Life of Design: August de los Reyes

Head of Design at Pinterest

Colin Campbell

Published in

Life of Thought

3 min readOct 29, 2017

1. How did you begin working in the wonderful world of design?

I have always wanted to be a designer. Even as a kid, I’d say I wanted to become an architect. While I studied design at an architecture school, I practice in other areas. I’m not a well-rounded person: I obsess about design every day.

2. What is the purpose of design?

Designers are inherently dissatisfied with the state of something — whether it’s something to wear, something to eat, an environment in which to live or work. Design is the act of envisioning something better and taking steps to create or improve upon it.

3. How would you describe the intent (mission) behind Pinterest’s design?

Pinterest helps people discover and do the things they love.

4. What’s one thing you believe about design that most others don’t?

I believe design, in the sense that we want to improve our condition, is a fundamental human drive. Design, so far, is a profession with certain techniques and training — but the will to design a preferred future is universal.

5. What key problems are often overlooked by design?

One of the most overlooked aspects of design is considering context. As a metaphor, if we were to build a bridge we’d like to consider more than the aspect of the bridge: what is the span? How much weight would it need to support? We should also ask questions around its context: what are the points the bridge is joining? Who are the people at those points? Why would they need the bridge? How would they use it?

6. What is the most difficult thing about design?

For many young designers, one of the challenges of design in the tech space is accepting that design is about collaborating across many disciplines. In design school, group projects tend to be with only other design students. Once they are in industry, they face the challenge of working with others whose goals, incentives, and motives might differ from the concerns of our craft including representing human needs and desires.

7. When is design “done”?

Design is “done” when it addresses the needs of people in the specific design problem. The answer would be different if you asked “when is excellent design done?”

8. What does the future of design look like to you?

The role of technology will change what it means to design in a modern way. Regardless of practice, designers must master the materials with which we work. I see a future where certain designers materials include machine learning and artificial intelligence.