Creativity is the only thing, moving from Figma to Protopie, semantic color palettes

Weekly curated resources for designers — thinkers and makers.

“We may be in the middle of one now, a period of change and awakening. And like previous periods of same, there are so many things to be currently worried about — potential authoritarianism, genocide, religious fanaticism, climate change, uncontrolled AGI, unleashed nativism — that a period of change is handmaid with a period of struggle again. We’ve made a queer mess of life, it seems.

In uncomplicated times, it is easy to dismiss creativity as unserious. In the hardest times, it’s everything there is.”

Creativity is the only thing →
By Joe Alterio

Editor picks

• Beyond the research repository →
  UX research assets needs to be delivered to the business.
• Society drives how we build products →
  Is the experience more important than the brand?
• Is Jaguar’s logo chic modernism or a minimalist misstep? →
  Great branding isn’t just about design. It’s about the soul.

The UX Collective is an independent design publication that elevates unheard design voices and helps designers think more critically about their work.

How Minecraft is inspiring a new wave of art and design →

Make me think

• Shipping is capturing value →
  “The platonic ideal of software development is a world in which changes and improvements are instantly and comprehensively understood by all stakeholders; the delta between this ideal and reality is much larger and more pernicious and more valuable than software itself.”
• On not using copilot →
  “LLM assistants are chat interfaces. You beg the computer to do something, it does something wrong, you ask it to fix the problem. You’re managing. You’re acting as a manager, and chatting.”
• You are all wrong about the Jaguar rebrand →
  “Here’s the thing about rebrands: they’re not just about slapping on a shiny new logo. A brand is an ecosystem of meaning, emotions, and experiences that lives far beyond the design.”

Little gems this week

Why are cars getting bigger and bigger? →
By Elvis Hsiao

Never skip research day →
By Trip Carroll

CX, placemaking, and the Japanese convenience store →
By Daley Wilhelm

Tools and resources

• When is it time to move from Figma to Protopie? →
  Once you reach the limits of Figma, it’s time to move on.
  By Nicolás Del Real
• Semantic interface palette →
  It’s simpler than you think.
  By Alexandra Basova
• Hope is not lost for human-centered AI →
  How designers can lead the way.
  By Andrea Grigsby

Support the newsletter

If you find our content helpful, here’s how you can support us:

• Check out this week’s sponsor to support their work too
• Forward this email to a friend and invite them to subscribe
• Sponsor an edition