie discuss taste as it relates to visual design.
Topics covered:
Defining taste
Are you born with good taste, and can it be learned?
Why taste is important for designers
References:
Brie Wolfson: Notes on "Taste"
Hosts:
Anthony Hobday, Generalist Product Designer: https://twitter.com/hobdaydesign
Katie Langerman, Systems Designer: https://twitter.com/KatieLangerman